AP Computer Science A score calculator 2027

How the CS A exam is built

Section I: Multiple choice42 questions · 55 %

Mostly individual questions with one or two sets of two; all five computational thinking practices. (1 hour 30 minutes)

Section II, Q1: Methods and control structures1 question, 2 parts · 7 of 25 points (4 + 3)

Write two methods or a constructor and a method; part B requires String methods. (1 hour 30 minutes for all four)

Section II, Q2: Class design1 question · 7 of 25 points

Design and implement a class from a specification table: header, instance variables, constructor, method. (shared)

Section II, Q3: Data analysis with ArrayList1 question · 5 of 25 points

One method that uses, analyses and manipulates an ArrayList. (shared)

Section II, Q4: 2D array1 question · 6 of 25 points

One method on a two-dimensional array. (shared)

The College Board page for May 2027 lists 42 multiple-choice questions at 55 % and four free-response questions at 45 %, and the 2026-27 course and exam description gives the points: 7 (4 and 3), 7, 5 and 6. Before 2027 the exam was 40 questions and four 9-point questions at 50 % each, so older released exams do not match the sheet.

A multiple-choice answer is worth 1.31 composite and a free-response point 1.8. The Java Quick Reference is provided with the exam. The course was reorganised into four units (using objects and methods; selection and iteration; class creation; data collections), with data collections the heaviest at 30 to 40 % of the multiple choice.

Source: College Board, AP exam page, read 10 Oct 2026.

Worked CS A examples

32/42 multiple choice, 18/25 free response

41.9 + 32.4 = 74.3, an estimated 5.

24/42, 12/25

31.4 + 21.6 = 53.0, an estimated 3, 5 points short of a 4 at 58. Three free-response points would cross; four multiple-choice answers would too.

Code carries: 20/42, 22/25

26.2 + 39.6 = 65.8, a 4. Near-full free response with under half the multiple choice is a 4, not a 5, under the 2027 weighting; under the old 50-50 split it would have been closer.

How CS A scores were distributed

CS A's distribution is a U: a quarter of students at 5, more than a fifth at 1, and the 2 the rarest score at 10.9 %. It was the same to a tenth of a point in 2024 and 2025 at both ends, with a pass rate of 67.2 % and a mean of 3.18 both years. The College Board's July 2025 table lists it at 67 % and 67 %.

The entry fell from 98,136 to 93,217, and the College Board's post lists CS A among four AP courses with declining participation. The 2027 reweighting toward multiple choice is the first structural change in years.

Sources: College Board, Student Score Distributions, AP Exams May 2025, read 10 Oct 2026; College Board, Student Score Distributions, AP Exams May 2024, read 10 Oct 2026; College Board, 2025 AP Exams: Scoring, Standards, and Security in a New Digital Era (Trevor Packer, 1 July 2025), read 10 Oct 2026; College Board, AP Computer Science A Course and Exam Description (2026-27), Exam Information, read 10 Oct 2026.

What a CS A score is worth for credit

Texas is where the score matters: a 4 earns the majors' first course, a 3 the non-majors' introduction. Washington gives its first CS course for any passing score, and Florida gives general credit only. A 5 earns nothing beyond a 4 anywhere here.

Read from each university's own credit page on 10 Oct 2026: University of Florida, Exam Credit (undergraduate catalog); University of Texas at Austin, Student Testing Services, credit by exam; University of Washington, Advanced Placement exams for credit. Policies change; check the page linked in the table before you plan a schedule around a score.

How the CS A curve on this sheet is estimated

The cutoffs under the sheet, 72 % for a 5, 58 % for a 4, 44 % for a 3 and 30 % for a 2, are estimates reconstructed from the 2025 distribution and the released scoring guidelines, where each free-response question is scored on fixed points for specific code behaviours. For 2027 they are provisional: the weights changed and the free-response scale went from 36 to 25 points. The College Board does not publish cut scores.

A free-response point is worth 1.8 composite, so one missed loop bound in question 1 can cross a line. Allow more than the usual three points either side in the first year of the new weighting.

Questions about the CS A exam

What changed on the AP Computer Science A exam for 2027?

The weighting and the free-response scale: 42 multiple-choice questions at 55 % (was 40 at 50 %) and four free-response questions worth 7, 7, 5 and 6 points at 45 % (was four 9-point questions at 50 %), per the College Board page and the 2026-27 course and exam description.

What are the four free-response questions?

Methods and control structures (two methods or a constructor and method, with String methods in part B), class design, data analysis with ArrayList, and 2D array, per the College Board page. Every question is written in Java.

Why do so many students score a 1?

The published distributions show 22.0 % at 1 in both 2024 and 2025, alongside 25.6 % at 5. The College Board does not publish a reason for the shape.

Does a 3 earn credit toward a CS major?

At Texas, no: a 3 earns C S 302, the non-majors course, and C S 312 needs a 4. Washington gives CSE 121 for a 3. Florida gives general credit only.

Is the Java Quick Reference provided?

Yes, per the course and exam description: it lists the accessible methods from the Java library that may appear on the exam.