AP World History Exam 2025

AP World History is regarded as difficult, with class alumni ranking it 6.1/10 for overall difficulty, the 10th most difficult out of the 28 large AP classes surveyed. With 62% of students graduating with a three or better, the pass rate is average compared to comparable AP classes.

It takes 3 hours and 15 minutes to finish the AP World History exam.

• Refrain from trying to memorize everything. Focus more on understanding how various areas and events relate to historical themes than on specific names and dates because the exam examines your comprehension of historical context and patterns.
• Follow the lecture material. The most efficient way to do well on the AP World History exam is to concentrate in class and read the material intently. Simply put, there is too much information to fit into a few days or weeks. Even if you don’t remember everything, if you stay current on the material throughout the year, you’ll enter the test with a strong foundation of understanding.
• In the spring, read a study guide. Pick up a few copies of the various AP prep book series that are available and go over the information inside. These books should be used outside the textbook but can provide a concise, easy-to-read overview of the course material and historical themes.
• Work on giving quick responses to queries. If you want to finish the multiple-choice portion of the AP World History exam in one minute, you must answer one question every minute. The most effective strategy to improve your time is to take as many practice exams as possible.
• Work on your writing pace. Timing significantly affects how well you perform on the essay portions. You’ll need to practice analyzing information quickly and formulating arguments rapidly. You must create a well-structured essay with a solid thesis that responds to the prompt and does so. The final sentence of the first paragraph should be your thesis, which is one sentence that summarizes your whole case. Each following section should discuss a different aspect of your case and have a distinct topic phrase (a mini-thesis at the start of the paragraph). Again, practicing with prompts is the only way to improve your essay-writing skills.
• Respond to all inquiries. You have a better chance of succeeding if you submit a response to every question, even if you need clarification on whether it’s correct because you won’t be punished for giving an incorrect one.

Given the amount of material that must be learned and the questions’ heavy reliance on analytical thinking and writing, AP World History is one of the more challenging tests offered by the college-preparatory program. It’s also one of the most well-known, making it difficult to determine whether the data is skewed because many students can only sit for the test with adequate preparation.

In a nutshell, the AP World History course and exam are well worthwhile. The skills you develop for this course will be extremely useful in the coming years, even if we have spent the entirety of this AP World History study guide warning you how challenging the course and exam are.

Examine the worldwide societal, political, economic, and cultural changes from around 1200 CE to the present.

The answer to this largely depends on your school. Consider this if other pupils at your school advise you to skip class. If the teacher is, this could significantly impact the learning environment. A lot of students may be unwilling to put in the effort. If you haven’t already, find out why the course is so challenging for sophomores. Take the on-level world history class and try to fit in another AP that corresponds with your interests, if it is due to the teacher or anything else highly vital.

Nine study units make up the course’s content, and together they offer one possible order for the course.

• Enroll and start taking your school’s AP World History course. You can still take the test even if the system is unavailable; it simply requires much more work.
• Develop an interest in the topic. Read literature about historical people, eras, etc. It even helps to read historical fiction! Do not limit your reading to either European or American history.
• Pass your classes. Participate as much as possible, and give every task your best effort. Take notes, but pay attention to what’s crucial. Textbooks sometimes contain too much information that won’t help you on the test.
• Write Document-Based Essay Questions (DBQs) as much as you can, and pay attention to the comments you receive. It’s critical to practice writing a DBQ within the 50-minute limit because you only have 10 minutes to read the papers and 40 minutes to compose your response.
• Sign up for the exam. Certain schools will register you on their systems if you enroll in the course. Find out where and when to write for the test if you are not taking the course or if your institution needs to conduct this. Ask your counselor for assistance if you still need clarification.
• A minimum of one month before the exam, purchase an AP World History study guide. Take the chapter quizzes after reading each chapter. Pay close attention to any trouble spots you uncover, and research them. After each section, test yourself to ensure you comprehend the material. Knowing periods and places is what you should concentrate on, as you don’t need to be familiar with individual products.
• Begin taking practice exams, which may include essays. Work with your pals to prepare for as many as possible using their review materials. Use the essay-writing advice provided in the review book.
• Show up and take the exam on the scheduled day (usually mid-May). Do not worry or cram, and try not to be apprehensive because it is pretty easy to mess up if you are. By July, you need to get your test results.

• To ace this AP exam, consider how the facts relate to larger contexts covered by the designated course subjects. This is how the multiple-choice and essay questions are created. Therefore it’s crucial to comprehend the subjects well. Recall that the AP World History: Modern official topics are: government, cultural changes and relations,economic systems, technology and innovation, social interactions and organization, and people and the environment.
• Exercising historical thinking is crucial when preparing for the AP World History: Modern exam. Consider what sources and records historians employ as evidence, and how do they assess the merits, limitations, and biases of such evidence? And how do historians ascertain the root reasons for significant developments or events? Exam multiple-choice questions may challenge you to evaluate illustrations, quotes, or passages from old writing. The document-based question on the AP World History: Modern exam tests your capacity to think historically.
• Review the exam’s grading structure so you know the criteria AP readers will use to evaluate your writings to get the highest possible mark on the AP World History: Modern essay part. Concentrate on developing a solid thesis statement and skillfully presenting your evidence.
• Being an expert in facts, such as names and dates, can help you score higher on essay and multiple-choice questions. But rather than focusing on who did what and when this AP exam is more likely to highlight how things were done or why they occurred. To get the highest score on the AP World History: Modern exam, you must think critically and show that you thoroughly comprehend the past. Consider how it relates to related issues at other times and places. Causes and their consequences are fundamental. You can get a score of 5 if you can show that you comprehend the material at this more profound level.
• Both the course and exam for AP World History: Modern place a lot of emphasis on interaction. Keep an eye out for interactions between historical eras as you learn. Be aware that interaction can occur in many ways and on various scales, including local, regional, interregional, and global. Your AP World History: Modern test score will increase and help you stand out from other test-takers if you recognize and analyze historical interactions.

• Unit 1 (Global Tapestry)

Spend only a short time on this component. Observe the significant patterns. In this unit, you are expected to become familiar with the many global regions and influential figures at the outset of modern world history.

• Unit 2 (Networks of Exchange)

Learn about the trade networks and how they affect global trade, the expansion of empires, and the spread of culture. Landlocked kingdoms could interact, develop economically, and enlarge their state religion thanks to networks like the Silk Roads and the Indian Ocean.

• Unit 3 (Land-Based Empires)

Determine the key parallels and divergences between the various empires discussed in this unit. By doing so, you’ll be able to draw parallels while also connecting how kingdoms were established and run during this period (1200-1450).

• Unit 4 (Transoceanic Connections)

Recognize the causes of the Age of Exploration, the long-term effects of the Columbian Exchange, and how Europe—particularly Spain and Portugal—rose to prominence as a world power following the discovery of the New World.

• Unit 5 (Revolutions)

Know more than just the specifics of each of the four major revolutions. Consider the effects of industrialization on societies’ political, social, and economic spheres.

• Unit 6 (Consequences of Industrialization)

Between 1750 and 1900, industrialization directly influenced the growth of empire and large-scale migration.

• Unit 7 (Global Conflict)

In the Global Conflict Unit, we first notice alliances forming and new links in the globalized globe! Watch for the reasons and consequences of all the great wars, and see if you can identify any additional similar causes in modern-day world history.

• Unit 8 (Cold War & Decolonization)

Although this unit appears to be about economics and conflict, it is much more than that. You can witness various modern battles in Unit 8 and how they are handled due to globalization; however, Unit 9 will provide a more thorough explanation. Try to connect the dots between various occurrences and look for rationales for each action taken in the modern day.

Discuss colonies where the settlers lived there rather than just spending a modest amount of money to exploit the area, which is especially notable in the case of the British colonies in North America.

A vital component of the AP Historical Reasoning skill of contextualization is the capacity to relate particular historical events and processes to broader local, national, and international processes. Beyond simply “earning the point” in AP, it is a crucial talent. The best papers, books, and essays all “set the stage” for their primary arguments with background material.

The following subjects were covered on the AP World History exam in 2025: The Middle Ages, 1200–1450. 1450–1750 is considered the Early Modern Era. The Contemporary Era, 1750–1900.

AP exam results are usually announced in July or roughly two months after the May exam date.

Answering 55 questions is required for the AP US History multiple choice part.

While some students view AP courses as too difficult to enroll in, others, mainly sophomores taking AP World History, see it as a chance to get college credit.

As a specialized social sciences and humanities phrase, “state-building” refers to political and historical processes of creating, institutionalizing, stabilizing, and fostering sustainable state development from the earliest emergence of statehood to the modern era.

May 1–5 and May 8–12 will each see two weeks of the AP examinations in 2025. Students can only take the full-length paper-and-pencil AP World History test in schools starting in 2025.

It was on May 21, 2020.

Students have three hours and fifteen minutes to finish the AP World History exam. Test takers must complete 55 multiple-choice questions, three short-answer questions, and two free-response questions in that time.

Test takers are given a score on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest score and 3 being a passing score.

A score of 3 or higher indicated that 56.2% of students would be eligible for course placement or college credit.

• Exams cost $97 in the United States, U.S. territories, Canada, and DoDEA schools.
• The cost of a test at other colleges is $127. (Note: Exam fees in test locations approved by the College Board outside the United States may differ.)
• AP CapstoneTM Exams cost 145 dollars each (AP Seminar and Research).

• On your first try, respond to every question you are sure of and know the answer.
• Review the remaining questions one more time. Take your best-educated guess if you can remove at least two possible answers and the subject is one you are familiar with. Mark the question in your exam booklet with an X if you glance at it and can’t remember the answer. Then, move on. 
• Review the exam again to respond to the questions you marked with an X. Try to rule out at least two options before making an educated prediction.
• With the remaining time, cross out any unnecessary marks in your answer grid (such as any Xs you may have missed) and double-check that the answers you’ve filled in match the correct test booklet numbers.

• Practice writing
• Look over the writing rubrics
• Identify your best learning strategy
• Be prepared for a lot of work
• Remember that it’s not about the memorization of dates

• Take a seat up front. Hearing, perceiving, and comprehending the information is more straightforward, with fewer outside distractions.
• Every page, assignment, and handout should be date- and number-stamped. This will be useful when you start your exam preparation or note-taking for an essay.
• Resist the need to record everything. Shorten your notes. The more time you spend writing, the less time you have to focus on comprehending the lecture’s core ideas and figuring out its structure and thesis. Don’t use a sentence when a phrase will do or a term when a word will do. When possible, use symbols and abbreviations.
• Recognize the lecture’s outline. Most lectures follow a straightforward outline. Pay attention to key phrases and terms to know what that structure is and where you are in it at any given moment.
• Begin each lecture’s notes on a new page. This gives you more flexibility in organizing your notes, enabling you to combine lecture and reading-related notes on the same subject.
• Speak for yourself instead of paraphrasing the professor. Copying formulas, definitions, rules, and other information verbatim is essential.
• Create a system for taking notes using codes to denote questions, comments, key ideas, assignment deadlines, etc. This makes it easier to isolate unnecessary information from the main body of notes (for example, use “!” for crucial concepts, “?” for inquiries, or [bracket personal comments]). You may even create your symbols for words or concepts that are frequently used (like ” for change or “C” for a century).
• Keep an eye out for the instructor’s hints. Whether the instructor writes it on the overhead or the board is crucial. Ensure to note any repetitions the instructor makes during the lecture. Additionally, emphasis is frequently indicated by abrupt voice changes and extended deliberate pauses.

• Practice with old AP World DBQ questions
  A fantastic approach to getting ready for any standardized test, including the AP World exam, is to take practice tests. Practice exams allow you to evaluate your knowledge and become accustomed to the test style, which is particularly crucial for AP World DBQs.
• Get comfortable drafting theses. A thesis statement is a brief explanation of the subject matter of your essay that appears in the introduction. In this instance, your idea will summarize your AP World DBQ’s claim.
  The most crucial need for your thesis is to present a debatable and pertinent claim to the assignment’s prompt. However, your argument should be more than just regurgitating the question.
• Get comfortable designing outlines. You have one hour to complete the timed AP World History DBQ, so keep that in mind. Before writing your essay, you should make a quick outline to keep your work focused and ordered. However, you must carefully spend only a little time on your outline to leave adequate time for writing your DBQ. It is advised to study papers for 15 minutes, outline your essay for 5 minutes, and write your response for 40 minutes.
• You must use instances from the offered resources in your essay, and each time you do, you must say which documents you used for the material. This applies whether you are directly quoting the fabric or just summarizing it.

Alumni of the course have given AP World History a difficulty rating of 6.1/10, considered extremely high (the 10th most difficult out of the 28 large AP classes surveyed). With 62% of students graduating with a three or better, the pass rate is average compared to comparable AP classes.

No, to put it simply. Neither is more difficult. Both share the same historical thinking skills, exam structure, and grade criteria. The majority of universities award equal credit for both.

Examine the worldwide societal, political, economic, and cultural changes from around 1200 CE. You will evaluate texts, visual sources, and other historical evidence as you compose essays conveying historical arguments.

AP Human geography is categorized as a social science and history course. Be warned that many prestigious colleges don’t award credit for this.

You must read all seven texts to complete the AP World History DBQ and then respond to the prompt in an argumentative essay. Therefore, in addition to developing a debatable thesis, you’ll need to support it using at least three of the seven papers.

• Keep up with your readings. If your class is like mine, most test and quiz questions will be taken directly from the readings. Make use of this to your benefit.
• Create a productive note-taking method. This connects to the initial point. Discover the learning and memory techniques that work best for you. Additionally, acronyms are your buddy.
• Organize everything into categories. Information is categorized into many categories and historical eras in AP World. Learn early history as the Mesopotamian economy, the Indus religion, etc., rather than attempting to memorize unrelated facts about it. When you approach it in this manner, it appears much less daunting.
• Finish the essays. The section of AP history that students fear the most. Thankfully, they don’t have to be as tricky as they appear. Learn the rubrics first; if you follow them, the grader MUST award you the points (at least, the basic core, which should get you an A-). Second, do practice outlines. You don’t need to write whole essays that would take too long, but knowing what you would write should you get a specific question is a good essay and content review. Additionally, remember that the pieces frequently inquire about categories (how Russia’s political institutions changed over time); in this case, pointer 3 is helpful.

• Plan ahead and stick to it.
• Use the fundamental concepts as your guide, not the textbook.
• Take tests and essays with students.
• Use technology in the classroom.
• Join a professional learning community.

• Answer to the inquiry. Give a strong assertion that responds to the prompt in a phrase or a sentence.
• Cite the evidence. This can be a specific, precise historical detail related to the prompt and included in the exact phrase as your A.
• Elaborate and explain as needed.

You give a brief introduction to your subject before expressing your point of view on it in one sentence, frequently and directly. The thesis statement summarizes the position you will take throughout your paper.

• Understand the format. This essay aims to demonstrate that it is possible to observe historical records, whether they be in the form of written historical accounts or ship registers.
• Organize your documents correctly. Your records can be analyzed using a variety of topics, including chronology, cultural concerns, and others.
• Construct a historical case. Read and evaluate each document separately first. Create your thesis statement based on the information in the materials.

A passing score on an AP® exam is a 3, a 4, or a 5, which is typically regarded as a good result. A 3 is considered “qualified,” a 4 “well qualified,” and a 5 “very well qualified,” according to the College Board.

The AP US History exam is the most challenging history test there is.

For their history course, first-year students often have the option of taking AP World History or regular/honors World History.

The term “globalization” describes how trade and technology have increased connectivity and interdependence worldwide. The scope of globalization encompasses the resulting economic and societal developments.

• The Princeton Review’s Cracking the AP World History: Modern Exam, 2020 Premium Edition
• AP World History: Modern Crash Course, Revised 3rd Edition
• Barron’s AP World History: Modern Premium, 10th Edition
• McGraw-Hill’s 5 Steps to a 5: AP World History: Modern, 2025 Edition
• Kaplan’s AP World History: Modern Prep Plus 2020 & 2025

For the AP World History exam, a score of 3 is considered to be passing by the College Board.

The AP World History: Modern exam has three sections—a multiple-choice, short answer, and free response—lasting for three hours and fifteen minutes.

More than 300,000 students took the AP World History exam in May 2020. However, only about 185,000 pupils passed the exam.

Your score could be revoked if you violate any of the test’s security or administration policies and procedures. You might even be excluded from testing in some situations.

You can view your AP Exam results online. You must enter your College Board login and password to log in.

Many students might find the AP European History curriculum challenging because it covers over 500 years of European history from numerous angles. Students who scored well in AP World History may find AP European History easier because it covers much less material than AP World History.

AP Human Geo is a decent choice as a freshman, but AP World is much more challenging. Because you have to understand roughly 8000 years of history, it’s one of the most challenging AP classes.

• Theme 1: Humans and the Environment (ENV).
• Theme 2: Cultural Developments and Interactions (CDI).
• Theme 3: Governance (GOV)
• Theme 4: Economic Systems (ECN)
• Theme 5: Social Interactions and Organization (SIO)
• Theme 6: Technology and Innovation (TEC)

You can choose from the following subjects: English, math & computer sciences, history & social studies, sciences, and world language & culture. You might want to click on the AP that appeals to you and read the college board’s description. Search on CC to determine the level of difficulty.

The abbreviation M-A-I-N, which stands for militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism, is frequently used to analyze the war.

You will be able to retake the AP® World History exam as many times as necessary to achieve the desired score. Each May, the test is administered. Every time you take a test, you are in charge of paying the fees.

The document-based question (DBQ) is a type of question on the AP World History exam that requires you to choose one of seven papers and then write an essay using at least six of those documents’ contents to make a cogent case about a given prompt.

Feudalism was a social structure in which lower-ranking individuals provided security and land to lower-ranking individuals in exchange for their labor and support. The fundamental notion behind feudalism was that it was a way to organize relationships in society around the ownership of land in exchange for labor.

Humanism is a “system or method of thought or activity in which human interests, values, and dignity predominate…” In philosophy especially, “a variety of ethical theory and practice emphasizes reason, scientific inquiry, and human fulfillment in the natural world.”

Imperialism enlarges a nation’s power and influence via armed force or diplomacy to exploit another country for financial benefit.

In 2025, the typical AP World History exam score was 2.96, up from 2.71 in 2025.

As you probably already know, the time period covered by AP® Modern World History extends from 1200 CE to the present day, a span of nearly eight hundred years.

The 18th century saw the rise of the Enlightenment, a philosophical movement that strongly emphasized skepticism, individuality, and reason. It was a period of enormous intellectual and cultural awakening that helped to establish many of the principles and values that still influence contemporary Western culture.

The Crusades were a string of holy battles fought by Christians against unbelievers or “infidels.” The largest crusade by the Roman Catholic Church was to retake Palestine from the Muslims. Palestine is where Christianity originated.

The College Board’s choice to start the AP World History: Modern course in 1200 CE rather than all the way back in the Paleolithic Era represents the most significant change, as it eliminates thousands of years of World History.