The AP® Spanish Language and Culture Exam is a college-level exam administered every year in May upon the completion of an Advanced Placement Spanish Language course taken at your high school. If you score high enough, you could earn college credit!
Check out our AP Spanish Guide for the essential info you need about the exam:
The College Board requires your AP teacher to cover certain topics in the AP Spanish Language & Culture course. As you complete your review, make sure you are familiar with the following topics:
For helpful exam review and test-taking strategies, check out our book,
The AP Spanish Language & Culture Exam is just over 3 hours long to complete and is comprised of two sections: a multiple-choice section and a free-response section. There are two parts to the multiple-choice section, and four questions in the free-response section.
Section |
Timing |
Number of Questions |
% of Exam Score |
Section 1 Part A: Multiple-choice questions
Part B: Multiple-choice questions
|
Part A: 40 minutes Part B: 55 minutes |
Part A: 30 multiple-choice questions Part B: 35 multiple-choice questions |
Part A: 23% Part B: 27% |
Section 2 Question 1: Email Reply Question 2: Argumentative Essay Question 4: Cultural Comparison |
88 minutes
|
4 |
50% (12.5% per question) |
The first part of the multiple-choice section contains sets of questions based on one or more print text sources.
The second part of the multiple-choice section contains sets of questions based on audio text sources, as well as a combination of audio and print text sources.
AP scores are reported from 1 to 5. Colleges are generally looking for a 4 or 5 on the AP Spanish Language & Culture exam, but some may grant credit for a 3. Here’s how students scored on the May 2020 test:
AP Spanish Score |
Meaning |
Percentage of Test Takers |
5 |
Extremely qualified |
30.5% |
4 |
Well qualified |
36.4% |
3 |
Qualified |
23.1% |
2 |
Possibly qualified |
8.8% |
1 |
No recommendation |
1.2% |
Source:
AP classes are great, but for many students they’re not enough! For a thorough review of AP Spanish content and strategy, pick the AP prep option that works best for your goals and learning style.
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