Exam Performance Statistics
The average score for the AP Physics 1 exam in 2024 was 2.59 (out of 5).1
And we believe, with the changes made to the upcoming AP Physics 1 exam, getting a 5 in 2025 will be significantly harder.
These statistics highlight the difficulty of this exam and the importance of preparing adequately.
Concept Pairing in MC Questions
The biggest challenge of the AP Physics 1 exam is concept pairing.
These questions test for two (or more) concepts at once, such as momentum and kinetic energy, forces and kinematics. Often times students can solve one part, but not the other.
Another common concept pair is momentum and center of mass. This question type appears every years and students consistently score the lowest on it.
Difficult Free-Response Questions
The free-response questions (FRQs) are challenging for one reason: it requires you to show complete derivation using key concepts.
The average FRQ score on the 2021 Exam was 1.55 (out of 5). This highlights the importance of practicing equation derivation and FRQ strategies. I go into depth in the post below.
Here are 5 steps you can take to crush the FRQ section of the AP Physics Exam.
Limited Time
As of the 2025 exam update, you have 80 minutes to answer 40 tricky MCQs and 100 minutes to solve 4 FRQs.
According to the College Board, only 47.5% of students completed ALL questions on the 2021 Exam.
When practicing MCQs or FRQs, time yourself to increase the pressure. The exam is designed such that most MCQs can be solve in roughly 90 seconds.
If you’re frequently running out of time, there is almost always a knowledge gap. Understanding these gaps and learning the problem solving tricks are important.
You can book an elite physics lesson for a rapid run down of all the strategies you need to know to solve problems in 90 seconds or less. Or use our free resources to keep practicing and building your speed over time!
How to Prepare for the AP Physics Exam
Now that you understand that test stats, lets breakdown HOW to ace the AP Physics 1 exam.
- Practice with Concept Pairing
To prepare for the MC questions, you need to practice applying multiple concepts at once. Look for practice problems that involve pairing different concepts. UBQ already has a filter to search for concept pairing questions.
- Focus on Understanding Concepts THEN Deriving
Rather than memorizing formulas, focus on understanding the underlying concepts. This will help you apply your knowledge to real-world situations and derive more effectively. Remember that deriving equations is the core theme of the AP Physics 1 exam.
Quick example – Instead of memorizing the formula for the range of a projectile, learn how to derive it. In doing so you’ll better understand how range is dictated by the vertical displacement and horizontal component of a projectile’s velocity.
- Practice FRQs
Here’s how to prepare for the FRQs: Focus on the FRQs College Board have released.
Short on time? Can’t do them all?
No worries — I’ve sorted every released FRQ by Units here, to help you quickly target the topics you need the most practice on on.
Recap
The AP Physics 1 exam is a difficult, but doable challenge.
We’ve showed your the stats and told you what to work on.
Now it’s up to you to put the work in.
Remember to practice with concept pairing, focus on understanding concepts, derive equations from scratch and practice solving FRQs.
With these strategies, you’ll be well on your way to acing the AP Physics exam.
- According to the College Board AP Physics 1 Yearly score distributions ↩︎
