AP German Language and Culture
Advanced Placement course and exam

Advanced Placement (AP) German Language and Culture (also known as AP German Language or AP German) is a course and examination provided by the College Board through the Advanced Placement Program. This course is designed to give high school students the opportunity to receive credit in a college-level German language course. It is generally taken in the fourth year of high school German study.
01Exam
The AP German Language and Culture exam administered around the end of the academic year is split into two parts, a multiple-choice section and a free response section, each with equal value in the overall exam score.
Format
| Section | Number of Questions | Number of Minutes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section I, Part A: Multiple Choice - Interpretive Communication: Print Texts | 30 questions | 40 minutes | 50% |
| Section I, Part B: Multiple Choice - Interpretive Communication: Print and Audio Texts | 35 questions | ~55 minutes | |
| Section II Part A: Free Response - Writing | 2 questions | ~70 minutes | 50% |
| Section II, Part B: Free Response - Speaking | 6 questions | ~18 minutes |
Grade distribution
The grade distributions for the AP German Language and Culture exam since 2009 are:
| Score | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 23.3% | 24.8% | 23.4% | 26.2% | 25.9% | 23.1% | 24.7% | 21.4% | 23.0% | 22.4% | 21.0% | 23.9% | 18.0% | 20.0% | 21.8% | 24% | 19% | 24% |
| 4 | 21.7% | 20.0% | 19.6% | 25.6% | 23.4% | 23.1% | 24.0% | 22.5% | 24.1% | 22.7% | 24.2% | 33.9% | 19.5% | 19.1% | 21.3% | 18% | 23% | 17% |
| 3 | 24.0% | 23.1% | 23.6% | 27.5% | 28.4% | 27.1% | 28.2% | 27.0% | 28.5% | 25.9% | 27.2% | 16.0% | 27.6% | 26.5% | 24.9% | 25% | 27% | 27% |
| 2 | 18.9% | 18.6% | 19.8% | 13.9% | 16.3% | 18.5% | 16.6% | 20.6% | 17.5% | 21.6% | 19.5% | 19.5% | 23.5% | 22.9% | 19.2% | 22% | 19% | 22% |
| 1 | 12.2% | 13.4% | 13.6% | 6.8% | 6.0% | 8.2% | 6.4% | 8.5% | 6.9% | 7.4% | 8.2% | 6.7% | 11.4% | 11.6% | 12.8% | 11% | 12% | 10% |
| % of Scores 3 or Higher | 68.9% | 67.9% | 66.6% | 79.3% | 77.7% | 73.3% | 77.0% | 70.9% | 75.5% | 71.0% | 72.3% | 73.8% | 65.1% | 65.5% | 68.0% | 67% | 69% | 68% |
| Mean | 3.25 | 3.24 | 3.19 | 3.50 | 3.47 | 3.34 | 3.44 | 3.28 | 3.39 | 3.31 | 3.30 | 3.49 | 3.09 | 3.13 | 3.20 | 3.22 | ||
| Standard Deviation | 1.33 | 1.36 | 1.36 | 1.21 | 1.21 | 1.24 | 1.21 | 1.25 | 1.21 | 1.24 | 1.23 | 1.23 | 1.26 | 1.29 | 1.32 | 1.32 | ||
| Number of Students | 5,001 | 5,389 | 5,232 | 4,754 | 4,966 | 5,111 | 5,103 | 4,945 | 5,089 | 5,053 | 5,160 | 4,928 | 4,315 | 4,450 | 4,375 | 4,185 | 4,213 | 4,200 |
02AP German Literature
The College Board originally offered two AP German exams: AP German Language and AP German Literature. However, in 1983, due to the persistently low number of AP German Literature exam students, the College Board dropped the Literature exam. Since then, they have offered only the AP German Language exam.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “AP German Language and Culture”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Logo of Advanced Placement German Language and Culture.svg by Unknown author, Fair use
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