ap lang essay score rubric

✍🏽 AP English Language - Score Calculator

Fill out the info below, and pep will predict your ap score 🪄.

Based on 2023 Exam Scoring Guidelines - these scores may not be 100% accurate

Section I : Multiple Choice

Section ii : free response, multiple choice, free response, weighted score, predicted ap score.

26.10% of students achieved this score last year.

You're doing great! Let's boost your confidence even more

AP Score Calculator FAQ

How does this ✍🏽 ap english language score calculator work.

Adjust the sliders to guesstimate which rubric points you think you’ll get. The calculator will apply the accurate score weights + give you an estimated final score! (Pep’s final form will change depending on your score 🌶️)

Exam sections and scoring

• Every AP subject has standardized sections on the exam. They usually include multiple choice and free response questions.
• Each section is worth some number of points based on 1) the number of questions and 2) sometimes a scoring rubric. Each section also has a different weight on your final score.

Is it accurate?

Yes! The weights of the score + the points possible are very accurate, based on info from the Course & Exam Descriptions and Scoring Guidelines from the 2023 AP exams.

(If you notice any errors, please email us at [email protected] so we can fix it!)

The one area that can’t be perfectly accurate is how we determined the final predicted scores (College Board doesn’t publish the “cut points” for each scores.)

We used old released exams and other calculators to estimate “if you earned this % of points, you would earn this score”:

• 75% or more = 5

These are meant to be benchmarks to give a rough idea of where you might fall, but the actual numbers are adjusted each year to be based on the curve. We’re probably pretty close though.

How are the ✍🏽 AP English Language exams scored?

• Multiple Choice questions are graded with a computer, those are super easy to grade quickly.
• Some teachers do this remotely and grade online, others are physically in person reading essays. They sit together at tables in huge conference centers for ~1 week to go through every single essay.
• These educators are truly rooting for you to get as many points as you can. When there is a high scoring essay, the table quietly celebrates 🥳
• Total scores for multiple choice and free response are combined, then translated into a 5-point scale.

What is a good score on the ✍🏽 AP English Language exam?

It’s all relative (really). We tend to think your score matters far less in the long run, so there really isn’t such thing as a “bad score”.  Taking the test and going through the process is correlated with going to and doing better in college.

Technically, a “3” is considered passing because it’s the lowest score that can earn college credit. Some colleges require 4s or 5s. And some (elite) colleges don’t give credit at all.

You can search all colleges for their AP Credit policy here:  https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/getting-credit-placement/search-policies

What were last year’s ✍🏽 AP English Language scores?

College Board publishes the distribution of scores for every subject so you can see what % earned each score on the 5-point scale:  https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/about-ap-scores/score-distributions

We listed these on the calculator as well :)

How can I improve my ✍🏽 AP English Language scores?

This calculator is useful because it’s a baseline. Once you know your strengths and weaknesses, you can make a plan to improve!

In the weeks leading up to the exam, you should do a few things:

Take the time to review all the content. Don’t reread the textbook or anything, but remind yourself of all the key topics.

Go through the study guides and find areas where you remember less content:  https://library.fiveable.me/

Start practicing questions on topics that you know the least. You can do easy, medium, hard, or extremely hard questions to test yourself:  https://library.fiveable.me/practice

And finally, attend a cram session in the days before the exam to get a last minute confidence boost:  https://library.fiveable.me/cram-events

When do ✍🏽 AP English Language scores come out?

The scores are usually released the week after the 4th of July. You can get them by signing into your College Board account. Instructions are here:  https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/view-scores

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Tools & Calculators

Ap® english language score calculator.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: January 29, 2024

If you’re looking for an AP® English Language score calculator, you’ve come to the right place. This interactive widget helps you see how you might do on the exam.

Need extra help in preparing for AP® English Language? Check out our AP® English Language section for tons of review articles or explore The Best AP® English Language Review Guide for 2022 .

If you’re an educator interested in boosting your AP® English Language student outcomes, l et us know and we’ll tell you how you can get started on Albert for free!

How are you projecting the scoring curve?

At this time, the College Board has not officially released a scoring worksheet that reflects the latest changes in AP® English Language. In order to create our projected curve, what we have done is taken the relative percentages of the MCQ and FRQ as well as the point values of each question as outlined In the scoring guidelines released for 2020 here .

AP® English Language

Enter your scores.

Section I: Multiple-Choice: Reading

Section II: Free Response - Q1 - Synthesis

Section II: Free Response - Q2 - Rhetorical Analysis

Section II: Free Response - Q3 - Argument

Section I: Multiple-Choice

Section II: Free Response - Question 1

Section II: Free Response - Question 2

Section II: Free Response - Question 3

Choose your score curve

2020 2007 2001

Looking for AP® English Language study materials? 

Also, check out this reference for the best AP® English Language review books .

What is a good AP® English Language score?

Scoring a 3, 4, or 5 on any AP® exam is generally considered good. Typically, a 3 is defined as ‘qualified,’ 4 as ‘well qualified,’ and a 5 as ‘extremely well qualified.’ Most colleges and universities have well-established AP® Credit Policies for students that score in these ranges. If you are curious in learning more about what credits you can earn at each respective school, go  here .

When considering how you scored on your AP® English Language exam, you should do so within the context of the exam test takers. For AP® English Language, 62.1% of overall test takers scored a 3 or higher in 2020. This information can be found in the latest student score distributions here .

What is the average AP English Language score?

Since there is a new group of test takers every year, the average AP® English Language score changes. However, generally speaking the College Board strives to keep a relatively consistent distribution for each subject. We recommend you think about the average AP® English Language score by considering a multi-year trend. For example, if you reference the AP® Student Score Distributions released by the College Board, the mean AP® English Language score was 2.79 in 2014, 2.79 in 2015, 2.82 in 2016, 2.77 in 2017, 2.83 in 2018, 2.78 in 2019 and 2.96 in 2020. Thus, if you took the raw average of these seven years, the average AP® English Language score is 2.82.

Why are AP® English Language scores curved?

The College Board curves AP® exams so that a consistent standard can be achieved every year, despite the different sample of test takers. AP® courses are college-level classes, so the way the exams are scored are reflected to account for the difficulty of these courses.

How do I get a 5 on AP® English Language?

While we all wish we could get 5 on AP® English Language, only 10.7% of test takers did so in 2016. In preparing for AP® English Language, there is no secret to scoring a 5 aside from practicing deliberately, learning by doing, and forming great study habits. English exams from the College Board ask students to be able to demonstrate comprehension of diverse texts, analyze individual texts in isolation, synthesize information from many texts, and form well-rounded arguments.

The Albert blog is home to many free review articles and study guides for AP® English Language. Here are a few that we recommend for you to read today:

• How to Study for AP® English Language
• Is AP® English Language Hard?
• The Ultimate List of AP® English Language Tips
• The Ultimate SOAPSTONE Analysis Guide for AP® Exams
• Understanding the AP® English Language Argument Rubric

Looking for practice questions? Albert features  hundreds of AP-aligned AP® English Language practice questions and free response questions for you to study as you prepare for your AP® exam. Use Albert to study at your own convenience. Deliberate practice works! Students who used Albert for AP® English Language have beat the national pass rates by 13.61%.

Why should I use this AP® English Language score calculator?

Albert’s AP® English Language score calculator references the previously released scoring worksheets from the College Board, making it the most accurate and up-to-date. We encourage you to use score calculators as a way to motivate yourself when you’re preparing for your AP® exams. Understanding the number of MCQ and FRQ points you’ll need to pass the AP® English Language can help you stress less on the big day.

Looking for AP® English Language practice?

Kickstart your AP® English Language prep with Albert. Start your AP® exam prep today .

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