How long is the AP Biology exam?
The AP Biology exam is 3 hours long, split into two 90-minute sections worth 50% each. Section I has 60 multiple-choice questions. Section II has 6 free-response questions: 2 long and 4 short. It is a hybrid digital exam, so you answer multiple choice in the Bluebook app and handwrite your free responses in a paper booklet.
In Section I you have 90 minutes for 60 questions, about 1 minute 30 seconds each. Only correct answers count toward your score, so a guess always beats a blank. Calculators are allowed on the exam, and the College Board publishes a list of approved models in its calculator policy.
Section II also lasts 90 minutes, for 6 questions. The questions ask you to interpret and evaluate an experiment, graph and analyze data, explain lab procedures, predict what a change does to a biological system and analyze a visual model. The two long questions deserve more time than the four short ones: about 20 to 25 minutes per long question and 10 to 12 per short one adds up to 90.
You read the free-response prompts in Bluebook but write your answers by hand, so practice full handwritten answers, graphs included. In 2027 the exam is on Monday, May 3, in Session 2, usually the afternoon. Check-in and instructions come on top of the 3 hours, and your AP coordinator tells you when and where to report.
| Section | Questions | Time | Share of score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple choice (in Bluebook) | 60 | 1 h 30 min | 50% |
| Free response (handwritten) | 6: 2 long, 4 short | 1 h 30 min | 50% |
| Total | 66 | 3 h | 100% |
- 1Take one full practice exam in one sitting: 90 minutes of multiple choice, then 90 minutes of free response.
- 2Pace multiple choice at about 1 minute 30 seconds per question and flag the ones you guessed.
- 3Give each long free-response question about 20 to 25 minutes and each short one about 10 to 12.
- 4Write your free responses by hand, since that is how you answer on exam day.
- 5Practice turning a data table into a labeled graph, because graphing data is one of the tested skills.
- 6Score your answers with the official scoring guidelines and review the units behind your misses.