AP exams, 2 portfolio components
AP Drawing exam guide
A drawing-focused portfolio course scored on sustained investigation and five selected works, with no exam.
Follows the fall 2026 course and exam description, from 7 May 2027
Overview
What AP Drawing covers.
AP Drawing is a portfolio course centered on drawing skills — mark-making, line quality, surface manipulation, the representation of space and light, and composition — pursued through media including drawing, painting, printmaking, and mixed media. Like the other AP Art and Design courses, it has no end-of-course exam.
The portfolio has two components. Sustained Investigation is fifteen images plus typed written responses documenting an inquiry you define and develop through practice, experimentation, and revision, weighted 60%. Selected Works is five works with brief written identification of materials, processes, and ideas, weighted 40%.
The distinguishing question in AP Drawing is what your marks are doing. Readers look for decisions about surface, mark, and light that serve an idea, so a portfolio of technically clean but unquestioning renderings usually scores below one that shows genuine investigation. Document everything as you go and let the inquiry evolve on paper.
At a glance
- Structure
- Two components: Sustained Investigation (15 images plus writing) and Selected Works (5 works plus writing)
- Timing
- No timed exam; work is produced across the course
- Weighting
- Sustained Investigation 60%, Selected Works 40%
- Delivery
- Submitted digitally through the AP Digital Portfolio by College Board's spring deadline; confirm the exact date for your exam year
- Score range
- 1 to 5
- Governing body
- College Board
- Who takes it
- Students developing drawing and painting skills who want AP credit, placement, or a documented body of work.
Scoring
Trained AP readers score the uploaded portfolio against published rubrics, weighting Sustained Investigation 60% and Selected Works 40% to produce a score from 1 to 5. There is no multiple-choice or free-response exam, and written responses are scored as evidence alongside the images.
Exam structure
Portfolio components
AP Drawing covers 2 portfolio components. Open one for its topics, published weighting, and section-specific study tips.
Sustained Investigation
60%Fifteen images document a drawing inquiry driven by your own questions, and may include finished works, studies, and process…
6 topics
Selected Works
40%Five works are submitted with brief written identification of materials, processes, and ideas. They are chosen to show skillful…
5 topics
Study strategies
How to work through this exam.
These strategies follow from the exam's own structure. Adapt them to the time you actually have each week.
- Draw on a fixed schedule rather than in bursts; sustained investigations reward accumulated hours.
- Keep a sketchbook of experiments and photograph pages as process documentation.
- Calendar backward from College Board's spring deadline with monthly image targets and upload checkpoints.
- Get critique from someone unfamiliar with your work and note what they cannot see or understand.
- Review the published rubrics at mid-year and identify which criterion your portfolio serves least well.
- Test your photography setup early; poor documentation is the most avoidable way to lose points.
Common questions
AP Drawing questions students ask.
Does AP Drawing have an exam?
No. AP Drawing is scored entirely from the portfolio submitted through the AP Digital Portfolio, with no multiple-choice or free-response exam.
What media are allowed?
Drawing, painting, printmaking, and mixed media all qualify when the work demonstrates drawing skills such as mark-making, line quality, surface, and the representation of light and space.
How many pieces do I need?
Fifteen images for Sustained Investigation, which may include process documentation, plus five works for Selected Works.
How should I choose a sustained investigation topic?
Pick a question you can pursue visually for months and that allows genuine revision. Broad themes work only if you can name specific questions that guide individual works.
How is AP Drawing scored?
Trained AP readers apply published rubrics to the portfolio, weighting Sustained Investigation 60% and Selected Works 40%, yielding a single score from 1 to 5.
Before you build the schedule
Exam structures change. Confirm the current format, eligibility, and policies with College Board before you commit to a study plan.
Official exam information opens in a new tabGuide structure last checked against official sources on August 30, 2026.
Markdown version of this guide for citation, offline reading, and language models.
Study AP Drawing with a plan you can keep.
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