Scoring the
AP Physics-C Exams
The AP Physics-C exam has two parts
and each part is graded and reported
separately. These are known as the
The RAW score on each MC section is
converted to a score by multiplying by
the appropriate factor to scale it up to the
45 points allotted to each section. If no
questions were eliminated the factor is
45/35 = 1.2857
Therefore, on that
section only
a) Mechanics (Mech),
MC Score = RAW • 1.2857
and
b) Electricity and Magnetism (E&M)
exams.
Each exam consists of two parts. These
are known as the Multiple-Choice (MC)
and Free-Response (FR) sections of the
exam.
Multiple-Choice Sections
Sometimes a question is eliminated from
the scoring. This might occur because of
an ambiguity in a question or in one of
its possible answers. Sometimes the
reason is highly technical and comes out
of the analysis of the response profiles of
the questions.
If, in a given year, one questions is
eliminated from a MC section, then for
that section only, the factor is
Calculators may not be used during the
MC sections of these exams.
45/34 = 1.3235
The multiple-choice sections are given
first and consecutively. Each MC exam
is timed separately. Students may not
return to the earlier section. Calculators
are not allowed during the MC sections
of the two exams. In truth, calculators
would not be much help even if they
were allowed. Each MC section lasts
forty-five minutes.
MC Score = RAW • 1.3235
Each MC exam consists of 35 questions
and is worth a maximum of 45 points.
There is a penalty for wrong answers.
The raw score is computed as the
number of right answers minus onequarter of the number of wrong answers.
RAW score = #right – ¼ • #wrong
Therefore, on that
section only
Free-Response Sections
Calculators may be used, but not shared,
during the FR sections of these exams.
The FR section of each exam consists of
three questions and each question is
worth 15 pts. The FR section of each
exam is thus worth 45 points.
All questions in the FR sections have
multiple sub-parts. The point
distribution among the sub-parts is not
listed on the exam. Each sub-part of a
question will be assigned a point value
but the points are not necessarily
distributed equally among the sub-parts.
Composite Scores
Example Calculations
The composite score for each exam is
the sum of the unrounded scores from
the corresponding MC and FR sections.
Mech MC exam results – 35 questions
#right = 28
#wrong = 6
1 question unanswered
Composite score = MC score + FR score
The composite score is rounded to the
nearest integer.
Grades
The Chief Faculty Consultant sets the
cut points within the total of 90 points
available on each exam. The cut points
divide all the composite scores into
Grades on a 1 to 5 scale. The cut points
vary from year to year, so definitive
values cannot be given.
As examples, however, The College
Board reports the following cut points
for the 1998 AP Physics C exams.
Grade
5
4
3
2
1
AP Physics C – E & M
Composite
Score Range
49 – 90
35 – 48
26 – 34
15 – 25
0 - 14
E&M MC exam results – 34 questions
#right = 25
#wrong = 7
2 questions unanswered
E&M MC Score =
(25-7/4) •1.3235 = 30.771375
Mech FR exam results
Q1 = 11
Q2 = 7
Q3 = 3
Mech FR Score = 11 + 7 + 3 = 21
AP Physics C – Mechanics
Composite
Score Range
55 – 90
43 – 54
32 – 42
21 – 31
0 - 20
Mech MC Score =
(28–6/4)•1.2857 = 34.07105
E&M FR exam results
Q1 = 10
Q2 = 5
Q3 = 4
E&M FR Score = 10 + 5 + 4 = 19
Then using the 1998 cut points for this
example, we get
Grade
Mech Composite Score = 55.07105 = 55
5
4
3
2
1
E&M Composite Score= 49.771375 = 50
1998 Mech Grade = 5
1998 E&M Grade = 5