The AP Computer Science A exam assesses student understanding of the computational thinking practices and learning objectives outlined in the course framework. As of 2025, the exam will be given online using the AP College Board’s Bluebook app. The exam is 3 hours long and includes 2 separate sections.
- Part A. 40 multiple-choice questions. 90 minutes
- Part B. 4 free-response questions. 90 minutes
Part A: Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)
More information can be found on p 185+ in the AP Computer Science A Course and Exam Description document.
Part A: Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)
The MCQs cover everything covered in this course.
Format
This section is 40 questions long and takes 90 minutes.
Content
See the AP Exam Content page for full details or the AP Exam Review page for a review of the topics.
Hints
The questions can be tricky and cover many Java quirks, so review for them. Watch your time, too, as 90 minutes is not very long, about 2+ minutes per questions. Some questions take only seconds to answer, but others take 2 minutes just to read the directions.
Part B: Free Response Questions (FRQ)
This is the section where you actually write code.
Format
There are only 4 Free Response Questions. Don’t be decieved, though, since many of the “questions” have multiple parts. You will be writing your code not in a compliler like IntelliJ, but in a simple text editor like Notepad. You will not be able to run or debug your code, nor will the program give you code hints like IntelliJ.
Content
Hints