A look at which AP exams tend to have the highest and lowest 5-rates, and why raw difficulty isn't the only factor.
"Hardest" can mean two different things: the lowest 5-rate (percentage of students earning a 5), or the lowest overall pass rate (score of 3 or higher). They don't always point to the same exams, because self-selection matters - a notoriously tough exam taken mostly by strong students in a specialized program can still show a healthy pass rate.
Top 5 Highest vs. Lowest AP 5-Rates
Exams that have historically shown some of the lowest 5-rates include AP Physics 1, AP US Government & Politics, AP Environmental Science, and AP Human Geography - often exams with large, broad enrollment that includes many first-time AP test-takers. Exams with historically higher 5-rates tend to include AP Physics C (both Mechanics and Electricity & Magnetism), AP Psychology, and world language exams like AP Spanish Language, which often have significant numbers of heritage speakers.
Difficulty shouldn't be the only factor in choosing AP courses - interest, workload, and how the credit transfers at your target colleges usually matter more for your overall outcome than chasing the exam with the statistically friendliest curve.
Highest 5-rates
| Subject | Approx. 5-rate | Why it's high |
|---|---|---|
| AP Chinese | 50% | heritage-speaker-heavy cohort |
| AP Japanese | 50% | heritage-speaker-heavy cohort |
| AP Calculus BC | 45% | small, strong self-selected cohort |
| AP African American Studies | 34% | small, strong self-selected cohort |
| AP Physics C: E&M | 27% | small, strong self-selected cohort |
| AP Precalculus | 25% | small, strong self-selected cohort |
Lowest 5-rates
| Subject | Approx. 5-rate | Why it's low |
|---|---|---|
| AP Physics 1 | 8% | broad enrollment, many first-time takers |
| AP Environmental Science | 9% | broad enrollment, many first-time takers |
| AP English Language | 10% | large first-AP cohort |
| AP Seminar | 11% | broad enrollment, many first-time takers |
| AP US History | 12% | large first-AP cohort |
| AP European History | 13% | broad enrollment, many first-time takers |
Approximate recent distributions. High 5-rates usually reflect a strong, self-selected cohort (heritage speakers, calculus-ready students) rather than easy content - and vice versa.
Every AP exam, ranked
All 38 subjects in one sortable table. Click any column header to re-sort by 5-rate, pass rate, or mean score - the fastest way to see which exams are friendliest (or toughest) by the numbers.
Approximate recent distributions, same data as the pass-rates page. Use the full pass-rates page for the distributions explained.
Hard content vs. low 5-rate are different things
A low 5-rate can mean the exam is brutal (AP Physics 1) or simply that it's a broad-enrollment first AP course pulling in many beginners. A high 5-rate can mean the exam is friendly or that only the strongest students take it. Read the numbers as cohort statistics, not personal probability - run your own practice scores through a subject calculator instead of guessing from averages.
How to actually read these rankings
- Start with the 5-rate, not the pass rate. A low 5-rate means few people hit the top band; a low pass rate means few people got a 3 or higher. They measure different things.
- Ask who takes the exam. A 5-rate near 50% on AP Chinese mostly reflects heritage-speaker enrollment; an 8% 5-rate on AP Physics 1 reflects a broad first-AP cohort. Both numbers describe the cohort, not the content.
- Check the mean score as a tiebreaker — it smooths out the extremes and gives a rough sense of the typical result.
- Then run your own practice scores through a subject calculator. Averages can’t tell you your odds; your own numbers can.
The table below the rankings lets you sort every exam by any of these columns, so you can compare your subjects directly.
Using the data to pick your next AP
Rankings answer “how hard is this exam for the average test-taker?” — but your question is “how will I do?” Those are different, and this is how you bridge them.
- Filter by your reality. Are you a strong writer? History exams (& the 60% FRQ weight that comes with them) may suit you better than a low 5-rate suggests. Comfortable with math? STEM exams reward practiced problem sets more than memorization.
- Look at the pass rate, not just the 5-rate. A subject with a 40%+ pass rate but a low 5-rate is one where a 3 is reachable even when a 5 is rare — useful if your goal is credit rather than bragging rights.
- Run your own numbers. Take one timed practice section and feed it into the subject calculator. One data point from your own attempt beats a table of averages when you’re choosing a course.
The rankings exist to tell you where the cohort lands; they were never meant to tell you where you will. Combine the two and you’ll make a better call than either number alone.
The Hardest and Easiest AP Exams to Get a 5 - quick answers
What is the hardest AP exam to get a 5 on?
By 5-rate, AP Physics 1 has the lowest share of 5s (about 8%). It's a large exam often taken as a student's first AP course, which pulls the average down.
What is the easiest AP exam to get a 5 on?
By 5-rate, AP Chinese and AP Japanese consistently top the list at about 50% earning a 5 - but that's mostly because their cohorts are dominated by heritage speakers, not because the content is easy.
Should I choose AP courses based on difficulty?
Difficulty is one factor, but interest, workload, and how the credit transfers at your target colleges usually matter more for your outcome.
Want a number, not just an explanation? Jump to your subject's score calculator and plug in your results.
Keep reading
Quick calculators: AP Lang · APUSH · AP Calc AB · AP Biology