AP World History Practice Test

What is the AP World History Exam?

For students taking AP classes to get college credits, they have to pass the AP exam for the class first. The same goes for AP world history. The test is simply a baseline to judge whether you meet the minimum standard to receive a college credit for your knowledge. Learn more about it below.

AP World History Exam Description

The AP world history exam covers nine units that your teacher taught you about in class. Your teacher may choose to group them together differently or teach them in a different order, but these same nine units will both appear on the exam and be covered in class:

• Unit one: Global Tapestry – discover how states form, expand, and decline throughout the countries of the world in relation to political, social, and cultural developments (c. 1200-c. 1450) (8-10%)
• Unit two: Networks of Exchange – see how areas of the world linked through trade and how it changed people, cultures, and environments (c. 1200-c. 1450) (8-10%)
• Unit three: Land-Based Empires – examine the empires that ruled over large contiguous areas of land (c. 1450-c. 1750) (12-15%)
• Unit four: Transoceanic Interconnections – learn about oceanic exploration advancements, maritime empires, and effects of cross-cultural encounters from across the ocean (c. 1450-c. 1750) (12-15%)
• Unit five: Revolutions – study the technological advancements and new political ideas that led to extensive changes in governments, societies, and economies (c. 1750-c. 1900) (12-15%)
• Unit six: Consequences of Industrialization – explore how certain states acquired and expanded their control over colonies and territories (c. 1750-c. 1900) (12-15%)
• Unit seven: Global Conflict – uncover the global conflicts that plague this era of the world’s progress (c. 1900-present) (8-10%)
• Unit eight: Cold War and Decolonization – investigate how the colonies fought for and gained independence and the global struggle and divide between capitalism and communism (c. 1900-present) (8-10%)
• Unit nine: Globalization – analyze the causes and effects created by unprecedented interconnectivity of the modern world (c. 1900-present) (8-10%)

To succeed you will need to be able to formulate an answer that has concrete evidence behind it supported by the graph or document you are provided. Also, be able to distinguish between a primary and secondary source and the differences between the two.

There will be questions on the exam that also ask you to make connections between two different historical occurrences, so you will need to know how certain parts of history reflect or even repeat themselves as time goes on.

About AP World History Test Questions

There are a total of sixty questions that you will be required to answer on the AP world history exam. However, unlike other AP exams, the world history test allows you to choose some of your free-response questions from a list of two or three.

You will answer fifty-five multiple-choice questions in fifty-five minutes. This means that you are allotted one minute for every question in the multiple-choice section. Do not fret. There will likely be questions that you immediately know the answer so you can have more time for questions you require thinking.

In the second section, you are required to answer three short-answer questions. The first two questions will be pulled from a source and you have to answer them. Then, you get the option to choose between questions three or four, so be sure to choose the one that you have a stronger argument for.

The final section of the test is the most unique portion of an AP test. There are only two required questions in this section. The first is a document-based question (DBQ) that asks you to assess numerous documents before answering. The second is a choice between three different long-answer questions.

You will be given forty minutes to complete the second section and an hour and forty minutes to complete the third. Make sure your arguments are well-thought but also be sure to utilize time wisely to be the most efficient AP world history exam-taker.

The three sections have different score percentages, so here is how the three sections are broken up:

How to Use an AP World History Practice Test

You want to take an AP world history practice test that best reflects the exam with the diverse question types and topic coverage. The ones above offer diverse options with answers to each question.

The more detail in the question answers allow you to become a better studier. By learning from your mistakes and discovering which areas you need to brush up on, you can more effectively use your study time to cover the topics you know the least and move on from ones that you already know. 

A world history AP practice exam also helps you conceptualize how frequently you see questions from the different units. The percentages in the unit descriptions give you an idea, but it is more beneficial to see it for yourself.

How Do I Prepare for AP World History Exam?

One way you can prepare for the AP world history exam is to make or find flashcards covering the important topics on the test. Make sure you have access to them wherever you go so you can study in all your free time.

The second way you can study for the exam is to take practice tests. On top of using them to learn what you need to study more, you can also become a more efficient test taker by studying the answer explanations for the AP world multiple choice questions.

The questions that appear on an AP world practice test are ones that appeared on previous versions of AP world history exams. By familiarizing yourself with question wordings on old exams, you can be better equipped to know what the questions are asking when you take the real test.

Your teacher may also give you a study or review guide filled with useful information to study before the exam. You can even do this with a peer or use it to create your flashcards mentioned above.

AP World History Exam FAQs