# AP Latin exam guide > Read Vergil and Pliny closely, read unseen Latin at sight, and argue about a Latin text with evidence. - Canonical page: https://www.arcadesacademy.com/exams/ap-latin - Markdown source: https://www.arcadesacademy.com/exams/ap-latin/llms.txt - Exam family: AP exams - Governing body: College Board - Official exam information: https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-latin - Who takes it: Students in their third or later year of Latin who want college credit or placement in intermediate Latin. - Follows the fall 2025 course and exam description, from 4 May 2026 ## Overview AP Latin is built on required Latin readings from Vergil's Aeneid and Pliny the Younger's Letters, plus prose and poetry chosen by the teacher and four course project passages that College Board releases each summer. The course develops reading and comprehension, description of style and context, and analysis of a Latin text supported by evidence. The exam is three hours and splits evenly between two sections. Section I is 52 multiple-choice questions in 65 minutes: discrete sight-reading questions, short sets and long sets on syllabus and sight passages. Section II is five free-response questions in 115 minutes: a short-answer set, a translation, a short essay on a syllabus passage, and two short essays on the course project passages. Two in-class project checkpoints also count toward the score. Most of the score rests on reading and comprehending Latin, so daily work on both the syllabus text and unseen Latin pays off most. The three short essays reward an interpretation supported by specific textual, stylistic and contextual evidence from the Latin. ## Exam format - **Structure:** Section I: 52 multiple-choice questions; Section II: 5 free-response questions - **Timing:** 65 minutes for multiple choice; 115 minutes for free response - **Weighting:** Multiple choice 50%, free response 50%, including 2% for two in-class course project checkpoints - **Required syllabus:** Selections in Latin from Vergil's Aeneid Books 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11, and 12 and Pliny the Younger's Letters, plus teacher's choice prose and poetry and four course project passages - **Delivery:** Digital in College Board's Bluebook app; confirm the delivery mode published for your exam year - **Score range:** 1 to 5 ## Scoring The exam reports a score from 1 to 5, with multiple choice and free response weighted 50% each; two in-class course project checkpoints make up 2% within the free-response half. The translation is scored in 15 segments, so an imperfect but literal rendering still earns points, and the short essays are scored on the interpretation and on how specific Latin evidence supports it. ## Exam sections AP Latin is organized into 2 exam sections. Each one below lists its published weighting where the governing body publishes one, the topics it covers, and study tips specific to it. ### 1. Section I: Multiple Choice - Position: 1 of 2 - Published weighting: 50% - Scored questions: 52 - Time: 65 minutes - Page: https://www.arcadesacademy.com/exams/ap-latin/section-i-multiple-choice Section I is 52 questions in 65 minutes. Twenty discrete questions each rest on a short unseen phrase from Pliny, Vergil, or other prose or poetry; short sets of three follow syllabus or unseen Pliny and Vergil passages, and long sets of ten follow syllabus passages only. Questions test comprehension, grammar in context, style, and context. The section carries 50% of the exam score. #### Topics - **Vergil, Aeneid syllabus passages** — Required Latin selections from Books 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11, and 12, studied for language, narrative, and characterization. - **Pliny, Letters syllabus passages** — Required letters on the eruption of Vesuvius, ghosts and apparitions, Calpurnia, and Pliny's correspondence with Trajan. - **Sight reading: prose and poetry** — Unseen Latin from Pliny, Vergil, and other authors, read for main idea and structure before details. - **Grammar and syntax in context** — Case usage, subordinate clauses, participles, and indirect statement identified inside real sentences. - **Summarizing in English** — Choosing the English summary or translation that matches what a Latin phrase or sentence says. - **Style and context** — Stylistic features and the historical and cultural references a passage assumes you can place. #### Study tips - Read a short unseen Latin passage every day; sight reading makes up a large share of the section. - Parse aloud on syllabus passages so grammar questions become recognition rather than analysis. - Keep a running list of high-frequency words in Vergil and Pliny and review it weekly. - Answer comprehension questions from the Latin, not from your memory of an English translation. ### 2. Section II: Free Response - Position: 2 of 2 - Published weighting: 50% - Scored questions: 5 - Time: 115 minutes - Page: https://www.arcadesacademy.com/exams/ap-latin/section-ii-free-response Section II is five questions in 115 minutes: a set of short-answer questions on a syllabus passage, a translation scored in 15 segments, a short essay on a syllabus passage, and two short essays on the course project passages, one prose and one poetry. Each short essay asks you to read the passage and then support an interpretation with specific evidence. The section, with the two in-class project checkpoints, carries 50% of the exam score. #### Topics - **Short answer** — Questions on a Vergil or Pliny passage covering comprehension, translation, style, context, and, for Vergil, scansion. - **Literal translation** — Rendering each Latin word and construction accurately, since the translation is scored in segments. - **Short essay on a syllabus passage** — An interpretation of a Vergil or Pliny passage supported by textual, stylistic, and contextual evidence. - **Course project passages** — Two short essays on the four prose and poetry passages College Board releases each summer for the course project. - **Meter and scansion** — Dactylic hexameter in Vergil, including questions that ask you to scan a line. - **Rhetorical and stylistic devices** — Chiasmus, anaphora, alliteration, and word placement identified for their effect on the reader. #### Study tips - Translate a short syllabus passage in writing every day and compare it against a literal key. - Study each course project passage as closely as the syllabus readings; two of the five questions are built on them. - Practice quoting Latin inside English sentences and explaining what those words do; every short essay needs it. - Scan lines of Vergil out loud weekly so scansion questions do not require slow reconstruction. ## Study strategies - Split each study session between the required readings and unseen Latin so sight reading never lags. - Translate in writing rather than reading translations in your head; scored translation is a written skill. - Work through the four course project passages as soon as they are released, and keep notes for both checkpoints and the exam. - Build vocabulary from the syllabus itself; frequency within Vergil and Pliny beats generic word lists. - Learn to support an interpretation with Latin evidence, quoting briefly and explaining precisely what the words do. - Practice complete timed sections so the 115-minute free-response block is familiar before exam day. ## Frequently asked questions ### What Latin is on the required syllabus? Selections in Latin come from Vergil's Aeneid Books 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11, and 12 and Pliny the Younger's Letters, alongside prose and poetry chosen by your teacher and four course project passages. Confirm the line and letter selections in College Board's course and exam description. ### How is the exam structured? Section I is 52 multiple-choice questions in 65 minutes, weighted 50%. Section II is five free-response questions in 115 minutes, weighted 50% together with two in-class course project checkpoints. ### What is the course project? Each summer College Board releases four Latin passages, two prose and two poetry, from a range of authors and periods. You study them during the year, complete two checkpoint activities in class, and write two short essays on them on the exam. ### How literal should the translation be? Very. The translation is scored in segments for accuracy, so rendering each construction faithfully earns more than a smooth paraphrase. Awkward but accurate English scores better than elegant but loose English. ### How much sight reading is on the exam? A large share of Section I uses Latin that is not on the syllabus, including all twenty discrete questions. Regular sight practice in prose and verse is one of the highest-value habits in the course. ### Is AP Latin a digital exam? College Board administers AP Latin in its Bluebook digital testing app. Confirm the delivery mode for your administration year with College Board or your AP coordinator. ## Related exam guides - [AP English Literature and Composition](https://www.arcadesacademy.com/exams/ap-english-literature-and-composition): Read fiction, poetry, and drama closely and argue about them in writing, the way the AP English Literature exam asks. - [AP Art History](https://www.arcadesacademy.com/exams/ap-art-history): Learn the 250-work image set and the ten content areas that structure the AP Art History exam. - [AP Italian Language and Culture](https://www.arcadesacademy.com/exams/ap-italian-language-and-culture): Use Italian for real purposes across the revised exam's course project, written argument, and comprehension sets. ## Independence and trademark notice AP® is a registered trademark of College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this site. Arcade Academy is an independent educational resource. Confirm the current required readings, course project passages, exam structure, and policies with College Board. AP® is a registered trademark of College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this site. Arcade Academy is an independent educational resource.