AP Computer Science Principles review: exam format, the 5 big ideas, and how to study

What’s on the AP Computer Science Principles exam

AP CSP is scored from two parts. The first is Section I of the end-of-course exam: 70 multiple-choice questions in 120 minutes, worth 70%. Most are single-answer, a handful are multiple-select (choose two), and a few are reading-passage questions about a computing innovation. The second is the Create Performance Task, worth 30% — a program you design and build over roughly 9 hours of class time, along with a Personalized Project Reference (screenshots of your code).

Here is the part that changed in 2024: instead of writing about your program at home, you now answer written-response questions about it on the exam itself. Section II gives you 60 minutes and four prompts that reference your Personalized Project Reference, and those responses are what earn the 30%. The whole exam is fully digital in Bluebook. Our AP CSP written response guide breaks those prompts down.

The 5 big ideas of AP Computer Science Principles

The course is organized around five big ideas rather than chapters. Algorithms and Programming is by far the most heavily tested on the multiple choice.

How AP Computer Science Principles is scored

Your multiple-choice score (70%) and written-response score (30%) combine into one composite, which the College Board scales to a 1–5. AP CSP is very passable but stingy at the top: in 2024, 64.0% of students scored a 3 or higher, yet only 10.9% earned a 5, and the mean was 2.90. A full third of students land on exactly a 3, so the gap between passing and a top score is real.

What lifts a 3 to a 5 is a strong Create task paired with a high multiple-choice score, especially on the heavily weighted Algorithms and Programming questions. To see what a practice raw score becomes, run it through our AP CSP score calculator.

How to study for AP Computer Science Principles

Two tracks run in parallel. For the multiple choice, drill across all five big ideas but spend the most time on Algorithms and Programming, since it is a third of the section — get fluent with variables, lists, procedures, conditionals, and loops in the exam’s reference language. For the Create task, build a program you genuinely understand, because the written responses reward describing your own code precisely.

Then practice the written responses directly. Work the four prompts against the rubric with our AP CSP written response guide, and if you are weighing how tough the course is, see whether AP Computer Science Principles is hard.

When is the AP CSP exam, and how long is it

The AP Computer Science Principles end-of-course exam is given once a year during the College Board’s May testing window and takes about 3 hours. The Create Performance Task is completed earlier, in class, and submitted through the AP Digital Portfolio before the deadline. Exact dates are set each year, so confirm the current schedule with your coordinator.