AP Computer Science Principles

Two sections. Section I is 70 multiple-choice questions in 120 minutes, worth 70% of the score, with four answer options each; it includes 57 single-select items, 5 single-select items with a reading passage about a computing innovation, and 8 multiple-select items where you select two answers. Section II is the Create performance task plus two written-response questions, worth 30%.

The multiple-choice section is 120 minutes. The written-response portion is a 60-minute end-of-course exam with two questions containing four distinct prompts. Both are delivered digitally in the Bluebook testing app, and all responses are submitted automatically when time ends.

You receive 9 hours of in-class time to complete your program, record a video of it running, and develop your Personalized Project Reference. All required components must be submitted as final in the AP Digital Portfolio by the published deadline - for the 2027 administration, Fri, Apr 30, 2027, 11:59 PM ET.

Big Idea 3: Algorithms and Programming is the largest at 30%–35% of the multiple-choice section, followed by Big Idea 5: Impact of Computing at 21%–26% and Big Idea 2: Data at 17%–22%. Big Idea 4: Computer Systems and Networks is 11%–15%, and Big Idea 1: Creative Development is 10%–13%.

Start with algorithms and programming, since it is the heaviest big idea and underpins the written responses. Get comfortable with relational and logical operators, conditional statements, iteration, list traversal, and comparing algorithms. Then build data and impact-of-computing knowledge, and finish with systems and networks, which carries the least weight.

The source material for this page does not state a retake policy, so treat availability as something to confirm with your school's AP coordinator rather than assumed. What the source does specify is the annual cycle: the Create performance task submission deadline and the end-of-course exam session, both of which fall in the spring.

Two places. First, the written responses: students describe what their program does in general terms instead of explaining how a specific code segment functions, or they cannot identify a concrete error and its correction. Second, multiple-select items, where partial credit does not exist - selecting a third option or missing one of the two correct answers scores zero.

Not memorize - trace. Questions ask you to evaluate expressions using relational and logical operators, determine the result of conditional and iteration statements, and work out what an algorithm containing a list traversal produces. Practice reading short code segments on paper and writing the final values, including edge cases like empty lists and loops that never execute.

No. AP CSP is a broad introductory course covering data, algorithms, systems and networks, and computing's impacts, assessed partly through a student-chosen Create performance task. AP Computer Science A is a programming-focused course. The College Board publishes a separate resource explaining the differences, and you should pick based on whether you want breadth or depth in programming.

The multiple-choice section accounts for 70% of the score and the Create performance task with written response accounts for 30%. That means the multiple-choice section is the single biggest lever, but the written responses are answered with your Personalized Project Reference in hand, so knowing your own program thoroughly is comparatively low-cost preparation.