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Advanced Placement language exams

What is AP, and how do the language exams work?

AP is the College Board's programme of college-level courses that American students take in high school, each ending in a May exam scored 1 to 5. Here is how the scores work, what is on each of the eight world-language exams, and where we are with our own AP courses.

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What AP is

Who runs it
The College Board, in the United States.
What it is
College-level courses and exams that students take in high school.
When
The exams are given in May, over two weeks.
Scores
1 to 5. A 3 is "qualified", a 5 "extremely well qualified".
Credit
Each college sets its own credit and placement policy for AP scores.

Our AP courses are coming soon

We have not built an AP course yet, and we would rather say so than dress a general course up as one. What exists today is a full course in six of the seven AP languages, built on the words that turn up most. That is the vocabulary every AP paper leans on, so it is not wasted time while the exam courses are written. Start one now.

AP scores, 1 to 5

Every AP exam is scored on the same five-point scale. The College Board publishes what each score recommends and the college grade it is meant to match. Whether a score earns credit is up to each college, not the College Board.

The AP score scale
Score Recommendation College grade equivalent
5Extremely well qualifiedA+ or A
4Very well qualifiedA-, B+ or B
3QualifiedB-, C+ or C
2Possibly qualifiedNone given
1No recommendationNone given

The AP world-language exams

Eight courses, seven languages: Spanish has two, one on the language and one on its literature. They come in three formats, set out below.

How the exams work

Six of the courses were revised for the 2026-27 school year: each now has a course project, which students research during the year, outline on a one-page Personalized Project Reference due by 30 April, and present in the exam itself. From May 2027 every exam here is fully digital, taken in the College Board's Bluebook app. The formats below are the 2027 ones. They do change, so check the current course and exam description for your exam before you plan around a timing.

French, German, Italian and Spanish Language

Four exams, one format · About 2 hours 30 minutes

Section I: free response, 50%

  • Project presentation3 minutes to prepare, 3 minutes to present your project20%
  • Project Q&A4 pre-recorded questions, 40 seconds for each answer15%
  • Argumentative essayWritten from print and audio sources, 55 minutes, the audio played twice15%

Section II: multiple choice, 50%

  • Listening25 questions, 40 minutes25%
  • Reading30 questions, 40 minutes25%

Speaking answers are recorded in Bluebook after audio prompts.

Chinese and Japanese Language

Two exams, one format · About 2 hours

Section I: free response, 50%

  • Project presentation3 minutes to prepare, 3 minutes to present your project20%
  • Project Q&A4 pre-recorded questions, 40 seconds for each answer15%
  • Story narrationA story written from four pictures7.5%
  • Email responseA reply to an email; 30 minutes for the two writing tasks together7.5%

Section II: multiple choice, 50%

  • Listening25 questions, 25 minutes25%
  • Reading30 questions, 40 minutes25%

Spanish Literature and Culture

A literature course, not a language one · 3 hours

Section I: multiple choice, 50%

  • Interpretive listening15 questions on audio texts, 20 minutes10%
  • Reading analysis50 questions in six sets, 1 hour40%

Section II: free response, 50%

  • Two short answers and two essays4 questions, 1 hour 40 minutes50%

No course project: the 2026-27 revision left this course alone.

Latin

Reading Latin, not speaking it · 3 hours

Section I: multiple choice, 50%

  • Set texts and sight reading52 questions, 1 hour 5 minutes50%

Section II: free response, 50%

  • Translation, short answers and short essays5 questions on set passages, 1 hour 55 minutes50%

Start with our course now

Each of these is a whole course from the first word, most frequent words first, with grammar and graded stories along the way. None of them is an AP course, and none of them pretends to be.

Chapters 1 and 2 free

Start now, and switch to AP when it opens

The main course is open now: graded stories, grammar with drills and a games arcade, so the core vocabulary is banked before the AP course opens.

Chapters 1 and 2 free, forever. Plus: 7 days free, then $5 a month for all eleven languages.

Start learning free

For language tutors and teachers

Use it alongside an AP class

  • Set chapters and lessons as homework that marks itself.
  • See each pupil's results as they come in.
  • Every pupil in your class gets Plus while they are in it.
See Classrooms

Questions

What is AP?

Advanced Placement is the College Board's programme of college-level courses and exams that students take in high school. Each course ends in an exam in May, scored 1 to 5, and many colleges give credit or placement for a qualifying score.

What AP score do you need for college credit?

It depends on the college: each one sets its own credit and placement policy. The College Board calls a 3 "qualified", a 4 "very well qualified" and a 5 "extremely well qualified", and matches a 3 to a college grade of B- to C. Look up the policy of the college you have in mind.

What is on the AP Spanish Language exam?

From May 2027: a presentation on the course project you prepared during the year, four recorded answers to questions about it, an argumentative essay from print and audio sources, then 25 listening and 30 reading multiple-choice questions. About two and a half hours, fully digital. Check the current course and exam description, because the format was revised for 2026-27.

What changed in the AP language exams for 2026-27?

Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish Language and Culture each gained a course project, outlined on a one-page Personalized Project Reference due by 30 April and presented in the exam. The old speaking tasks were replaced, and paper exams were dropped in favour of the Bluebook app. Spanish Literature and Latin were not part of that revision.

When are the AP language exams?

In May. In 2027 the exams run from 3 to 14 May. The College Board's exam dates page has each year's timetable.

Does Kilo Lingo have an AP course?

Not yet. The AP courses are coming soon. Until then, our general courses in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Mandarin and Latin teach the language from the first word, and an account keeps every word you learn in the meantime.

Sources

College Board pages, checked 18 October 2026.

AP and Advanced Placement are registered trademarks of the College Board. Kilo Lingo is not affiliated with or endorsed by the College Board.