What is AP Late Testing? AP Late Testing 2024 Dates & How to Apply for It

Do you know the AP exam has a Late Testing option?

It is provided to you when you cannot take your AP exam on the prescribed date for some reason and would like to attempt it at a later scheduled time or date.

College Board has listed certain reasons which are considered valid for late testing requests. The Board also accommodates you through late testing (make-up exam), if you miss your AP exam due to an unplanned, unavoidable reason.

However, you cannot choose your late testing date yourself, only your AP coordinator can do that for you. Moreover, not all AP papers have a late testing option, so, you will have to start by finding out if your subject qualifies for late testing and if it does, then you will have to follow the stipulated application program.

Read on to more about the AP late testing option and understand how you can apply for them & also find the AP Late Testing 2024 Dates.

What is AP Late Testing?

Life is unpredictable and often does not go as planned. The same may happen with your AP exams. When you fill up the form a few months before the exam day, you can never predict if something may go wrong and you might miss your exam. This is why the College Board has made the provision of Late Testing, which gives you a second chance with the AP exams.

Is the late AP exam difficult? No, it is set according to the same curriculum, it is just a different set of questions than the first exam. The late AP exam questions are different from the first test for security reasons. So, the students who take it on the first attempt cannot share the questions with the late exam takers.

College Board’s List of Acceptable Unavoidable Reasons

If your reason for missing an AP exam is present in the below list, you will be allowed to take a make-up exam for free. If it doesn’t, you will have to pay a pre-decided fee for the exam or you may not be allowed to take the late exam at all.

• There is an IB exam or some other important national or state exam on the same day.
• There are two AP exams lined up in the same slot.
• There are schedule issues with your language lab in case of a foreign language exam.
• The day is marked by a religious holiday.
• There is an official sport meet on exam day.
• There is an academic event on the day.
• There is a national holiday on exam day.
• There is an issue with the disability accommodations.

College Board’s List of Acceptable Unexpected Reasons

There may be a situation where you experience a sudden emergency and you have to miss your AP exam despite of your best-laid plans. In such cases, you have to inform your coordinator as soon as you can. Your AP coordinator will then decide if your reason qualifies for late AP testing (no charge) and will pass on your request to the College Board. Some of the reasons that might be accepted by the College Board are:

• An issue with the disability accommodation.
• A bomb or fire scare at school.
• A family tragedy.
• A natural disaster.
• Serious injury or illness.

Your AP coordinator is the main key to your late testing exam. If he/she feels that your reason is genuine, they can always recommend you for the make-up exam. But for some reason, if you fail to convince the coordinator, your chances of qualifying for the late exam will be nil.

Which Conflicts are Deemed Avoidable by the College Board?

There are several reasons that the College Board does not consider. Some of them are:

1. There is a class exam on the AP exam day

In this case, the College Board prescribes that you must apply to reschedule the class test rather than applying for a late AP test.

2. There is a school holiday

In case of a preplanned non-national school holiday, the AP board does not consider the request for late testing.

3. There is a family commitment

In case of a family commitment when it’s not an emergency, the College Board does not consider the late testing request.

Your reasons might be different from the reasons listed above. Say for example, you may have a splitting headache on the exam day or you missed your alarm on the exam morning, which might both be genuine for you but the College Board will still expect you to take the exam.

To check if you qualify for late AP testing, you should talk to your AP coordinator. You can also call the College Board directly to discuss your issue.

How to Apply for AP Late Testing?

You can apply for late testing through your AP coordinator. As already mentioned, you cannot choose the date for the exam. The coordinator will be able to do that for you and they will also have to choose from some of the preset dates given by the College Board.

So, the first step towards late AP testing is to inform your school or district AP coordinator and they will guide you from there.

What if you miss the AP Late Testing?

If you miss the late testing exam, you miss the chance to take the AP exam in the current year. Next year, you will have to fill out the form again and pay the designated fees to take the exam.

AP Late Testing Dates for 2024

This year, late testing will be conducted both offline and online, similar to the AP exam format. The dates start from 22 May 2024 to 24 May 2024 and do remember that late testing is not available for all subjects. You can check the complete AP Late Testing 2024 schedule in the below table.