Starting May 2025, Advanced Placement (AP) Exams that have been on paper for decades will go virtual including heavily enrolled school courses: AP Environmental Science, AP Human Geography, AP United States History and AP English Language composition. The tests will take place through the Bluebook application and can conveniently be accessed on almost any device. Although virtual testing will have its benefits, there are numerous concerns to this change. The concerns that are being considered greatly outweigh the benefits, and it is very risky to change the structure of these important exams.
Some of the major concerns for online testing will include technical issues. Online platforms can experience glitches, crashes, or connectivity problems, potentially disrupting the test-taking experience. When this occurs, students can lose test taking time, causing an unfair advantage to those who did not have the crashes or just delay testing for all students in general.
In addition to this, security and cheating is another major concern. Concerns about ensuring the integrity of the exam, as online tests may be vulnerable to cheating and dishonesty. Although the College Board ensures there will be proctors with the same rules as there were when it was on paper, having access to the internet is going to be bound for cheating, causing unfair advantages to students.
The College Board has implemented various measures to maintain the integrity of the exams, including digital security protocols and time-limited sections. While this remote format aims to provide flexibility and safety among ongoing concerns, it requires students to adapt to new testing experiences, which will be confusing.
Junior Aya Elitr has taken three AP classes freshman and sophomore year and is taking four AP classes this year. Aya has multiple concerns regarding the change in testing and said, “I’m a bit worried because I like to be able to flip through articles instead of scrolling. I am also worried about typing during the free response portion rather than writing.”
Conversely, taking an AP test online comes with several positives. Notably, the digital format can streamline the test-taking process with features like built-in timers and easy navigation between questions. It can also reduce the risk of lost or misplaced answer sheets as everything is saved electronically.
Overall, this transition will be very different, but the flexibility and convivence of computer-based AP testing can enhance the overall experiences for students disregarding some of its flaws.
