Given the rigor of the AP exams—they’re not called Advanced Placement for nothing—you may be wondering what happens if you fail an AP exam. First off, you need to define what “fail” means in the context of an AP score:

AP Exam ScoreCredit RecommendationCollege Grade
Equivalent
5 Extremely well qualified A
4 Very well qualified A-, B+, or B
3 Qualified B-, C+, or C
2 Possibly qualified -
1 No recommendation -

Don’t be fooled by a 2 being “possibly qualified”: there’s no college grade equivalent because that score is only very rarely equivalent to course credit. To that end, then, a “failing” score is anything below a 3. And that happens quite often! Per the 2023 score distributions, about 40 to 50 percent of students “fail” their AP exams.

 

AP Exam543213+
AP English Language & Composition 10.3% 19.7% 26.1% 29.5% 14.4% 56.1%
AP English Language & Composition 10.3% 19.7% 26.1% 29.5% 14.4% 56.1%
AP European History 12.3% 21.3% 25.2% 29% 11.6% 59.4%
AP Human Geography 16% 20% 18.4% 14% 31.6% 54.4%
AP Psychology 16.9% 23.2% 19.5% 12.4% 28% 59.6%
AP US Government & Politics 12.8% 11.3% 25.1% 24% 26.8% 49.2%
AP United States History 10.6% 14.8% 22.1% 22.7% 29.8% 47.5%
AP World History 15.3% 21.9% 27.4% 22.3% 13% 64.7%
AP Calculus AB 22.4% 16.2% 19.4% 27.1% 20.3% 58%
AP Statistics 15.1% 22.2% 22.7% 16.2% 23.8% 60%
AP Biology 14.3% 23% 27.2% 23.6% 12% 64.4%
AP Chemistry 16% 27.1% 32% 16.9% 8% 75.1%
AP Environmental Science 8.3% 28.4% 17% 26.4% 19.9% 57.7%
AP Physics 1 8.8% 18.3% 18.5% 28% 26.4% 45.6%
AP Computer Science A 26.8% 22.4% 18.8% 9.5% 22.5% 68%
AP Computer Science Principles 11.5% 20.6% 31.1% 20.5% 16.4% 63.1%

What Happens if You Fail an AP Exam?

Stressed student at a desk with books.

If you fail an AP Exam, you won’t get college credit. However:

  • You’ll have valuable test-taking experience that can improve your efforts on future APs.
  • A good grade in your AP class can still help your college application stand out.
  • You’ll be more prepared for this subject should you wish you take it in college.
  • According to the test makers, you’ll be more likely to attend college and graduate on time than a student who doesn’t take any AP exams.

You can also retake the AP Exam, but because the test is only offered once a year in May, this isn’t helpful to seniors. Other students also find it challenging to keep the content fresh in their minds, which can make the test harder.

How Can I Avoid Failing an AP Exam?

Whether you’re retaking the test or preparing for your first administration, it’s important that you make the most of the time you have between now and the test day. This means:

  • Taking a diagnostic practice test to identify where you need to study more.
  • Reviewing the content, particularly from your weakest areas.
  • Learning test-taking strategies to help eliminate answer choices.

The Princeton Review offers many levels of help, depending on your need:

  • Tutors, for one-on-one help with specific content areas
  • Cram courses, for when there’s little time left to study
  • AP 4 courses, for those aiming for higher AP scores

What happens if you fail an AP exam is that you pick yourself up and keep going. Just remember that if you’re going to put in the extra effort either way, it’s better to try and pass the AP exam on your first attempt.