Preparation Resources
Getting students ready to succeed on AP Exams
To help students prepare for exam day, the College Board offers several resources for use both within and beyond the classroom.
Free-response questions
Students can hone their essay-writing skills with downloadable, previously administered free-response questions available on the AP student pages on collegeboard.com.
Released Exams
Released Exams allow teachers to prepare students using an actual AP Exam. In addition to providing the multiple-choice questions and answers, these books describe the process of scoring the free-response questions and include examples of students' actual responses, the scoring guidelines, and scoring commentary. Released Exams are produced every four or five years per subject on a rotating basis. Released Exams may be purchased at the College Board Store.
APCD® CD-ROMs
The APCD is an effective tool to help prepare more students to take AP courses and practice for the exams. Each CD offers test-taking strategies and provides practice with both multiple-choice and free-response questions. Tutorials are included, as is a Test Prep Planner with sample exam prep schedules. Learn more about APCDs in the AP student pages on collegeboard.com. If you're interested in a test drive, demo versions are also available.
Study skills and test-taking tips
The College Board's student site has compiled free tips and strategies for taking the AP Exams in world languages, math and science, and history and social sciences.