AP Calculus BC exam format: what's on the 2027 exam
Updated
The AP Calculus BC exam has two sections, each split into a part without a calculator and a part with one. It takes 3 hours and 10 minutes of testing time, and multiple choice and free response each count for half of your score.
Here's what's in each part, how much time you get per question, and how the course units are weighted.
The four parts of the exam
- Section I, Part A: 29 multiple-choice questions, 62 minutes, no calculator, 35% of your score.
- Section I, Part B: 13 multiple-choice questions, 38 minutes, calculator allowed, 15% of your score.
- Section II, Part A: 2 free-response questions, 30 minutes, calculator allowed, 16.7% of your score.
- Section II, Part B: 4 free-response questions, 60 minutes, no calculator, 33.3% of your score.
Add it up and about 68% of your score comes from work with no calculator. That's the single most useful fact for planning your studying.
How much time you have per question
- No-calculator multiple choice: about 2 minutes 8 seconds each.
- Calculator multiple choice: about 2 minutes 55 seconds each.
- Free response, both parts: 15 minutes per question, each worth 9 points.
How the exam is delivered
- Multiple choice and free-response prompts are on screen, in the Bluebook app.
- Free-response answers are handwritten on paper and sent in for scoring.
- Desmos is built into Bluebook on the calculator parts only. See how to use Desmos on the exam.
- There's no formula sheet, so derivative rules, integrals, and series need to be in your memory.
What the course covers
The course has 10 units. Here's the share of the multiple-choice section each one is expected to take up.
- Unit 1: Limits and Continuity (5–10%)
- Unit 2: Differentiation: Definition and Fundamental Properties (5–10%)
- Unit 3: Differentiation: Composite, Implicit, and Inverse Functions (5–10%)
- Unit 4: Contextual Applications of Differentiation (5–10%)
- Unit 5: Analytical Applications of Differentiation (10–15%)
- Unit 6: Integration and Accumulation of Change (15–20%)
- Unit 7: Differential Equations (5–10%)
- Unit 8: Applications of Integration (5–10%)
- Unit 9: Parametric Equations, Polar Coordinates, and Vector-Valued Functions (10–15%)
- Unit 10: Infinite Sequences and Series (15–20%)
Units 6 and 10 carry the most weight. Unit 9 and Unit 10 are BC-only, along with some topics inside other units, such as integration by parts, Euler's method, and logistic growth. Start with the guides on series tests and Taylor series if those are new to you.
How scoring works
- Multiple choice has no penalty for guessing, so answer every question.
- Each free-response question is worth 9 points, scored against a published rubric.
- Your final score is on the 1 to 5 scale. The cutoffs are set each year, so any tool that promises your exact score from a practice set is only estimating.
- You also get an AB subscore, based on the part of the exam that covers Calculus AB content.
Keep going
Practice on exam-style questions
Intersect Prep has 420 multiple-choice questions across all 10 units, with a full solution for each one. Create a free account to try a full lesson with the calculator. One payment of $49 unlocks the course for 6 months.
Questions
- How long is the AP Calculus BC exam?
- 190 minutes of testing time: 100 minutes for 42 multiple-choice questions and 90 minutes for 6 free-response questions.
- How much of the AP Calculus BC exam allows a calculator?
- 13 of the 42 multiple-choice questions and 2 of the 6 free-response questions, which together make up about 32% of the score.
- When is the 2027 AP Calculus BC exam?
- May 10, 2027. Check the College Board's AP calendar for your school's exact schedule.
- Is there a formula sheet on the AP Calculus BC exam?
- No. You need to know the derivative rules, integral techniques, and series from memory.