The AP Biology exam, May 2027
Section I is 60 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes, half the score. Section II is 6 free-response questions in 90 minutes, the other half. Two long questions on experimental results are scored out of 9 points each, and four short questions out of 4, which makes 34 free-response points.
Each free-response point is worth about 1.47 percentage points, against about 0.83 for a multiple-choice answer, because 34 points carry the same weight as 60 questions. A single 4-point short question is worth as much as seven multiple-choice answers, which is why skipping one costs so much.
A chart from the first redesigned exam
Biology’s chart is newer than most here: the 2013 public practice exam was a version of the first exam of the redesigned course, so its content is today’s. Its form wasn’t quite: 58 scored multiple-choice and grid-in questions and eight free-response questions (two long, six short) instead of six. That puts the Biology estimate between the close fits (Calculus, economics) and the rough ones.
The 2013 lines are unusually spread out: a high bar for a 4 and a 5, a low one for a 2. In practice that means a middling practice score can estimate a 3 while a strong one still falls short of a 5. Score your free-response answers strictly with the scoring guidelines: a point for “describe” needs the description the guidelines ask for, not just the right topic.
AP Biology exam format, May 2027
| Part | Scored out of | Share of score |
|---|---|---|
| Section I: Multiple choice · 1 h 30 min · 50% | ||
| Multiple-choice questions correct | 60 | 50% |
| Section II: Free response · 1 h 30 min · 50% | ||
| Question 1 (long) · Experimental results, 0–9 | 9 | 13.2% |
| Question 2 (long) · Experimental results with graphing, 0–9 | 9 | 13.2% |
| Question 3 · Scientific investigation, 0–4 | 4 | 5.9% |
| Question 4 · Conceptual analysis, 0–4 | 4 | 5.9% |
| Question 5 · Model or visual representation, 0–4 | 4 | 5.9% |
| Question 6 · Analyze data, 0–4 | 4 | 5.9% |
Estimated cutoffs
From the 2013 AP Biology Public Practice Exam, scoring worksheet, College Board's newest published conversion chart for this subject (2013 exam: 58 multiple-choice and grid-in questions (50%) and 8 free-response questions (50%), the first exam of the 2013 redesign). The calculator puts your weighted score on that chart's 0–120 scale.
| AP score | 2013 composite | Weighted score from |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 93–120 | 77.1% |
| 4 | 75–92 | 62.1% |
| 3 | 54–74 | 44.6% |
| 2 | 30–53 | 24.6% |
| 1 | 0–29 | 0% |
AP Biology score distributions
| Year | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | 15% | 25% | 31% | 21% | 8% |
| May 2025 | 18.9% | 24.1% | 27.4% | 21.0% | 8.6% |
Share of students earning each score, from College Board's AP Biology score distributions. 287,232 students took the exam in May 2025. The May 2026 figures are College Board's rounded whole percentages.