AP Precalculus


Advanced Placement 'Precalculus' is an Advanced Placement precalculus course and examination, offered by the College Board, in development since 2021 and announced in May 2022. The course debuted in the fall of 2023, with the first exam session taking place in May 2024. The course and examination are designed to teach and assess precalculus concepts, as a foundation for a wide variety of STEM fields and careers, and are not solely designed as preparation for future mathematics courses such as AP Calculus AB/BC.

Purpose

According to the College Board,

Topic outline

Unit 1: Polynomial and Rational Functions (6–6.5 weeks)

Unit 2: Exponential and Logarithmic Functions (6–6.5 weeks)

Unit 3: Trigonometric and Polar Functions (7–7.5 weeks)

Unit 4: Functions Involving Parameters, Vectors, and Matrices (7–7.5 weeks)

Note that Unit 4 will not be tested on the AP Precalculus exam.

Exam

The exam is composed of 2 sections, each with 2 different types of questions.
Section I consists of 40 multiple choice questions. 28 do not allow the use of a calculator, while the last 12 do allow a calculator. The non-calculator section is worth 43.75% of the exam score, while the calculator section is worth 18.75%.
Section II of the Exam includes 4 free response questions, with 2 not allowing a calculator and 2 allowing use of a calculator. Section II is worth 37.5% of the exam score, with the non-calculator and calculator sections weighed equally.
AP Precalculus exams will be scored on the standard 1–5 AP scale, with 5 signifying that the student is "extremely well qualified" for equivalent college credit and 1 signifying "no recommendation."
The 2025 AP Precalculus exam was set to take place on Tuesday, May 13, 2025 at 8AM local time.

Score distribution

All information comes from the official College Board website.
Score20242025
525.9%28.1%
423.9%25.8%
325.9%26.8%
214.6%11.2%
19.8%8%
% of scores 3 or higher75.6%80.8%
Mean3.423.55
Standard deviation1.28
Number of students184,394253,596