Three hours, in Java, fully on a computer. Forty-two multiple-choice questions that are mostly about reading code, then four free-response questions where you write it. Here is the shape of it, and how we help you get ready.
The College Board exam in Java, taken in May. Revised for 2026 into four units.
How we train for it. Problems weighted the way the exam is, from conditions and loops to classes and 2D arrays, all in Java. Your Python practice does not count toward it.
Checked against the official pages on October 13, 2026. If anything here disagrees with them, they are right.
On a computer. It is a fully digital exam: you answer both the multiple-choice and the free-response questions in College Board's testing app, Bluebook, and everything is submitted automatically at the end.
Either can be the case. You need a testing device with Bluebook already installed and fully charged, and whether that is your own or one the school lends you is up to your school. Ask your AP coordinator well before exam day, and bring the charger.
You type it, in Bluebook. There is no handwritten booklet for this exam.
No. As far as we can tell, Bluebook gives you a place to type code and nothing that runs it: no compiler, no interpreter, no way to try an input. You have to check your code by reading it and tracing it by hand, so practice doing exactly that. We have not found College Board saying this in so many words, so treat it as our understanding.
No. During the exam the only program you may use is Bluebook. Other computers, phones and electronic devices are not allowed in the room.
The Java Quick Reference. It lists the methods from the Java library that questions may use, so you do not need to memorize them. You may not bring notes or books of your own.
Your charged testing device and its charger, pencils or pens for notes on the scratch paper your school provides, and a watch that is not a smartwatch. Bring photo ID if you are sitting the exam at a school that is not your own. Know your College Board password: you must type it in yourself, because a saved password will not work.
Phones, smartwatches and other electronics. Being seen with a prohibited item, even during a break, can get you dismissed and your score canceled. Calculators are only for the exams that allow them, and this is not one of them.
A mouse is allowed. On a tablet you must have an external keyboard for a fully digital exam like this one. On a laptop you may not use one.
Three hours. Ninety minutes for 42 multiple-choice questions, which count for 55% of your score, then ninety minutes for 4 free-response questions, which count for 45%.
No. The course was revised for 2025-26 and inheritance was taken out. The exam in May 2026 was the first on the revised course.
Yes, as practice in writing code under time. But College Board warns that questions from before the revision do not fully match the exam now. They are longer, and each one asks for more.
Download Bluebook and sign in with your College Board account: it has practice built in. Your teacher can also set you questions in AP Classroom, which uses the same style.
Not answered here? Sign in and ask from the exam's overview. A person reads every question.