Every summer, around the time students see their own scores, the College Board publishes how everyone else did. Those tables answer the questions students actually ask after score release: was my 3 normal, how rare is a 5 in my subject, and did this year go better or worse than last year?
This page collects the official 2026 AP score distributions for all 40 AP exams in one place, sorted by subject area, with the pass rate (the share scoring 3 or higher) and the share of 5s for each. After the tables you will find a guide to reading them without falling into the usual traps, plus a three-year comparison for the 23 exams that have a score calculator on this site.
Where these numbers come from
All percentages below are copied from the College Board's AP Students score distribution pages. The 2026 table is published in whole percents. The 2025 and 2024 tables use one decimal place. Nothing on this page is an estimate. Composite cut scores, which the College Board does not publish, are covered separately in our AP curve chart.
The 2026 Results in One Minute
- Highest pass rate: AP Research, with 90 percent of students scoring 3 or higher, followed by AP Seminar at 88 percent.
- Lowest pass rate: AP Music Theory at 59 percent, then AP Statistics at 62 percent and AP Computer Science Principles at 63 percent.
- Most 5s: AP Chinese Language and Culture (48 percent), AP Japanese Language and Culture (47 percent) and AP Calculus BC (46 percent).
- Fewest 5s: AP 3D Art and Design (7 percent), AP Computer Science Principles (10 percent) and AP Seminar (10 percent).
- Highest share of 1s: AP Computer Science A (23 percent), with AP Statistics and AP Japanese Language and Culture both at 21 percent.
- Most of the large core exams landed between a 65 and 76 percent pass rate, a narrower band than the headlines usually suggest.
If you already have practice test results and want to know where you would land in these tables, open the matching tool in our AP exam score calculators. Each one shows the 2026 distribution next to your predicted score.
Math and Computer Science
| Exam | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 or higher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AP Calculus AB | 20% | 28% | 17% | 24% | 11% | 65% |
| AP Calculus BC | 46% | 22% | 14% | 14% | 4% | 82% |
| AP Precalculus | 29% | 29% | 24% | 11% | 7% | 82% |
| AP Statistics | 17% | 23% | 22% | 17% | 21% | 62% |
| AP Computer Science A | 25% | 26% | 15% | 11% | 23% | 66% |
| AP Computer Science Principles | 10% | 23% | 30% | 21% | 16% | 63% |
This group shows the widest personalities of any subject area. Calculus BC hands out a 5 to nearly half of its test takers, while Computer Science A gives almost a quarter of its students a 1. Statistics also has a heavy bottom end, with 21 percent scoring a 1. Both CS A and Statistics are often a student's first AP math or computing exam, and the share of 1s is a reminder that some students sit these exams with little preparation.
Score calculators for this group: AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP Computer Science A and AP Computer Science Principles.
Sciences
| Exam | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 or higher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AP Biology | 15% | 25% | 31% | 21% | 8% | 71% |
| AP Chemistry | 15% | 31% | 30% | 18% | 6% | 75% |
| AP Environmental Science | 13% | 29% | 27% | 15% | 16% | 69% |
| AP Physics 1 | 19% | 24% | 25% | 15% | 17% | 68% |
| AP Physics 2 | 20% | 29% | 23% | 21% | 7% | 72% |
| AP Physics C: Mechanics | 20% | 25% | 27% | 17% | 11% | 72% |
| AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism | 24% | 24% | 27% | 17% | 8% | 75% |
The sciences cluster tightly in 2026: every exam passed between 68 and 75 percent of students. The difference shows up at the top. Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism gave a 5 to 24 percent of students, while Environmental Science gave a 5 to 13 percent and also had 16 percent scoring a 1. Biology and Chemistry both sat at 15 percent 5s, down from the prior two years.
Score calculators for this group: AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, AP Physics C: Mechanics and AP Physics C: E&M.
History and Social Sciences
| Exam | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 or higher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AP African American Studies | 20% | 30% | 27% | 17% | 6% | 77% |
| AP Comparative Government and Politics | 15% | 22% | 33% | 18% | 12% | 70% |
| AP European History | 16% | 33% | 25% | 18% | 8% | 74% |
| AP Human Geography | 19% | 26% | 21% | 24% | 10% | 66% |
| AP Macroeconomics | 19% | 22% | 25% | 20% | 14% | 66% |
| AP Microeconomics | 19% | 26% | 23% | 20% | 12% | 68% |
| AP Psychology | 15% | 35% | 24% | 18% | 8% | 74% |
| AP US Government and Politics | 23% | 28% | 25% | 16% | 8% | 76% |
| AP US History | 14% | 37% | 23% | 18% | 8% | 74% |
| AP World History: Modern | 14% | 36% | 16% | 26% | 8% | 66% |
Look at the 4 column here. US History (37 percent), World History (36 percent) and Psychology (35 percent) each put more students at a 4 than at any other score. World History has an unusual shape: only 16 percent earned a 3 while 26 percent earned a 2, so the line between passing and not passing cuts through a crowded part of the distribution. US Government had the most 5s in the group at 23 percent.
Score calculators for this group: APUSH, AP World History, AP European History, AP US Government, AP Comparative Government, AP Psychology, AP Human Geography, AP Macroeconomics and AP Microeconomics.
English
| Exam | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 or higher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AP English Language and Composition | 15% | 28% | 32% | 15% | 10% | 75% |
| AP English Literature and Composition | 16% | 26% | 31% | 16% | 11% | 73% |
The two English exams now look almost identical, which was not true two years ago (see the trend table below). A 3 is the single most common score on both. Predict yours with the AP Lang score calculator or the AP Lit score calculator.
World Languages and Cultures
| Exam | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 or higher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AP Chinese Language and Culture | 48% | 19% | 18% | 6% | 9% | 85% |
| AP French Language and Culture | 15% | 23% | 33% | 23% | 6% | 71% |
| AP German Language and Culture | 24% | 17% | 27% | 22% | 10% | 68% |
| AP Italian Language and Culture | 19% | 22% | 28% | 20% | 11% | 69% |
| AP Japanese Language and Culture | 47% | 10% | 15% | 7% | 21% | 72% |
| AP Latin | 20% | 29% | 24% | 17% | 10% | 73% |
| AP Spanish Language and Culture | 21% | 31% | 31% | 14% | 3% | 83% |
| AP Spanish Literature and Culture | 20% | 23% | 28% | 20% | 9% | 71% |
Chinese and Japanese stand out for their huge share of 5s, and Japanese also has a striking 21 percent of 1s. That split, many students at the very top and a sizable group at the very bottom, is what you would expect from a test pool that mixes students who grew up speaking the language with students who learned it entirely in a classroom. Latin and Spanish Literature both posted far more 5s than in 2025, which is covered in the trends section.
Arts and AP Capstone
| Exam | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 or higher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AP 2D Art and Design | 12% | 30% | 43% | 12% | 3% | 85% |
| AP 3D Art and Design | 7% | 25% | 43% | 23% | 2% | 75% |
| AP Art History | 15% | 25% | 27% | 24% | 9% | 67% |
| AP Drawing | 16% | 31% | 36% | 14% | 3% | 83% |
| AP Music Theory | 18% | 17% | 24% | 26% | 15% | 59% |
| AP Research | 17% | 31% | 42% | 8% | 2% | 90% |
| AP Seminar | 10% | 21% | 57% | 10% | 2% | 88% |
The portfolio-based courses (the three Art and Design courses, Seminar and Research) are scored largely on work students build during the year, and their distributions show it: very few 1s, and a large middle band of 3s. AP Seminar put 57 percent of its students at exactly a 3. Music Theory is the outlier among the arts, with the lowest pass rate of any AP exam in 2026.
How to Read a Score Distribution Without Misreading It
A score distribution is simply the share of test takers who earned each score from 1 to 5 on one exam in one year. It is a description of a group of students, not a measure of how hard the test was. Four habits will keep you from drawing the wrong conclusion.
- Look at the whole row, not only the pass rate. World History and Macroeconomics both passed 66 percent of students in 2026, but World History put 36 percent at a 4 and only 14 percent at a 5, while Macroeconomics spread students more evenly with 19 percent 5s and 22 percent 4s. Same pass rate, very different shapes.
- Read the 5 column separately. The share of 5s tells you how many students cleared the highest bar. A subject can have a modest pass rate and a strong 5 rate (Computer Science A: 66 percent pass, 25 percent 5s) or a high pass rate with few 5s (AP Seminar: 88 percent pass, 10 percent 5s).
- Check the 1 column for preparation gaps. A large share of 1s usually signals students who sat the exam with limited preparation, not a uniquely brutal test.
- Treat changes under two points as noise. The 2026 table uses whole percents, so a move from 72.6 to 72 may be no real change at all.
There is one more trap. A distribution shows outcomes, while the curve (the composite percent you need for each score) shows the bar. The two are related but not the same thing. An exam can have a lenient curve and a low pass rate if many students are underprepared. For the bar itself, see our AP curve chart. For what these numbers do and do not say about difficulty, see the easiest and hardest AP exams.
Three Years of Pass Rates for the Exams We Cover
The table below tracks the pass rate (3 or higher) for the 23 exams that have a calculator on this site, from 2024 through 2026. The 2024 and 2025 figures come from the College Board's archived distribution pages and carry one decimal place.
| Exam | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Change 2024 to 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AP English Language | 54.6% | 74.3% | 75% | +20 pts |
| AP Physics 1 | 47.3% | 67.3% | 68% | +21 pts |
| AP Environmental Science | 54.1% | 69.2% | 69% | +15 pts |
| AP Psychology | 61.7% | 70.5% | 74% | +12 pts |
| AP Human Geography | 56.1% | 64.7% | 66% | +10 pts |
| AP European History | 71.6% | 72.6% | 74% | +2 pts |
| AP US History | 72.2% | 73.7% | 74% | +2 pts |
| AP World History | 63.7% | 64.3% | 66% | +2 pts |
| AP US Government | 73.0% | 71.7% | 76% | +3 pts |
| AP Comparative Government | 73.0% | 71.8% | 70% | -3 pts |
| AP English Literature | 72.4% | 74.2% | 73% | +1 pt |
| AP Macroeconomics | 65.1% | 67.3% | 66% | +1 pt |
| AP Microeconomics | 67.6% | 68.2% | 68% | 0 |
| AP Calculus AB | 64.4% | 64.2% | 65% | +1 pt |
| AP Calculus BC | 80.9% | 78.6% | 82% | +1 pt |
| AP Statistics | 61.8% | 60.3% | 62% | 0 |
| AP Computer Science A | 67.2% | 67.2% | 66% | -1 pt |
| AP Computer Science Principles | 64.0% | 61.9% | 63% | -1 pt |
| AP Biology | 68.3% | 70.4% | 71% | +3 pts |
| AP Chemistry | 75.6% | 77.9% | 75% | -1 pt |
| AP Physics 2 | 70.5% | 72.6% | 72% | +2 pts |
| AP Physics C: Mechanics | 76.3% | 73.2% | 72% | -4 pts |
| AP Physics C: E&M | 71.6% | 72.9% | 75% | +3 pts |
Five exams moved by roughly ten points or more over two years: English Language, Physics 1, Environmental Science, Psychology and Human Geography. In every one of those cases most of the jump happened between 2024 and 2025, and 2026 held close to the new level. Physics 1 and Psychology both moved to revised courses and exam formats in the 2024 to 2025 school year, so their 2024 numbers describe a different test. For the others, the College Board publishes the results but not a line-by-line explanation, so be careful with any article that claims to know exactly why.
Everything else is remarkably stable. Calculus AB has sat at 64 to 65 percent for three straight years. US History, Statistics and Microeconomics barely moved. That stability is the point of the score-setting process: the College Board says it uses statistical methods so that a 3 in one year reflects the same level of achievement as a 3 the year before.
Where the 5s Went: Three-Year Trend
| Exam | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AP Calculus BC | 47.7% | 44.0% | 46% |
| AP Physics C: E&M | 35.2% | 25.2% | 24% |
| AP Physics C: Mechanics | 28.5% | 21.7% | 20% |
| AP Computer Science A | 25.6% | 25.6% | 25% |
| AP US Government | 24.3% | 23.7% | 23% |
| AP Microeconomics | 22.9% | 21.6% | 19% |
| AP Physics 1 | 10.2% | 19.8% | 19% |
| AP Psychology | 19.2% | 14.4% | 15% |
| AP Biology | 16.8% | 18.9% | 15% |
| AP Chemistry | 17.9% | 17.9% | 15% |
| AP English Language | 9.8% | 13.4% | 15% |
| AP US History | 12.8% | 14.2% | 14% |
| AP World History | 11.9% | 13.9% | 14% |
| AP Environmental Science | 9.2% | 12.6% | 13% |
| AP Computer Science Principles | 10.9% | 10.7% | 10% |
The 5 trend tells a slightly different story from the pass rate trend. Both Physics C exams handed out far fewer 5s in 2025 and 2026 than in 2024, even though their pass rates barely changed. Psychology went the other way: more students passed after the redesign, but a smaller share reached a 5. Biology and Chemistry each dropped to 15 percent 5s in 2026, the lowest of the three years for both. If you are aiming for a 5 in those subjects, plan to clear the line with some room to spare.
Notable Moves Outside the Core Exams
- AP Latin: the pass rate rose from 58.6 percent in 2025 to 73 percent in 2026, and the share of 5s went from 12.5 to 20 percent.
- AP Spanish Literature and Culture: 5s more than doubled, from 9.1 percent in 2025 to 20 percent in 2026, while the pass rate stayed near 71 percent.
- AP Italian Language and Culture: the pass rate fell from 75.2 percent to 69 percent, and 5s fell from 24.6 to 19 percent.
- AP Chinese Language and Culture: still the top 5 rate of any exam, but down from 54.9 percent in 2025 to 48 percent in 2026.
- AP Precalculus: up from 75.6 percent passing in 2024 (its first year) to 82 percent in 2026.
- AP Research and AP Seminar: both edged up, to 90 and 88 percent passing.
Smaller exams swing more from year to year because a few thousand students, or a change in which schools offer the course, can shift the percentages. Treat one-year moves in small subjects as interesting, not as a forecast.
What the Distributions Mean for Your Own Score
Use these tables to put your score in context, not to judge it. A 3 in Calculus BC means you were in roughly the bottom third of a very strong pool. A 3 in AP Seminar puts you right in the middle. A 4 in US History puts you with the single largest group of test takers in that subject. Colleges know this context too, which is why many set different credit cutoffs for different exams.
If you are planning for next May, the distributions also help you set a realistic target. In 2026, a 4 or 5 went to about half or more of students in US History (51 percent), US Government (51 percent), Psychology (50 percent) and World History (50 percent), but to only about a third of students in Computer Science Principles (33 percent) and to 40 percent in Statistics and Biology. Pair that with the composite percent you need, and you have a target you can practice toward.
Turn a practice test into a predicted score
Pick your exam, enter your multiple-choice and free-response points, and see your estimated 1 to 5 score next to the official 2026 distribution.
Browse AP score calculatorsFrequently Asked Questions
When were the 2026 AP score distributions released?
Students could see their 2026 scores starting Monday, July 6, 2026. The College Board posted subject distributions on its AP Students site around score release, adding subjects to the page on a rolling basis. Our guide to when AP scores come out covers the release process in detail.
Which AP exam had the highest pass rate in 2026?
AP Research, with 90 percent of students scoring 3 or higher. AP Seminar was second at 88 percent. Next came Chinese Language and Culture and 2D Art and Design at 85 percent each, then Drawing, Spanish Language and Culture, Calculus BC and Precalculus at 82 to 83 percent.
Which AP exam had the lowest pass rate in 2026?
AP Music Theory, at 59 percent. It was followed by AP Statistics at 62 percent and AP Computer Science Principles at 63 percent. A low pass rate reflects who takes the exam and how prepared they are, so it is not the same as saying these are the hardest courses.
Why do the 2026 numbers have no decimals?
The College Board's 2026 page reports whole percentages, while its 2025 and 2024 pages use one decimal place. That means small year-over-year differences, such as 72.6 percent becoming 72 percent, may be partly rounding. Compare years at the level of a few points, not tenths.
Are these distributions final?
They are the official figures the College Board published for the May 2026 exams. The page noted that it would be updated on a rolling basis as results were announced, so if you need a number for formal research, check the live College Board page and note the date you accessed it.
Does a high pass rate mean the exam is easy?
Not by itself. Exams like Calculus BC and the world language tests attract students who are already strong in the subject, which pushes their pass rates up. We unpack that in our ranking of the easiest and hardest AP exams.
Related Guides
See the composite percent each exam needs for a 3, 4 or 5 in the AP score curve chart, find out when AP scores come out, or go deep on one subject with how the AP Chemistry composite score is calculated.
Sources: College Board, AP Students, "2026 AP Score Distributions" (apstudents.collegeboard.org/about-ap-scores/score-distributions), "2025 AP Score Distributions" (apstudents.collegeboard.org/about-ap-scores/score-distributions/2025) and "2024 AP Score Distributions" (apstudents.collegeboard.org/about-ap-scores/score-distributions/2024); College Board, "About AP Scores" (apstudents.collegeboard.org/about-ap-scores). Accessed October 2026.