Scoring an AP Essay
Advanced Placement essays are graded on a scale of 1 through 9. The first question a grader
asks is, “Is the paper adequate or inadequate (is it upper half or lower half)?” If the paper is judged to
be upper half, the question becomes, “Is it effective or merely adequate (is it an 8 or a 6)?” If further
refinement is needed, the score is moved up to a 7 or a 9, as the case may be. The same pattern follows
for papers in the lower half of the range, though moving in the opposite direction.
9 = An 8, but with especially sophisticated thinking.
Impressive control of writing and strong sense of
voice
8 = Effective
Responds to the prompt effectively. The writing is especially mature
7 = A 6, but with a more complete analysis or more
mature writing
6 = Adequate
Responds to the prompt adequately, though discussions are limited
and the analysis is sometimes unconvincing. The writing is clear.
Do more
than
they’re
expected
to do
Do what
they’re
told to do
5 = Uneven
Responds to the prompt unevenly or inconsistently.
Lapses in the writing
4 = Inadequate
Responds to the prompt inadequately. The writing is immature and
lacks control
3 = A 4, but with less perceptive analysis. The writing is
especially weak
2 = Unsuccessful
Responds to the prompt unsuccessfully. The writing is consistently
weak
1 = A 2, but with even less analysis and even weaker
control of writing
0 = Merely repeats the prompt
– = Blank or completely off topic
Page 1 of 1
Know
what to
do but fail
to do it
Don’t
know
what
to do
2/9/16