IE 11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

Preparing K-12 and higher education IT leaders for the exponential era

Most AP Exams Shift From Paper to Platform in May

In response to a rise in theft and cheating on paper exams, most Advanced Placement exams will move to a digital format next month, which proponents say will improve accessibility as well as the overall test experience.

A computer mouse next to a bubble sheet for a standardized test.
Shutterstock
Last year, 650,000 Advanced Placement (AP) exams were conducted digitally. That number will spike to nearly 6 million next month as the nonprofit College Board discontinues standard paper testing for 28 of its 36 AP exams, according to a news release last week.

More than 3 million students are expected to take the digital exams from May 5-16 on an application called Bluebook, which is the same platform College Board uses to administer the SAT, the news release said.

Trevor Packer, head of the AP program at College Board, wrote in a July 2024 announcement that there has been a “rise in bad actors compromising AP Exam content for financial gain,” which prompted the nonprofit to speed its shift from paper to platform. He said the move will help prevent theft and cheating, as “digital exams are much more secure than shipping paper exams in boxes to thousands of locations weeks in advance.”

Packer added that the new format will increase accessibility and improve the overall test experience as well. More than 75 percent of students and administrators who took and conducted digital AP Exams in 2024 rated them better than or the same as paper testing, per last week’s news release.

“We’ve found that almost all students who’ve taken a digital AP Exam or participated in an AP digital testing pilot have adapted quickly to the new format,” Packer said in a public statement. “Students today are ‘digital natives’ and appreciate the user-friendly features of the Bluebook interface.”

Of the 28 AP exams that will be administered digitally next month, 12 will be hybrid exams, wherein students will use a paper booklet to answer any “free-response questions,” according to the July announcement, which adds that College Board will provide schools with devices and Wi-Fi support if needed.

Standard paper exams will continue for eight AP subjects — Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Spanish literature and music theory — but will transition to digital testing in the future, the announcement said.