Students will be trading in their No. 2 pencils for computers this May when they take AP tests. College Board has announced that starting in 2025, 28 AP tests will be completely digital, with several more becoming hybrid. 

For English, most social science courses and several science subjects, testing will be completely digital. The tests will be similar to the digital PSAT and SAT that many Rio students are already familiar with. Multiple-choice questions will be answered on the computer in lieu of a Scantron, and free-response questions will be typed.

Hybrid tests will have the same setup for the multiple-choice portion, but the free responses will still be written. This category includes subjects such as math, physics, biology, chemistry and economics.

Rio students will be taking the AP tests on school-administered Chromebooks. Similar to the digital PSAT and SAT exams, the AP tests will use the exam software Bluebook.

Since January, the Bluebook computer app has had a testing preview, which allows students to get used to the software, if they haven’t used it previously. In addition, the College Board website has practice resources for students taking upcoming digital AP exams.

Aside from the move from paper to computer, many aspects of the AP testing process are staying the same. College Board has stated that there will be no changes to the number or type of questions on tests, or to the timing for each section. So the content of the tests will be staying the same.

On the digital AP tests, students will be able to move freely between the questions within each section, similar to on the paper exams. In addition, the digital exam will introduce highlighting and annotation features, and students will be able to mark questions to revisit and eliminate answer choices in the multiple-choice section. 

Test takes will only need internet connection to start the exam and to submit it. A service interruption will not effect testing. If the internet is down at the end of a test, the College Board says test takers will have three days to submit an encrypted exam.

For exams requiring calculations, including math, science and economics, with the exception of AP Statistics, the Desmos graphing calculator will be embedded within Bluebook for students to use during the test.