KlahowyaSecondary School

Exam Overview

The AP World History Exam questions measure students' knowledge of world history and their ability to think historically. Questions are based on key and supporting concepts, course themes, and historical thinking skills. Exam questions represent various geographical regions, with no more than 20 percent of the multiple-choice questions focusing solely on Europe.

Format of Assessment

Section I: Multiple Choice: 70 Questions | 55 Minutes | 50% of Exam Score

• Discrete items with an occasional set of two items
• Historical source material, such as images, charts, maps, and text-based passages, may be included in some items.

Section II: Free Response: 3 Questions | 130 Minutes | 50% of Exam Score

• Document-Based Question (DBQ) (50 minutes, including a 10-minute reading period)
• Change-over-time question (40 minutes)
• Comparative essay (40 minutes)
• Each question in this section is weighted equally

Multiple-Choice Questions

For sample multiple-choice questions, refer to the Course and Exam Description.

Free-Response Questions

In Section II, the free-response section of the exam, Part A begins with a mandatory 10-minute reading period for the document-based question. Students should answer the document-based question in approximately 40 minutes. In Part B, students are asked to answer a question that deals with continuity and change over time (covering at least one of the periods in the concept outline). Students will have 40 minutes to answer this question, 5 minutes of which should be spent planning and/or outlining the answer. In Part C, students are asked to answer a comparative question that will focus on broad issues or themes in world history and deal with at least two societies. Students will have 40 minutes to answer this question, 5 minutes of which should be spent planning and/or outlining the answer.