APWH Writer's Workshop

Exam Information

The AP World History Exam is 3 hours and 5 minutes long and includes both a 55-minute multiple-choice section and a 130-minute free-response section. The multiple-choice section of the examination accounts for half of the student's exam score, and the free-response section for the other half. 

Multiple-Choice Section

Section I consists of 70 multiple-choice questions designed to measure the student's knowledge of world history from Period 1 to the present. This section follows the percentages listed below; questions will draw from individual or multiple periods: 

Multiple-choice questions will also measure various geographical regions, with no more than 20 percent of multiple-choice questions focusing solely on Europe. 

Free-Response Section

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.