New for 2024-25: MCQs Will Have Four Answer Choices
Starting with the 2025 exam, AP English Language and Composition multiple-choice questions (MCQs) will have four answer choices instead of five. Most AP courses have already implemented this change, which research indicates could improve students’ exam-day experience. This summer we’ll release updated resources reflecting the change.
Exam Overview
Exam questions assess the course concepts and skills outlined in the course framework. For more information, download the AP English Language and Composition Course and Exam Description (.pdf) (CED).
Encourage your students to visit the AP English Language and Composition student page for exam information.
Exam Date
Exam Format
The AP English Language and Composition Exam has question types and point values that stay consistent from year to year, so you and your students know what to expect on exam day.
Section I: Multiple Choice
45 Questions | 1 hour | 45% of Exam Score
- Includes 5 sets of questions:
- 23–25 Reading questions that ask students to read and analyze nonfiction texts.
- 20–22 Writing questions that ask students to “read like a writer” and consider revisions to stimulus texts.
Section II: Free Response
3 Questions | 2 hours 15 minutes (includes a 15-minute reading period | 55% of Exam Score
- Students write essays that respond to 3 free-response prompts from the following categories:
- Synthesis Question: After reading 6–7 texts about a topic (including visual and quantitative sources), students will compose an argument that combines and cites at least 3 of the sources to support their thesis.
- Rhetorical Analysis: Students will read a nonfiction text and analyze how the writer’s language choices contribute to the intended meaning and purpose of the text.
- Argument: Students will create an evidence-based argument that responds to a given topic.