Entering an AP CSP practice result
Count the multiple-choice questions you got right out of 70, the eight select-two questions included. Then score your Create task with College Board’s scoring guidelines: 0 to 3 for the video, program requirements and Written Response 1, and 0 to 3 for Written Response 2’s three parts. Score each row strictly: a row is earned only when every criterion in it is met.
Reading the estimate
The Create task is where the points are lumpy. Fifty multiple-choice answers and 5 of the 6 Create points come to 75%, under Fiveable’s 78.5% for a 5; the sixth Create point makes it 80% and a 5. Your program, video and Personalized Project Reference are fixed once you submit them, so before the deadline check the video shows input, functionality and output, and that your code has a list, a procedure you call, selection and iteration. After that, multiple-choice practice is the main lever.
Fives are scarce on CSP: College Board’s May 2026 figures show 10% of test takers with one, against 30% with a 3. With 6 of 6 on the Create task, Fiveable’s 5 line needs 49 of 70 multiple-choice answers; with 4 of 6, it needs 59. For the Java exam, see the Computer Science A calculator.
AP Computer Science Principles exam format, May 2027
| Part | Scored out of | Share of score |
|---|---|---|
| Section I: Multiple choice · 2 h · 70% | ||
| Multiple-choice questions correct · 57 single-select, 5 with a reading passage, 8 select-two | 70 | 70% |
| Section II: Create performance task · 1 h · 30% | ||
| Video, program requirements and Written Response 1 · Rubric 0–3 (one point each) | 3 | 15% |
| Written Response 2 (a, b, c) · Rubric 0–3 (one point each) | 3 | 15% |
Estimated cutoffs
Estimated cutoffs from Fiveable's published chart (2027), not College Board — we found no official College Board chart for this exam. Source: Fiveable's AP Computer Science Principles score calculator (2027), which uses the May 2027 format, on a 100-point composite with College Board's weights. The calculator reads your weighted score against that chart's 0–100 scale.
| AP score | Fiveable composite | Weighted score from |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 79–100 | 78.5% |
| 4 | 65–78 | 64.5% |
| 3 | 53–64 | 52.5% |
| 2 | 42–52 | 41.5% |
| 1 | 0–41 | 0% |
AP Computer Science Principles score distributions
| Year | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | 10% | 23% | 30% | 21% | 16% |
| May 2025 | 10.7% | 19.9% | 31.2% | 21.4% | 16.8% |
Share of students earning each score, from College Board's AP Computer Science Principles score distributions. 175,174 students took the exam in May 2025. The May 2026 figures are College Board's rounded whole percentages.