hold up, this guide was published in April 2024.

This guide organizes advice from past students who got 4s and 5s on their exams. We hope it gives you some new ideas and tools for your study sessions. But remember, everyone's different—what works for one student might not work for you. If you've got a study method that's doing the trick, stick with it. Think of this as extra help, not a must-do overhaul.

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📌 Overview

Section I: 70 multiple-choice questions in 120 minutes (including single-select, a 5-question reading-passage set about a computing innovation, and multi-select).
30% of AP Exam score. Section II consists of the Create performance task components submitted to the AP Digital Portfolio and 2 written-response questions with 4 prompts completed on exam day.
On exam day, students answer 2 written-response questions with 4 prompts total, using their submitted Personalized Project Reference. The prompts are based on their Create performance task work.
On the end-of-course exam, Section II contains 2 written-response questions with 4 prompts total. Written Response 1 is about Program Design, Function, and Purpose. Written Response 2 contains prompts drawn from these categories: Algorithm Development, Errors and Testing, and Data and Procedural Abstraction.
The four exam-day prompts are based on College Board’s published Create written-response categories. When practicing, be ready to explain your program’s purpose and behavior, the student-developed procedure and algorithm, testing or errors, and how your data abstraction and procedural abstraction work, using only your Personalized Project Reference.
Students get 9 hours of in-class time for the Create task components and 60 minutes on the end-of-course exam for the written responses.

📄 Personalized Project Reference (PPR)

Students must submit a student-authored Personalized Project Reference through the AP Digital Portfolio.
The PPR is what you will have access to during the 60-minute written-response section on exam day.
It must contain the required code segments from your own program.
Your Personalized Project Reference must be student-authored and follow current College Board rules. Check the latest handouts to make sure prohibited content does not appear in the PPR. In particular, do not assume comments or extra annotations will be available on exam day; verify your submitted PPR follows current AP Digital Portfolio requirements exactly.
Practice answering prompts using only your PPR, not your full code. That’s the best way to prepare for what exam day will actually feel like.

PPR checklist before you submit

Before submitting your PPR, verify that it includes the exact required code segments from your own program: (1) a list or other collection used to manage complexity, (2) the student-developed procedure with at least one parameter that includes sequencing, selection, and iteration, and (3) a call to that procedure.
Make sure the code is readable, complete enough to support your explanations, and consistent with the current AP CSP student handouts.
If possible, practice answering questions from a printed or exported version of your PPR so you know exactly what you can and cannot rely on during the exam.

💭 General Advice

Tips on mindset, strategy, structure, time management, and any other high level things to know

Know your strengths and weaknesses. Self evaluation can help you determine how well you understand each subtopic and how you are going to answer each question on the exam. Being able to identify questions you know you have a good understanding of is important when it comes to time management.
Process of elimination is huge in the CSP exam. Problems that involve code tracing sometimes have very obvious incorrect answers so if you are able to spot those, the chances of answering a question you may not know the exact answer to increases significantly!
Taking full length exams is truly the best way to practice your time management. Nothing besides this will help you get a good understanding of what it will be like in the real thing. Practice questions definitely help, but practicing with that time limit, or even a shorter time, helps decrease stress when you’re really taking the test.
Verbally explaining your code and project to someone else can help reinforce understanding and identify areas of weakness.
Exchange projects with your classmates or teachers for feedback on areas of improvement and different perspectives.
Set your project to private for anyone without the correct link and don't include any personally identifying information, as asked.

🤔 Choosing a Create Project

For AP CSP, the required performance task is the Create performance task. Your job is to design a program for that task that is manageable and clearly demonstrates the required components.
Pick something that is not overly complicated and that you are comfortable making. For example, someone can write over 1000 lines of code for their project which included working with an AI but still get a lower score than someone who writes 30 lines. More complex isn’t the key to a higher score in this situation.
Make sure that the program you have in mind incorporates all of the required elements. It's better than trying to stick in iteration or a procedure once you're 90% done.
Your project should have a clear function that you can explain. Even better, choose an algorithm that helps make a task easier and has a unique, holistic purpose. Creating a program that is super complicated but has a bland and unclear purpose won’t earn you the points you want to score.
Choose a project that is manageable, but make sure it still includes all required Create elements: input, output, a student-developed procedure with at least one parameter, an algorithm in that procedure, and a list or other collection used to manage complexity. Simpler is often better, but your program must be large enough to clearly show all required components in your code and Personalized Project Reference.
Choose a project that is manageable but still lets you demonstrate the current Create requirements. Your program should have input and output, and it must include a student-developed procedure with at least one parameter, an algorithm in that procedure that uses sequencing, selection, and iteration, and a list (or other collection type) that helps manage complexity. Your Personalized Project Reference should include the required code segments for the procedure and the list so you can answer exam-day written-response prompts.
Before you commit to a project, confirm that your program includes all Create requirements you may need to reference on exam day: (1) input from a user, device, file, or data stream; (2) output; (3) a student-developed procedure with at least one parameter; (4) an algorithm in that procedure that includes sequencing, selection, and iteration; and (5) a list or other collection type that helps manage complexity.
Consult with your teacher for advice on selecting a suitable project and ensuring alignment with course objectives, as this key for the task!

🤳🏼 Video

Double check the current College Board directions and make sure your video is in the correct file type before you upload.
When making your video, go through your program at a moderate pace. If you’re going too fast, the person reviewing it might get confused as to what’s happening.
Your video does not need to show the entire program, but it must follow the current College Board directions and clearly demonstrate the program running, including input, at least one aspect of the program’s functionality, and output.
The video is a submitted Create component that shows your program running, but on exam day you will answer the written responses using your Personalized Project Reference, not the video.
Don't take an actual video; use a screen recording program. You can use FlexClip but there are others too such as Screencastify.

🧑🏽‍💻 Code

Use the current College Board Create performance task directions, scoring guidelines, sample responses, and AP Classroom practice materials. Make sure you understand the required Create components and the kinds of exam-day written-response prompts tied to your Personalized Project Reference.
Before you finalize your program, double check that you can point to each required component in your own code and PPR: your program should have input and output, and it must include a student-developed procedure with at least one parameter, an algorithm in that procedure that uses sequencing, selection, and iteration, and a list (or other collection type) that helps manage complexity.
Your Personalized Project Reference must be student-authored and follow current College Board rules. Check the latest handouts to make sure prohibited content does not appear in the PPR. In particular, do not assume comments or extra annotations will be available on exam day; verify your submitted PPR follows current AP Digital Portfolio requirements exactly.
You can use any coding program, but a recommendation is using Code.org especially if your class uses their curriculum and for making a PDF of your code. If you want, try using CodePrint. You shouldn’t spend a lot of time coding. Don’t focus too much on visual (screen) elements. You can make your program look better before you record your video. You can also create a “creative task time log” and, as silly as it may seem, it was actually helpful because it documents what you did everyday and set a goal for the next day.
If your school uses CodeHS, it also has a whole AP CSP course and covers more than what’s required on the exam. Converting code to PDF is also super easy with a built-in function in CodeHS.
Commenting your code while you work can help you understand what you coded and can make revision easier. You must properly acknowledge any code or media you did not create, following current College Board submission requirements. Also follow the current rules for what may and may not appear in your submitted Personalized Project Reference and code files. Check the latest AP CSP student handouts and AP Digital Portfolio instructions before submitting.

✏️ Written Response 1

This part focuses on being able to explain your program clearly. Use your Personalized Project Reference to prepare. On exam day, you will answer the written-response prompts using your submitted Personalized Project Reference, not your full code file or arbitrary screenshots.
On the end-of-course exam, Section II contains 2 written-response questions with 4 prompts total. Written Response 1 is about Program Design, Function, and Purpose. Written Response 2 contains prompts drawn from these categories: Algorithm Development, Errors and Testing, and Data and Procedural Abstraction.
There are many guides and tools to aid you in preparing for your responses. You can find a lot on College Board’s website for AP CSP. For example, there are released sample responses with scoring guidelines. Look through them, and see how other people wrote their responses. Analyze why a person did or didn’t score a point for each question. You can ask your teacher to assign practice questions with AP Classroom. There is also an AP Daily video you can watch that focuses on the written responses.
Know your code. Hopefully, you coded it so you understand everything about your code.
Practice the kinds of prompts you may see: program purpose and functionality; a student-developed procedure and a call to it; the algorithm within the procedure, including sequencing, selection, and iteration as applicable; and testing or errors/corrections.
The four exam-day prompts are based on College Board’s published Create written-response categories. When practicing, be ready to explain your program’s purpose and behavior, the student-developed procedure and algorithm, testing or errors, and how your data abstraction and procedural abstraction work, using only your Personalized Project Reference.
Because the format of the AP has students answering these questions on exam day, it's important to do practice questions and understand the purpose of your code well enough to explain it from your PPR alone.
Start by understanding what your program is all about. Think about its main purpose and how it fits into computing. What problem does it solve, and why did you make it the way you did? Imagine explaining it to someone who doesn't know anything about coding. Describe what your program does and why it matters. Focus on the problem it solves and how your design addresses that problem. Keep it clear and straightforward.
Practice explaining how your list or collection makes the program easier to develop or maintain, and why using that abstraction is better than hardcoding individual values. Also practice explaining what your procedure's parameter changes and how the procedure contributes to the overall program.
Also make sure your PPR actually includes the exact list, procedure, and procedure call you plan to talk about. If those segments are blurry, incomplete, or not the ones you practiced with, exam day gets much harder.

📝 Written Response 2

On the end-of-course exam, Section II contains 2 written-response questions with 4 prompts total. Written Response 1 is about Program Design, Function, and Purpose. Written Response 2 contains prompts drawn from these categories: Algorithm Development, Errors and Testing, and Data and Procedural Abstraction.
You may be asked to answer prompts about a procedure, a call to that procedure, the algorithm it uses, and how it functions. Make sure your Personalized Project Reference includes the required code segments so you can refer to them on exam day.
Keep your response concise, specific, and directly tied to the prompt and your Personalized Project Reference.
Be sure to provide clear explanations of the algorithms used in your program. Break down complex processes into simple steps and use examples to illustrate their functionality.
Pay special attention to sequencing, selection, and iteration in your procedure when they apply. These are key things you may need to explain in your response.
Think about how your program was tested and how you would explain errors, fixes, or different scenarios. Being able to discuss debugging and correction clearly can help a lot.
Also be ready for abstraction questions. Practice explaining how your list or other collection manages complexity, what data it stores, and why using it is better than separate variables or hardcoded values. Practice explaining your procedure too—especially what the parameter changes and how that helps your program work.
One really helpful thing to do is simulate the real testing situation: open only your PPR, hide the rest of your code, and answer a practice prompt. If you get stuck, that usually shows you exactly what explanation or code segment you need to review before exam day.