AP German Language and Culture
Advanced Placement German Language and Culture 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.
The exam
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.Test 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 | 50% |
| Section II Part A: Free Response - Writing | 2 questions | ~70 minutes | 50% |
| Section II, Part B: Free Response - Speaking | 6 questions | ~18 minutes | 50% |
AP 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.Grade distribution
The grade distributions for the AP German Language and Culture exam since 2012 are:| Score | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2020 |
| 5 | 26.2% | 25.9% | 23.1% | 24.7% | 21.4% | 23.0% | 19.0% | 23.9% |
| 4 | 25.6% | 23.4% | 23.1% | 24.0% | 22.5% | 24.1% | 22.7% | 33.8% |
| 3 | 27.5% | 28.4% | 27.1% | 28.2 | 27.0% | 28.5% | 27.1% | 16.0% |
| 2 | 13.9% | 16.3% | 18.5% | 16.6% | 20.6% | 17.5% | 23.3% | 19.5% |
| 1 | 6.8% | 6.0% | 8.2% | 6.4% | 8.5% | 6.9% | 7.9% | 6.7% |
| Mean | 3.50 | 3.47 | 3.34 | 3.44 | 3.28 | 3.39 | 3.31 | |
| Standard Deviation | 1.21 | 1.21 | 1.24 | 1.21 | 1.25 | 1.21 | 1.24 | |
| Number of Students | 4,754 | 4,966 | 5,111 | 5,103 | 4,945 | 5,089 | 5,053 |