"Which AP classes are the hardest?" has one honest answer, the College Board's own pass rates, and one honest warning: the pass rate measures the students who sit the exam as much as the exam. Both are below. The table ranks all 40 exams by the percentage scoring 3 or higher in 2025, with 2024 beside it so the five exams whose scoring changed are visible, followed by the workload view, which is the one that decides how many AP courses a student can carry at once.
Download the AP classes ranked by difficulty table (PDF) (all 40 exams ranked by 2025 pass rate with 2024 on page 1, the workload view and a course planner on page 2; two pages, free).
All 40 AP exams ranked by 2025 pass rate
The pass rate is the percentage of students scoring 3 or higher, which most colleges treat as the minimum for credit. Source: the College Board's published 2024 and 2025 figures, rounded to whole percent as the College Board reports them.
| Rank | Exam | 3 or higher, 2025 (%) | 2024 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | 59 | 57 |
| 2 | Music Theory | 60 | 60 |
| 3 | Statistics | 60 | 62 |
| 4 | Calculus AB | 64 | 64 |
| 5 | Computer Science Principles | 64 | 64 |
| 6 | World History: Modern | 64 | 64 |
| 7 | Art History | 65 | 63 |
| 8 | Human Geography | 65 | 56 |
| 9 | Physics 1 | 66 | 47 |
| 10 | Computer Science A | 67 | 67 |
| 11 | Economics: Macro | 67 | 65 |
| 12 | Economics: Micro | 68 | 68 |
| 13 | Environmental Science | 69 | 54 |
| 14 | Biology | 70 | 68 |
| 15 | Spanish Literature and Culture | 70 | 67 |
| 16 | Art and Design: 3-D | 72 | 72 |
| 17 | German Language and Culture | 72 | 70 |
| 18 | Government and Politics: Comparative | 72 | 73 |
| 19 | Government and Politics: U.S. | 72 | 73 |
| 20 | Physics 2 | 72 | 71 |
| 21 | Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism | 72 | 72 |
| 22 | Physics C: Mechanics | 72 | 76 |
| 23 | Psychology | 72 | 62 |
| 24 | European History | 73 | 72 |
| 25 | English Language and Composition | 74 | 55 |
| 26 | English Literature and Composition | 74 | 72 |
| 27 | French Language and Culture | 74 | 72 |
| 28 | Japanese Language and Culture | 74 | 76 |
| 29 | United States History | 74 | 72 |
| 30 | Italian Language and Culture | 75 | 72 |
| 31 | Chemistry | 78 | 76 |
| 32 | African American Studies | 79 | 73 |
| 33 | Calculus BC | 79 | 81 |
| 34 | Precalculus | 81 | 76 |
| 35 | Art and Design: 2-D | 83 | 83 |
| 36 | Art and Design: Drawing | 84 | 84 |
| 37 | Spanish Language and Culture | 85 | 83 |
| 38 | Seminar | 86 | 86 |
| 39 | Research | 88 | 86 |
| 40 | Chinese Language and Culture | 89 | 89 |
The five lowest (hardest by score): Latin 59, Statistics 60, Music Theory 60, then Calculus AB, Computer Science Principles and World History: Modern at 64. The five highest (easiest by score): Chinese Language 89, Research 88, Seminar 86, Spanish Language 85, Art and Design: Drawing 84.
Why the pass rate is not the whole story
Who sits the exam. Calculus BC passes 79 percent and Calculus AB 64 percent, yet BC covers everything in AB plus series and more integration: it is the harder course. The difference is the candidates. BC is taken by the students who were strongest in precalculus; AB is taken by a far larger and more mixed group. The same explains the languages: most students sitting AP Chinese or Spanish Language grew up with the language. A pass rate ranks exam-plus-students, not exam alone.
The 2025 standard-setting. The College Board moved several exams to its updated process for setting score boundaries, and the pass rate jumped: Physics 1 from 47 to 66 percent, English Language from 55 to 74, Environmental Science from 54 to 69, Human Geography from 56 to 65, Psychology from 62 to 72. Physics 1 was for years "the hardest AP" on every list because of its 40-something pass rate; that label was about the old boundaries as much as the physics. Latin is scheduled for the same review in June 2026, so its 59 will likely move.
Class size. The art, music, Latin and Research exams are small; one school's results shift them. Calculus AB, US History, English Language and World History are each sat by hundreds of thousands and their rates are stable.
The workload view
Teachers and students rank difficulty by the hours it takes, and that list is steadier than the scores:
| Workload | Courses | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Heaviest | Physics C (Mechanics; Electricity and Magnetism), Chemistry, Biology, Calculus BC, US History | calculus-based physics; problem sets every night; two years of content in one (Biology, US History); the pace of BC |
| Heavy | Calculus AB, English Literature, European History, World History, Statistics, Computer Science A, Physics 1 and 2 | new ways of thinking (proof-style physics, statistical reasoning, close reading) rather than more facts |
| Moderate | English Language, US Government, Macro and Micro Economics, Precalculus, Computer Science Principles, the languages for fluent speakers | one skill practised to a high standard |
| Lighter | Psychology, Human Geography, Environmental Science, Seminar, Research, the arts for practising artists | vocabulary-and-concepts courses, or portfolios built over a year |
Where the two views disagree is the useful information. Statistics has a low pass rate (60) and a moderate workload: the exam rewards careful reading and precise language, which students underestimate. Physics C has a heavy workload and a decent pass rate (72): the course is hard, the self-selected students cope.
How to choose
- Strengths first. A student who reads fast and writes well should take Lang, US History and Government before Chemistry; a student who likes problem sets should take Calculus, Physics and Chemistry before the history sequence.
- Spread the heaviest. No more than two heaviest-workload courses in one year; three is where grades and sleep go.
- Match the intended major for the two or three APs colleges will look at hardest: Calculus BC and Physics C for engineering, Biology and Chemistry for pre-med, Lang and a history for humanities. The rest can be chosen for interest and for the pass rate.
- Use the free-response questions. The College Board publishes every past free-response question with scoring guidelines; two of them show a student in an hour whether the course is for them.
- Score beats count. Colleges see the scores. Two 5s outrank four 3s.
Where to get help
If the method is not sticking from a page, a 1-on-1 online class fixes it faster than another worksheet: one tutor with a master's degree, one child, on a shared whiteboard, in your time zone (7 am before school, after 4 pm and weekend mornings, US time; after-school slots for the UK, Canada, Australia and the UAE), for about US$10 to $13 an hour. The first 30-minute class is free: how 1-on-1 online tutoring works.
Related pages
- AP Lang against AP Lit: the difference and which to take
- The AP Physics C equation sheet, annotated
- SAT score calculator and what a good score is
- High school GPA calculator, weighted and unweighted
Questions parents ask
1What is the hardest AP class?
2What is the easiest AP class?
3Does a high pass rate mean an easy course?
4What changed in the 2025 AP pass rates?
5How many AP classes should a student take?
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