Updated April 29, 2025
What are the Easiest AP Classes This Year?
Advanced Placement courses, or APs, are college-level classes that students take while still in high school. Doing well on AP exams doesn’t just help your college applications – AP scores can even translate to course credits that allow you to place out of intro classes once you get to college.
As college-level classes, all AP courses are challenging. Still, some are easier than others, and choosing a manageable course load can help you save time and stress while preparing for your AP exams.
For more than two decades, PrepMaven has been supporting students in everything from AP Art History to AP Environmental Science. We’ve used our extensive experience, as well as the latest score data from the College Board, to rank the easiest AP exams.
As you decide which APs to take this year, use the rankings to help you make a balanced, realistic schedule.
And for support with these challenging classes, get in touch with our team to find an AP tutor who’s experienced navigating the AP syllabus.
Jump to section:
What Makes an AP Class Easy or Hard?
The Easiest AP Exams to Pass
The Easiest AP Exams to Score a 5 On
What About Language APs?
How to Excel in Any AP Class
Next Steps
What Makes an AP Class Easy or Hard?
It probably won’t come as a surprise that there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of which AP classes are the easiest.
Which APs will be easier or harder for you depends on a lot of factors: your academic strengths, your interests and motivation to study, how much time you have to prepare for the AP exam, and whether you’re lucky enough to have a great teacher (or seek tutoring to help you prepare). For language APs, personal background and experience can also make a huge difference.
But when you’re deciding on AP courses to take, it can be helpful to know which exams are generally considered less challenging than others. One of the best ways to get a sense of how AP exams stack up against each other is by looking at the hard data on score distributions for every AP exam.
We’ve broken down the data to create rankings of the easiest AP classes according to different criteria.
Then, combine that information with what you know about your own academic strengths. True, AP Chemistry has a high pass rate of 75% – but if science isn’t your thing, then that’s not automatically going to propel you to a high score. Think of this information as one more data point that you can use to make your choices – not as the final word on which APs are easiest for everyone.
The Easiest AP Exams to Pass
One straightforward way to see which APs are considered the easiest is by looking at what percentage of students get a passing grade. On the 5-point AP grading scale, a “pass” is usually considered a 3 or higher.
Based on the most recent data from the AP tests, these are the APs with the highest pass rates.
| Ranking | AP Exam(s) | Passing rate |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | AP Drawing | 84% |
| #2 | AP 2D Art & Design | 83% |
| #3 | AP Calculus BC | 80% |
| #4 | AP Chemistry; AP Physics C: Mechanics; AP Precalculus | 75% |
| #5 | AP African American Studies; AP Comparative Government & Politics; AP United States Government & Politics | 73% |
The Easiest AP Exams to Get a 5 On
Passing an AP exam is already an accomplishment. If you want to use your AP scores for college credit, though, you might want to aim for a higher score.
Some colleges don’t give course credit for AP scores of 3, only for 4s or 5s. In other programs, you can place into a more advanced class if you have a higher AP score.
These are the AP exams that had the highest perfect score rates in the last test cycle.
| Ranking | AP Exam(s) | Percentage of students who score a 5 |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | AP Calculus BC | 45% |
| #2 | AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism | 27% |
| #3 | AP Precalculus | 25% |
| #4 | AP United States Government & Politics; AP Computer Science A | 24% |
| #5 | AP Physics C: Mechanics | 23% |
Except for AP United States Government & Politics, all of the APs with the highest perfect score rates are math or science courses.
Why? It’s hard to say, but it might be because these are more objective subjects. There’s one right answer, and if you can find it, you’ll get all the points for that question.
Compare that to an exam like AP English Literature and Composition, which includes free-answer questions on literary analysis and has a perfect score rate of only 13%. Of course, there are still more and less accurate answers – but there’s also more room for differences of opinion.
What does this mean for you? It shouldn’t deter you from taking AP classes in the humanities, especially if those are subjects you’re interested in and excited about studying. And, of course, if calculus doesn’t come naturally to you, then you’ll still need to work hard to be in the 45% of test-takers who get a 5 on AP Calc BC. But if you’re on the fence, it can be useful background information.
What About Language APs?
You might have noticed that we didn’t include any modern language exams in the lists above. If we had, they would have taken up several spots: AP Chinese Language and Culture has the highest pass rate of any AP exam at 87%, with AP Spanish Language and Culture (83%) and AP Japanese Language and Culture (74%) not far behind.
But scores on language exams are hard to compare evenly across the board. That’s because this data doesn’t distinguish between test-takers who grew up speaking a language at home and those who have only heard it in the classroom.
The College Board does release score data specifically for non-native language speakers, which you can find here. If you want to estimate how easy a language AP will be for you, Find the group that you belong to – the overall testing pool or the “standard group,” meaning students who don’t have exposure to the language at home – and take a look at the score distribution for students who match your profile.
Of course, you can absolutely ace a language test even if you didn’t get any exposure to the language outside of school, and if you want to take a language AP as a non-native speaker, don’t be discouraged. But it would be misleading to say that AP Chinese Language and Culture is the easiest AP exam based only on its exceptionally high pass rate.
If you’re considering taking a language AP, it’s a good idea to think about your own experience with the language and your current proficiency level, instead of going by the broad-brush statistics.
It’s also a great idea to find as many opportunities as possible to practice speaking the language you’re learning, whether with a neighbor, a classmate, or a language buddy or tutor. Even if you’re just speaking the language an hour or two a week, regular exposure to the language will help you learn more effectively than trying to memorize vocab and grammar on your own.
How to Excel in Any AP Class
These statistics are just one part of the puzzle. How easy you’ll actually find an AP class – and well you’ll ultimately do on test day – depends on the work you put in throughout the year.
- Get organized early. As college-level classes, APs cover a lot of ground, so if you’re planning to start studying in April, that’s a risky strategy. Keep up with your notes, flashcards, and other study materials throughout the year.
- Know and use the resources that are available for AP students. Khan Academy has excellent, free resources for several AP exams, including AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP United States Government & Politics, AP Physics 1, and more. You can also find past examples of real AP exams to practice for the test.
- Ask for support when you need it. Talk to your teacher if there’s something you don’t understand. If you’re struggling, you can also consider finding extra support from a peer study group or a tutor. Give us a call if you’re thinking about AP tutoring, and we can help you find the best option.
Next Steps
As you choose your AP classes, assess your individual strengths and interests in the context of the data we’ve just looked at. Choose a balanced course load that gives you a realistic schedule.
Remember that all APs are college-level courses, so no matter which ones you choose, you’re looking at a lot of studying – and it’s worth considering getting support from a qualified tutor. Especially if you’re self-studying for AP exams, tutoring can help you master difficult concepts and succeed on the exam.
Get in touch with our team today for a quick, free consultation.
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Ro
Rosamond graduated summa cum laude from Princeton. During college, she worked as a peer tutor for Italian, French, Greek, and academic writing. Since graduation, she’s continued to tutor students of all ages in French, Italian, Latin, English, and math, some of them for several years. She’s currently a graduate student studying the relationship between religion and secular law, and she works as a freelance journalist and translator.