AP test scores sky-rocketed after pandemic raising grade inflation criticism for college prep courses

In 2021, just 17% of of high school students taking the Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition test earned top marks on the exam.Four years later, that number ballooned to more than 43%.

The major markup on grades for the AP English Lit test — one of the College Board’s most popular college credit exams — is part of a dramatic rise in passing rates, prompting criticism that the tests are being watered down, and not actually preparing students for higher ed.College professors have increasingly been sounding the alarm that shocking portions of students are arriving unable to do even middle school math or write a sentence.Students earning a 5 on AP tests — the top score — rose 61% on average across nine central subjects from 2021 to 2025.

Those earning at least a 4 — which many colleges require to receive credit for the course — increased by 63%, figures from the College Board showed, according to an assessment of the numbers by Education Next.Those increases come despite national standardized test scores dropping dropping for years — with the 2025 National Assessment of Educational Progress results showing a record-low 35% of 12th graders were proficient at reading, while only 22% could handle basic math.High school AP classes have historically been one students’ best opportunities to cut through competition and show top colleges they’re ready for their workload.Making the grade on AP tests can also save incoming students thousands by allowing them to skip entry-level college courses.But critics are beginning to question whether the AP tests are actually sufficiently preparing kids.“All other national tests have been in slow decline for the last decade,” said Daniel Buck, a research fellow at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute.

“So the fact that AP scores jumped almost overnight seems an implausible explanation.”Education Next, an education journal affiliated with the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, note...