What Are The Most Popular AP Tests? The AP Test Pass Rates
The following list is comprised from College Board data, showing the most popular AP exams based on the number of students taking each test. The top 3 AP Exams are English Language, United State History, and English Literature.
| AP Course/Exam | # of Students Taking (2018) |
| English Language (study guides) | 580,043 |
| United States History (study guides) | 501,530 |
| English Literature (study guides) | 404,014 |
| Government & Politics (United States) | 326,392 |
| Psychology | 311,759 |
| Calculus AB | 308,538 |
| World History | 303,243 |
| Biology | 259,663 |
| Statistics | 222,501 |
| Human Geography | 216,783 |
| Spanish Language | 180,435 |
| Physics 1 | 170,653 |
| Environmental Science | 166,433 |
| Chemistry | 161,852 |
| Macroeconomics | 146,673 |
| Calculus BC | 139,376 |
| European History | 101,740 |
| Microeconomics | 90,032 |
| Computer Science Principles | 72,187 |
| Computer Science A | 65,133 |
| Physics C Mechanics | 57,399 |
| Studio Art 2-D Design | 36,249 |
| Seminar | 30,964 |
| Spanish Literature | 27,451 |
| Physics 2 | 25,741 |
| Physics C E&M | 25,074 |
| Art History | 24,964 |
| Government & Politics (Comparative) | 24,675 |
| French Language | 22,867 |
| Studio Art Drawing | 20,853 |
| Music Theory | 19,018 |
| Chinese Language | 13,825 |
| Research | 9,640 |
| Latin | 6,409 |
| Studio Art 3-D Design | 5,777 |
| German Language | 5,053 |
| Italian Language | 2,926 |
| Japanese Language | 2,459 |
| Total Number of AP Exams Taken | 5,090,324 |
| Total Number of Students Taking AP Exams | 2,808,909 |
Source: The College Board
What are the passing rates for each AP exam?
The pass rates and 4+ Score rates for each AP exam varies greatly. In fact we find that many of the AP exams that are based on language tend to have a higher pass rate. Chinese Language and Culture, Studio Art: Drawing, and Spanish Language and Culture have the highest pass rate. While, Physics 1 has the lowest pass rate with about 40% of students passing.
AP Test Passing Rates 2018
| Exam Name | Passing Rate (3+) | 5 Rate |
| Chinese Language and Culture | 91.3% | 66.1% |
| Studio Art: Drawing | 89.5% | 22.4% |
| Spanish Language and Culture | 88.3% | 23.7% |
| Studio Art: 2-D Design | 84.6% | 17.9% |
| Spanish Language and Culture (Standard) | 82.9% | 16.5% |
| Seminar | 82.8% | 8.4% |
| Calculus BC | 79.8% | 40.4% |
| Japanese Language and Culture | 77.8% | 48.0% |
| French Language and Culture | 77.2% | 16.7% |
| Physics C: Mechanics | 77.2% | 30.2% |
| Research | 75.2% | 11.4% |
| French Language and Culture (Standard) | 74.1% | 11.0% |
| Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism | 73.4% | 37.4% |
| Computer Science Principles | 71.2% | 14.0% |
| German Language and Culture | 71.0% | 22.4% |
| Spanish Literature | 70.3% | 9.7% |
| Studio Art: 3-D Design | 69.0% | 11.4% |
| Chinese Language and Culture (Standard) | 68.6% | 20.4% |
| Italian Language and Culture | 68.6% | 18.5% |
| Computer Science A | 67.8% | 24.7% |
| Microeconomics | 67.9% | 20.9% |
| Latin | 66.4% | 14.4% |
| Music Theory | 65.8% | 22.6% |
| Psychology | 65.6% | 21.2% |
| Art History | 64.6% | 12.7% |
| Italian Language and Culture (Standard) | 64.2% | 8.1% |
| German Language and Culture (Standard) | 63.5% | 9.3% |
| Gov. and Politics – Comparative | 63.3% | 21.1% |
| Physics 2 | 63.1% | 13.1% |
| Biology | 61.5% | 7.2% |
| Statistics | 60.7% | 14.6% |
| Japanese Language and Culture (Standard) | 60.6% | 21.5% |
| Calculus AB | 57.6% | 19.4% |
| European History | 57.7% | 11.9% |
| Macroeconomics | 58.5% | 19.7% |
| English Language and Composition | 57.2% | 10.6% |
| World History | 56.2% | 8.9% |
| Chemistry | 55.9% | 13.4% |
| Human Geography | 54.4% | 13.0% |
| Gov. and Politics – United States | 53.0% | 13.3% |
| United States History | 51.8% | 10.7% |
| Environmental Science | 47.7% | 8.8% |
| English Literature and Composition | 47.3% | 5.6% |
| Physics 1 | 40.6% | 5.7% |
Source: The College Board