The College Board accelerated its transition into digital AP testing with 16 digital exams, 12 hybrid exams, and only eight entirely paper exams in May 2025. This change was fueled by concerns about cheating, AP Exam sales, and students’ increasing comfort with technology. This year, most—if not all—AP Exams will be taken digitally with the College Board’s Bluebook application, the same application used to administer the SAT exams.
There are many advantages to digitizing AP testing for students. They no longer have to worry about their handwriting being legible and answers are much easier to edit. It also decreases the test’s susceptibility to cheating and may deter students from selling the exams.
AP Psychology teacher Jason Knowles has noticed the advantages of grading practice exams electronically. “It’s all in one place. I don’t have to worry about shuffling papers back and forth or giving them back to students. Since it’s all in Canvas, I can score it really quickly and easily,” Knowles said.
In computer science classes, the digital exam can feel more instinctive to students. “We do everything with a screen—all of our actual coding with a screen. I do feel it’s more natural to continue that work on a screen, versus calculus, where you’re writing,” AP Computer Science teacher Cindy Donaldson said.
The digital test also provides students with various tools and features to help them succeed. Students can highlight, annotate, and strike through text, as well as flag questions for review. This is beneficial for students in the reading and writing portions of English exams, including AP Literature and Composition and AP Language and Composition.
However, there are some disadvantages that students have noticed. “Typing an essay is much harder than writing an essay,” junior Mackenzie Morales said. “I feel like when you’re typing it makes you feel like you need to edit it more, whereas when you handwrite, you’re just writing and you don’t even have to think about what you write.”
“I felt like it was really challenging for me to type everything out and it’s also really hard on your wrist, because it ends up being two hours worth of typing,” Morales added.
Senior Maya Wheeler also expressed concern about digitally typing and editing essays. “I was scared of deleting all my work,” she said.
Another concern is that the digital test cuts you off immediately when the time is up. “When we were on paper, if we didn’t submit it right away, there was no penalty, there was that little bit of wiggle room. Whereas, if you’re online, the LockDown Browser or the actual AP test, makes you stop,” Morales said.
Donaldson expressed that in the free-response questions, she has seen students experience problems mentioning material from previous questions. “Usually Part A is embedded in Part B, so it’s a little tricky to go back and forth between the screens, as opposed to just writing it,” Donaldson said.
Some teachers have reported students experiencing Wi-Fi issues and power outages during the exam. “I heard from other teachers at other schools about things like the power going out. A bird landed on a wire. There is an introduction to problems that exist with the digital that you don’t have with the paper,” Donaldson added.
Digital testing presents new challenges along with technology, but many teachers believe it nonetheless supersedes paper exams. “There’s potential for problems with test security and with AI, so as long as the College Board and schools are prepared to deal with those variables, there’s really nothing but an advantage to testing online,” Knowles said.
To help students prepare for the digital exam, teachers have been using the AP Central website. The site provides students with online practice tests that align with the curriculum, and teachers ensure students practice on their computers to get ready for the digital AP Exam in the spring. “Take as many practice tests as you can, both online and handwritten, to prepare yourself as much as possible,” Knowles said.
While teachers may notice a difference in the results of their students, it’s hard to pinpoint the reason. Any change needs getting used to, whether or not it leads to better results. The goal is, in the future, for digital AP Exams to increase scores and ensure the test is straightforward and comfortable for all students.
