A Student’s Guide to Taking AP Exams in the Bluebook App

This spring, College Board will be administering the vast majority of AP exams through their Bluebook testing app - the same app they use to administer the SAT and PSAT. For the most part, exams are still exams even when they are digital, but there are a few things that are useful to be aware of ahead of time. In this article we aim to answer questions you might have about this and give a handful of tips for students who are preparing for their digital AP exams. 

Which tests are going digital?

This May, 16 of the AP exams (those whose free response sections are essentially essays) will be fully digital and 12 (those whose free response sections involve drawing figures or writing out math) will be hybrid digital exams. For this year, tests with listening components, or which are primarily portfolio based, will remain in their traditional forms. 

What does hybrid digital mean?

For the hybrid exams, the multiple choice questions will be fully digital and the free response questions will be presented digitally, but students will write their answers out in traditional test booklets. College Board has made sample free response booklets for each of the hybrid digital tests available. These physical paper booklets will then be sent in. You will not have to worry about trying to take and upload pictures of your work. 

Can I see what the testing interface will look like ahead of time?

Yes! There is a good chance that you already have the Bluebook app from taking the PSAT or SAT, but if you don’t, step 1 is to download it. Once you log in, there is a card that says “Test Preview”. Click “Next” to get to the “Choose a Preview” screen. When you choose “AP” as your test type, a second dropdown menu will appear where you can select the specific exam you want to see a preview of. This preview is NOT a full length test, but it will let you get comfortable with the interface and the tools Bluebook provides. You can see previews of each section of your exam type. 

Is there any way I can take all of my AP tests on paper?

Only if you have an accommodation from College Board to take paper tests.

What is the calculator situation? 

With the exception of AP Statistics, if your exam has allowed students to use a calculator in the past, Desmos will be enabled on the relevant sections of your exam. The version of Desmos embedded in Bluebook is very slightly different from the standard version. None of the changes should affect anything you would realistically want to do during the exam, but if you want to practice with the version you will have on the exam outside of Bluebook, Desmos has made the PSAT/SAT/AP version available here. Yes, you can use Desmos to get numerical approximations of integrals and derivatives (and even graph them!). With a little practice the interface is fairly intuitive, and the tools are very powerful, but it is definitely worth practicing with before you get to the exam.

You can also still bring your own calculator. We would encourage you to try out Desmos, but you can still bring your own calculator and use it on any section where calculators are allowed. 

For AP Statistics, there are some tools that Desmos does not currently have available. Because of this, students taking AP Statistics must bring their own calculator and Desmos will not be available.

Are there formatting and editing tools for the essays?

Yes! There is a tool bar in each essay box that gives you the option to use bold, italics, and underlining. It also lets you add a symbol, superscript or subscript and indent paragraphs. For editing, there are cut, copy, and paste tools as well as undo and redo buttons. In addition to using the tool bar, you can also use keyboard shortcuts. You can find a list of the shortcuts by going to any test preview, clicking the three dots that say “More” in the upper right, and choosing “Shortcuts”. Scroll to the very bottom of the list of shortcuts to find the ones for editing Free Response answers. Note that while you can copy and paste within an answer box, you cannot copy and paste between Bluebook and other programs (so don’t decide to write your homework essays in a Bluebook preview test!). 

Are there full practice tests available anywhere?

College Board provides full official practice exams in AP Classroom with an interface very similar to Bluebook, but they are locked until your teacher chooses to unlock them. In addition, AP Classroom has other practice sets and unit reviews. Many teachers use these exams and the other practice in AP classroom as part of the classwork for their classes. 

If your teacher hasn’t had you working in AP Classroom, it might be worth asking if they are planning to later and, if not, if they would be willing to unlock the practice for you. 

Still have questions—or just want to make sure you're as ready as possible?

Join one of our AP Final Review sessions or work 1:1 with an expert tutor to get the support you need before exam day. We're here to help!

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