AP Precalculus First Impressions: What the 2024 Exam Revealed

AP Precalculus launched in Fall 2023 with College Board's first full exam in May 2024. Teachers who prepared students using the course framework encountered a free-response section that did not distribute evenly across the four course units.

The distribution surprise

The AP Precalculus course framework covers: polynomial and rational functions (Unit 1), exponential and logarithmic functions (Unit 2), trigonometric and polar functions (Unit 3), and functions involving parameters, vectors, and matrices (Unit 4).

The 2024 free-response section devoted approximately 60% of its marks to polynomial and rational functions and exponential models. Unit 3 (trigonometry) appeared in only one of the four free-response questions, and Unit 4 was represented primarily through parametric equations.

This distribution surprised many students who had used trigonometry as their primary revision focus — a natural decision given that trigonometry is the most visually distinctive element of a precalculus course and the one with the most named identities.

What the multiple-choice section covered

The 40-question multiple-choice section was more evenly distributed: roughly 10 questions per unit. The no-calculator section (28 questions) contained the majority of trigonometric identity questions; the calculator section (12 questions) focused on regression, parameter interpretation, and polynomial model evaluation.

Changes to expect for 2025

College Board released scoring statistics for 2024: the mean score was 2.3 (on a 1–5 scale), with 14% of students scoring 4 or 5. This is consistent with the first year of a new exam. Revisions to the scoring guidelines and potential reweighting of free-response units are likely for 2025, though College Board has not announced changes.

Students preparing for 2025 should allocate study time as follows: Unit 1 (polynomials/rationals) — 35%, Unit 2 (exponential/log) — 30%, Unit 3 (trig) — 25%, Unit 4 — 10%. This distribution is slightly more conservative toward the 2024 emphasis than a uniform reading of the framework would suggest.