Exam Security and Administration Policies and Procedures

All AP students deserve a fair and uniform testing experience. The College Board's test security and test administration policies and procedures are designed to protect the integrity of the AP Exam and AP Exam scores. The policies and procedures have been developed to afford all students equivalent opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge on exam day and prevent any students from gaining an unfair advantage.

When the College Board determines that a student’s testing experience did not meet the College Board’s standards for administering exams — even through no fault of the student — the College Board reserves the right to cancel an AP exam score. The decision to cancel an AP Exam score is difficult; nontheless, AP Exam scores must be canceled on occasion in order to protect the integrity of the AP Exam for all AP students, and for the colleges and universities that grant credit or advanced placement for qualifying AP scores. When the College Board considers it appropriate, but not under all circumstances, students will be given the opportunity to retest.

The College Board reserves the right to decline to score an AP Exam or cancel an AP Exam score when, in its judgment, any of the following occurs:

1. Violation of exam security policies and procedures: On exam day, students are required to sign their answer sheet, indicating that they are aware of and agree to, all of the policies and procedures discussed in the 2017-18 Bulletin for AP Students and Parents. Students also must sign the covers of the multiple-choice and free-response booklets, affirming statements related to the security of the exam. The exam security policies and procedures students agree to include:

Exams must be administered on the established schedule. The exam administration may never begin before the official starting time, and may begin only up to one hour after the official starting time on the specified day. If an exam is offered at an incorrect date or time, the student should refuse to take it; the student should contact Educational Testing Service's (ETS) Office of Testing Integrity to arrange to take an alternate exam.

Students must not remove the shrinkwrap and open exam materials until instructed to do so by the proctor so that no one sees the exam content before the administration begins.

Because multiple-choice questions are sometimes reused, no one other than the student may see the multiple-choice questions during the exam.

Students may not, under any circumstances, remove exam content from the testing room; give it to anyone else; discuss it with anyone (including an AP teacher); or share it through any means, including, but not limited to, email, text messages, a camera phone, and the internet.

Students may not, under any circumstances, remove any exam materials from the testing room. Exam booklets must never be photocopied by students or teachers after the exam. They may only discuss the exam content if the specific questions in the exam are released on the College Board website two days after the regularly scheduled exam administration. If the exam content is not released, students may not discuss it with anyone.

Electronic equipment (cell phone, smartphone, smartwatch or wearable technology of any kind, laptop, tablet computer, etc.), portable listening or recording devices (MP3 player, iPod, etc), cameras or other photographic equipment, devices that can access the internet, and any other electronic or communication devices are prohibited in the exam room. If a student is observed with any of these devices during testing or during breaks, the student may be dismissed from the exam room, and the device may be confiscated. School-owned digital recording devices are allowed only for the AP French, German, Italian, and Spanish Language and Culture Exams and the AP Music Theory Exam.

Students may not consult textbooks, notes, teachers, other students, or any other resource during the break between Section I and II of the exam, or during any unscheduled breaks.

Students may not leave the building at any time during the test administration, including during a break.

Teachers, college faculty or instructors, department chairs, tutors, individuals involved in test preparation services, r educators of any kind (including, but not limited to, curriculum specialists, school counselors, or administrators) must not take, or review the content of, an AP Exam.

Violation of test security policies may result in score cancellation, and under some circumstances individuals may be permanently barred from future testing.

2. Disclosure of secure test items: If a student is discovered disclosing, through any means, any multiple-choice content, any free-response content from an alternate exam, any free-response content from a regularly scheduled exam within two days of its administration, or any free-response content that is not released on the College Board website two days after the regularly scheduled exam administration, the College Board will automatically cancel the student’s exam score.

If a student posts to any form of social media during the exam, or refers to unreleased exam content at any time after the exam, the student’s score will be canceled, no retest will be permitted, and the student may be permanently barred from testing.

3. Misconduct: If a student engages in misconduct in connection with an AP Exam, the student may be asked to turn in their exam materials and leave the testing room. The student may not return to the testing room, and their AP Exam score will not be reported.

Misconduct includes:

Obtaining improper access to: the exam, a part of the exam, or information about the exam.

Removing a page or pages from the exam book.

Referring to, looking through, or working on any exam, or exam section, other than during the timed testing period for that exam or exam section.

Accessing any prohibited aids.

Bringing food or drink into the testing room.

Leaving the testing room without permission.

Attempting to remove from the testing room any part of the exam or any notes relating to the exam.

Accessing a cell phone or electronic device during testing or during breaks.

Copying from another student’s work or from published or unpublished sources.

Attempting to give or get assistance, or otherwise communicate, through any means, with another person about the exam during the exam administration.

Attempting to take the exam for someone else.

Reproducing any portion of any exam in any form (e.g., by taking photos or making photocopies).

Creating a disturbance.

Failing to follow any of the exam administration regulations discussed in the 2017-18 Bulletin for AP Students and Parents, provided by testing staff, or specified in any exam materials.

Using testing accommodations that have not been preapproved by the College Board.

4. Testing irregularities: The term "testing irregularities" refers to problems with the administration of an exam and may affect an individual or group of students. These problems include, but are not limited to, administrative errors (e.g., improper timing, improper seating, improper proctoring, defective materials, defective equipment. or the failure of test administration personnel or the school to comply with test administration policies or procedures) and disruptions of exam administrations. Students may review the exam administration instructions that schools are required to follow, which are set forth in this manual, available at collegeboard.org/apcoordinatorsmanual. The College Board is solely responsible for determining whether testing irregularities have occurred, and its decisions are final. When testing irregularities occur, the College Board may decline to score the exams of one or more students and it may cancel the scores of one or more students when it determines that such actions are required to protect the integrity of the exam and the College Board may do so whether or not the affected students caused the testing irregularities, benefited from them, or engaged in misconduct. When it is appropriate in the College Board's judgment, the College Board may give the student(s) the opportunity to take a retest without charge.

5. Identification discrepancies: When, in the College Board's judgment or the judgment of exam administration personnel, there is a discrepancy in a student’s identification, the student may be dismissed from the testing room. In addition, the College Board may decline to score the exam or may cancel the score. Law enforcement authorities may also be notified when fraud is suspected.

6. Invalid scores: The College Board may also cancel AP Exam scores when, in its judgment, there is substantial evidence that they are invalid for any reason. Evidence of invalidity may include, but is not limited to, plagiarism, discrepant handwriting, unusual answer patterns, or inconsistent performance on different parts of the exam or text that is similar to that in other free responses. Before canceling AP Exam scores based on substantial evidence of invalidity, the College Board notifies the affected student in writing about its concerns, gives the student an opportunity to submit information that addresses the College Board's concerns, and considers any such information that is submitted. The College Board also offers various options, which typically include voluntary score cancellation, a free retest, and arbitration in accordance with the ETS Standard Arbitration Agreement.

Note: The retest option is not available outside the United States, U.S. territories, and Canada. The arbitration option is available only for tests administered in the United States and U.S. territories. Additionally, if before, during or after a review of questionable scores, ETS finds that misconduct has occurred in connection with a test, ETS may treat the matter under its misconduct procedures; in that event, the options available in connection with score invalidity reviews will not be available even if those options were previously offered.

In no event shall the College Board, its agents, or subcontractors be responsible for students', test administration personnel's, or schools' failure to comply with the AP test security and test administration policies and procedures. The College Board shall not be liable to the students, school, district, or anyone claiming by or through them for any damages, including special, incidental, direct, indirect, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, caused by, arising from, or otherwise related to the failure of test administration personnel, the students, or the school to comply with the College Board's test security and test administration policies and procedures, whether or not the College Board has been advised of the possibility of such damages.