Test Site Security Regulations

AP Exam Test Site Security Regulations

By registering for an AP exam you are agreeing to adhere to all the AP Exam Test Site Security Regulations listed here as well as on The College Board's website. You will sign off acknowledging awareness of these regulations on your exam materials BEFORE testing begins. 

• No backpacks or bags are allowed in the testing room.

• Water in clear containers (no labels!) are allowed with you. Snacks for during the break need to come in containers/wrappers that are clear and carried into the testing room in a plastic bag.

• No cell phones, smartwatches or electronic communication devices of ANY kind are allowed in the exam room.

• ​CALCULATORS: Only approved calculator models are allowed in the exam room for exams where calculators are permitted.  (Speak with your teacher to confirm whether you may use a calculator on your exam, or check The College Board AP Exam website).

• In addition, the following security regulations also published on the College Board website must be adhered to:

  • Violation of exam security policies and procedures: 

    • On exam day, students are required to sign their answer sheet, indicating that they are aware of, and agree to, all of the policies and procedures discussed. Students also must sign the covers of the multiple-choice and free-response booklets, affirming statements related to the security of the exam. 

  • The exam security policies and procedures students agree to include the following:

    • Exam materials must be kept sealed so that no one sees the questions beforehand

    • Because multiple-choice questions are sometimes reused, no one other than the student may see the multiple-choice questions during the exam.

    • Students may not, under any circumstances, remove multiple-choice questions from the testing room; give them to anyone else; discuss them with anyone (including an AP teacher); or share them through any means, including, but not limited to, e-mail, text messages, a camera phone and the Internet.

    • Students may not, under any circumstances, remove free-response questions from the testing room, and may not discuss them until 48 hours after the regularly scheduled exam administration. Free-response questions that appear on alternate forms of the exam may never be discussed.

    • Cell phones, digital cameras, personal digital assistants (PDAs), BlackBerry smartphones, Bluetooth-enabled devices, MP3 players, e-mail/messaging devices, and any other electronic or communication devices are prohibited in the exam room. If a student is observed with any of these devices during testing or during breaks, the student may be dismissed from the exam room, and the device may be confiscated.

    • Students may not consult textbooks, teachers or other students, and may not use any electronic device (including e-mail/messaging devices or cell phones) or any other resource during the break between Sections I and II of the exam, or during any unscheduled breaks. No one, other than the proctor(s) and examinees, are allowed in the testing rooms before, during or immediately follow the exam.

  • Disclosure of secure test items 

    • If a student is discovered disclosing through any means any multiple-choice question, any free-response question from an alternate exam, or any free-response question from a regularly scheduled exam within 48 hours of its administration, the College Board will automatically cancel the student’s exam score and may ban the student from all future College Board exam administrations (this includes AP Exams and SAT Exams).

  • Misconduct

    • If a student engages in misconduct in connection with an AP® Exam, the student will be asked to turn in their exam materials and leave the testing room. The student may not return to the testing room, and their AP Exam score will be cancelled. Student may be banned from all future College Board exam administrations (which includes AP Exams and SAT Exams). Misconduct includes:

      1. Obtaining improper access to the exam, or a part of the exam, or information about the exam.

      2. Referring to, looking through, or working on any exam, or exam section, other than during the timed testing period for that exam or exam section.

      3. Using any prohibited aids.

      4. Wearing clothing with subject-related information.

      5. Bringing food or drink into the testing room.*

      6. Leaving the testing room without permission.

      7. Attempting to remove from the testing room any part of the exam or any notes relating to the exam.

      8. Copying from another student’s work or a published work.

      9. Attempting to give or receive assistance, or otherwise communicate, through any means, with another person about the exam during the exam administration

      10. Attempting to take the exam for someone else.

      11. Creating a disturbance.

      12. Failing to follow any of the exam administration regulations discussed in the Bulletin for AP Students and Parents, provided by testing staff, or specified in any exam materials.

      13. Using testing accommodations that have not been preapproved by the College Board.

* Unless food or drink other than bottled water has been preapproved as an accommodation by the College Board Services for Students with Disabilities, no food is allowed.