What Is AP Language and Composition?
AP Language and Composition is the common name for AP English Language and Composition, also called AP Lang. It is a College Board course in which students read nonfiction closely, study the choices writers and speakers make to persuade an audience, and write persuasive pieces of their own. College Board lists no recommended prerequisites.
The skills College Board names are reading closely and interpreting a piece of writing, evaluating a source of information, gathering and consolidating information from different sources, writing an evidence-based argument, and drafting and revising. The course has nine units, numbered and not named, that run from identifying the claims and evidence in a text to developing a complex argument. Unit 3, for example, covers introducing and integrating sources and avoiding flawed lines of reasoning, and Unit 6 covers recognizing and accounting for bias.
What Is on the AP Language and Composition Exam?
The exam is fully digital, taken in the Bluebook testing app, and lasts 3 hours 15 minutes.
| Section | Questions | Share of score |
|---|---|---|
| Section 1: Multiple choice | 45 (23 to 25 reading questions and 20 to 22 writing questions) | 45% |
| Section 2: Free response | 3 essays | 55% |
The free-response section takes 2 hours 15 minutes, including a 15-minute reading period, which by subtraction leaves 1 hour for the multiple-choice section. The reading questions ask students to read and analyze nonfiction texts, and the writing questions ask them to read like a writer and consider revisions to a text. Each of the three essays tests a different skill.
| Essay | What the student does |
|---|---|
| Synthesis | Reads 6 texts on a topic, including visual and quantitative sources, and writes an argument that cites at least 3 of them |
| Rhetorical analysis | Reads a nonfiction text and analyzes how the language choices of the writer contribute to its meaning and purpose |
| Argument | Writes an evidence-based argument in response to a given topic |
The 2027 exam is on Wednesday, May 12, 2027. The length of every exam is listed in how long AP exams are.
Is AP Language and Composition Hard?
On the 2026 exam, 75% of students scored 3 or higher and 15% earned a 5.
| Year | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 or higher | Test takers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 15% | 28% | 32% | 15% | 10% | 75% | Not yet published |
| 2025 | 13.4% | 28.0% | 32.8% | 16.1% | 9.7% | 74.3% | 616,294 |
| 2024 | 9.8% | 21.4% | 23.5% | 28.8% | 16.6% | 54.6% | 597,097 |
| 2023 | 10.3% | 19.7% | 26.1% | 29.5% | 14.4% | 56.1% | 562,328 |
The results changed in 2025. On the College Board score distribution page, the share scoring 3 or higher was 54.6% in 2024 and 74.3% in 2025. That year this exam was one of nine whose score standards College Board set with its evidence-based standard setting method, as College Board explained at the time, and College Board used this exam as its example when it described the method. Families comparing years, or reading advice written before 2025, should keep the change in mind. Our guide to AP score distributions covers the change across exams.
It is also a very large exam, with 616,294 test takers in 2025. In our experience at Oriel Admissions, the difficulty is writing under time pressure: three essays in 2 hours 15 minutes, each asking for a different kind of argument. Students who read nonfiction regularly and have written timed essays before are better placed.
In Which Grade Should a Student Take AP Language and Composition?
The course has no recommended prerequisite, and the school decides which grade may take it. The course catalog shows the English sequence and where this course falls in it.
At Oriel Admissions we advise taking it in the first year the school offers it in the English sequence, and following it with AP English Literature where the school offers both. For a 9th or 10th grader, the preparation is the honors English course each year and steady reading of nonfiction. Our guide to AP courses for junior year and the best courses for sophomore year show where it sits beside the other subjects.
How Does AP Lang Differ From AP Lit?
AP Lang is about nonfiction and argument. AP Lit, in full AP English Literature and Composition, is about fiction, poetry, and drama. Its multiple-choice section includes at least two prose fiction passages and at least two poetry passages.
| AP English Language and Composition | AP English Literature and Composition | |
|---|---|---|
| What students read | Nonfiction texts | Short fiction, poetry, and longer fiction or drama |
| Essays on the exam | Synthesis, rhetorical analysis, argument | Poetry analysis, prose fiction analysis, literary argument |
| Multiple choice | 45 questions, 45% of the score | 55 questions, 45% of the score |
| Exam length | 3 hours 15 minutes | 3 hours |
| 2027 exam date | Wednesday, May 12 | Wednesday, May 5 |
| Recommended prerequisites | None | None |
College Board lists neither course as a prerequisite for the other. In our view, a student aiming at the most selective colleges should take both where the school offers them, in the order the school sets.
What Do Yale, Caltech, and MIT Say About High School English?
Yale says applicants should generally try to take courses each year in English, science, math, the social sciences, and foreign language, and asks them to consider whether they are prepared for rigorous college-level math, writing, and science courses. Caltech requires four years of English. MIT recommends at least some challenging courses in areas such as English, history, economics, music, and/or foreign languages, and notes that every degree program at MIT has a communication requirement.
None of the three names this course. Our guide to course rigor explains how a schedule is rated against what the school offers, and the best colleges for English majors guide covers the college side for a student drawn to the subject.
Credit and placement are decided by each college. The AP Credit Policy Search from College Board lists the policies.
For other courses, see our guides to AP Human Geography, AP World History, AP European History, AP Seminar, AP Precalculus, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics 1, and AP Computer Science Principles. For the wider decisions, see our guides to AP classes ranked by difficulty, the AP exam schedule, AP Calculus AB vs BC, whether AP scores matter, dual enrollment vs AP, and the AP Capstone Diploma.
Frequently Asked Questions About AP Language and Composition
On the 2026 exam, 75% of students scored 3 or higher and 15% earned a 5. In our experience at Oriel Admissions, the difficulty is writing three essays in 2 hours 15 minutes.
Yes. AP Lang and AP Language and Composition are common names for AP English Language and Composition.
AP Lang covers nonfiction and argument. AP Lit, in full AP English Literature and Composition, covers fiction, poetry, and drama.
It lasts 3 hours 15 minutes. There are 45 multiple choice questions worth 45% of the score and 3 essays worth 55%, and the essay section takes 2 hours 15 minutes.
The 2027 exam is on Wednesday, May 12, 2027.
They are the synthesis essay, the rhetorical analysis essay, and the argument essay.
Yes. The share scoring 3 or higher was 54.6% in 2024 and 74.3% in 2025. That year College Board set the score standards for this exam with its evidence-based standard setting method.
Follow the order the school sets. College Board lists no prerequisites for either course, and we advise taking both where the school offers them.
Sources: College Board: AP English Language and Composition course page, College Board: AP English Language and Composition Exam, College Board: AP English Language and Composition Score Distributions, 2023 to 2026, College Board: AP English Literature and Composition course page, College Board: AP English Literature and Composition Exam, College Board: 2025 AP Exams: Scoring, Standards, and Security in a New Digital Era, Yale Undergraduate Admissions: Course Selection, Caltech: Academic Requirements for First-Year Applicants, MIT Admissions: Academic foundations
About Oriel Admissions
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