AP World History: Modern
Advanced Placement World History: Modern is a college-level course and examination offered to high school students through the College Board's Advanced Placement Program designed to help students develop a greater understanding of the evolution of global processes and contacts as well as interactions between different human societies. The course advances this understanding through a combination of selective factual knowledge and appropriate analytical skills. Students used to study all prehistory and history, especially from 8000 BC to the present day. However, it was announced in July 2018 that the test would be changed to an AP World History: Modern exam that only contains content since 1200 AD, starting in the 2019-2020 school year, with plans for a new course with the time before that called AP World History: Ancient. The AP World History exam was first administered in 2002. Students in the United States usually take the course in their second year of high school, although they are not generally required to do so.
Course Structure
This is a high school course designed specifically for sophomores in high school and gives college credit. The course is organized around four eras/periods and nine units:- Period 1 - c. 1200 to c. 1450
Unit 2: Networks of Exchange
- Period 2 - c.1450 to c. 1750
Unit 4: Transoceanic Interconnections
- Period 3 - c. 1750 to c. 1900
Unit 6: Consequences of Industrialization
- Period 4 - c. 1900 to the present
Unit 8: Cold War and Decolonization
Unit 9: Globalization
Test format
The first section of the AP World History exam consists of 55 multiple choice questions with a 55-minute time limit. The questions are not divided up evenly between the 9 units.| Unit | Chronological Period | Exam Weighting |
| Unit 1: The Global Tapestry | c. 1200 to c. 1450 | 8-10% |
| Unit 2: Networks of Exchange | c. 1200 to c. 1450 | 8-10% |
| Unit 3: Land-Based Empires | c. 1450 to c. 1750 | 12-15% |
| Unit 4: Transoceanic Interconnections | c. 1450 to c. 1750 | 12-15% |
| Unit 5: Revolutions | c. 1750 to c. 1900 | 12-15% |
| Unit 6: Consequences of Industrialization | c. 1750 to c. 1900 | 12-15% |
| Unit 7: Global Conflict | c. 1900 to the present | 8-10% |
| Unit 8: Cold War and Decolonization | c. 1900 to the present | 8-10% |
| Unit 9: Globalization | c. 1900 to the present | 8-10% |
While previously the exam deducted 1/4 of a point for every incorrect answer, starting from 2011 on, the penalty for incorrect answers had been removed. It is to one's advantage to attempt every question possible within the time limit. The number of multiple choice options is being reduced from five to four at the same time.
This test underwent a major overhaul for the 2017 exam, however, due to the prodigious number of students that struggled with the free response section, the College Board decided to initiate yet another round of sweeping reform, to be put in effect in May 2018. Currently it has the same format as Advanced Placement United States History and Advanced Placement European History. The exam features a new section that requires three short answer questions, one of which is selected from two options. Each question has three parts, making for a total of 9 parts within the SAQ section. Students have forty minutes to answer these, and they count for twenty percent of the exam score.
Section II lasts for a total of 100 minutes, and it includes a document-based question and a long essay question. Students are allowed to work on either essay within this total time period. The section begins with a 15-minute reading period where students are advised to read both the documents for DBQ. However, students may begin writing during this time; most students take notes on the documents in order to plan out the DBQ. Students are advised to spend 45 minutes writing the DBQ and then 40 writing the LEQ, but there are no rules on when each essay must be worked on. There are three prompts for the LEQ, but only one needs to be chosen. Each LEQ prompt addresses a different period, with one addressing periods 1 & 2, another addressing periods 3 & 4, and a third addressing periods 5 & 6.
The DBQ counts for 25% of the total exam score, and the LEQ is 15%. The essays are out of seven points and six points, respectively. Students are required to analyze and synthesize the documents of the DBQ, but some outside information is still needed. The LEQ only provides a prompt and no sort of stimulus, so a large amount of outside information is necessary.
Grade distribution
AP World History Test Grade Distribution:| Final Score | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| 5 | 11.2% | 8.9% | 11.1% | 9.8% | 9.4% | 6.9% | 5.9% | 6.4% | 6.6% | 6.5% | 8.5% | 8.7% | 8.7% | 9.2% |
| 4 | 16.9% | 16.1% | 16.0% | 15.5% | 16.0% | 15.7% | 13.7% | 15.8% | 14.2% | 15.5% | 20.1% | 19.8% | 19.0% | 22.8% |
| 3 | 26.1% | 23.4% | 23.4% | 23.8% | 23.1% | 30.5% | 29.4% | 31.7% | 31.4% | 29.2% | 27% | 27.7% | 28.3% | 28.2% |
| 2 | 24.3% | 25.7% | 24.6% | 24.2% | 25.7% | 29.4% | 30.2% | 27.9% | 29.9% | 21.5% | 29.5% | 28.7% | 28.9% | 26.1% |
| 1 | 21.5% | 25.8% | 24.9% | 26.7% | 25.8% | 17.4% | 20.9% | 18.2% | 18.0% | 19.9% | 14.9% | 15.1% | 15.1% | 13.7% |
| Mean Score | 2.72 | 2.56 | 2.64 | 2.57 | 2.57 | 2.65 | 2.53 | 2.64 | 2.62 | 2.45 | 2.78 | 2.78 | 2.77 |
In 2012, the head of AP Grading, Trevor Packer, stated that the reason for the low percentages of 5s is that "AP World History is a college-level course, and many sophomores aren't yet writing at that level." 10.44 percent of all seniors who took the exam in 2012 received a 5, while 6.62 percent of sophomores received a 5.