The AP Spanish courses are the most popular AP foreign language classes. In fact, they’re so popular that two sets of Spanish curricula exist: AP Spanish Language and Culture and AP Spanish Literature and Culture. This is the only AP foreign language that has more than one course offering. In 2019, over 185,000 students took the AP Spanish Language and Culture exam, making it by far the most popular foreign language exam taken.
The curriculum for the AP Spanish Language and Culture exam emphasizes communication by applying interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational skills in real-life situations. As you undertake the coursework or exam preparations, you will need to focus on understanding others and being understood by others. If you’re planning to take the AP Spanish Language and Culture exam, whether you have taken the class, are a native speaker, or have self-studied, read on for a breakdown of the test and CollegeVine’s advice for how to best prepare.
When is the AP Spanish Language and Culture Exam?
The College Board will administer the 2020 AP Spanish Language and Culture exam on Tuesday, May 12, at 8 am. For a complete list of all the AP exams, along with tips for success and information about how students score, check out our article 2020 AP Exam Schedule: Everything You Need to Know.
About the AP Spanish Language and Culture Exam
The AP Spanish Language and Culture course is taught almost exclusively in Spanish and includes instruction in vocabulary usage, language control, communication strategies, and cultural awareness.
Although there is some emphasis placed on correct grammar usage, the College Board specifically warns against overemphasizing grammatical accuracy at the expense of communication. Instead, more time will be spent on applying interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational communication skills in real-life situations, exploring the culture in both contemporary and historical contexts, and building an awareness and appreciation of cultural products, practices, and perspectives.
There are no explicit prerequisites for the AP Spanish Language and Culture course, but students who take it are typically in their fourth year of high school-level Spanish language study or have extensive practical experience communicating in both written and oral Spanish language.
There are four essential components to the framework of the AP Spanish Language and Culture course that clarify what you must know, be able to do, and understand to qualify for
college credit or placement. Those components are skills, themes, modes, and task models.
Skills: Skills are the abilities you’ll need to think and act like a Spanish speaker. The College Board breaks these skills into eight units; below is a list of those units along with the weight they are given on the multiple-choice section of the AP Spanish Language and Culture exam:
Skill |
Description |
Percentage of Exam Score (Multiple-Choice Section) |
Comprehend Text |
Comprehend written, audio, audiovisual, and visual text (text, pictures, and numbers). |
20%-30% |
Make Connections |
Make interdisciplinary and cultural connections. |
30%-40% |
Interpret Text |
Interpret the content of written or audio text (words). |
30%-40% |
Make Meanings |
Make meanings from words and expressions. |
10%-15% |
Speak to Others |
Communicate interpersonally by speaking with others. |
Not directly assessed in the
multiple-choice section. |
Write to Others |
Communicate interpersonally by writing to others. |
Not directly assessed in the
multiple-choice section. |
Present Orally |
Communicate through spoken presentations. |
Not directly assessed in the
multiple-choice section. |
Present in Writing |
Communicate through written presentations. |
Not directly assessed in the
multiple-choice section. |
Themes: The AP Spanish Language and Culture course is divided into 6 themes in which there are 5-7 contexts covered. Below are the 6 themes along with their recommended contexts:
Theme |
Recommended Contexts |
Families and Communities |
- Customs and Values
- Education Communities
- Family Structure
- Global Citizenship
- Human Geography
- Social Networking
|
Personal and Public Identities |
- Alienation and Assimilation
- Heroes and Historical Figures
- National and Ethnic Identities
- Personal Beliefs
- Personal Interests
- Self-Image
|
Beauty and Aesthetics |
- Architecture
- Defining Beauty
- Defining Creativity
- Fashion and Design
- Language and Literature
- Visual and Performing Arts
|
Science and Technology |
- Access to Technology
- Effects of Technology on Self
and Society
- Health Care and Medicine
- Innovations
- Natural Phenomena
- Science and Ethics
|
Contemporary Life |
- Education and Careers
- Entertainment
- Travel and Leisure
- Lifestyles
- Relationships
- Social Customs and Values
|
Global Challenges |
- Economic Issues
- Environmental Issues
- Philosophical Thought and Religions
- Population and Demographics
- Social Welfare
- Social Conscience
|
Modes: To pass the AP Spanish Language and Culture exam, students need to demonstrate proficiency engaging in three modes of communication: interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational. Students need to possess skills in listening, reading, speaking, and writing in the following areas:
- Audio, Visual, and Audiovisual Interpretive Communication
- Written and Print Interpretive Communication
- Spoken Interpersonal Communication
- Written Interpersonal Communication
- Spoken Presentational Communication
- Written Presentational Communication
Task Model: Finally, you will work with various task models to demonstrate linguistic skills and cultural understanding. The task model types are:
Task Model |
Mode |
Promotional material |
Interpretive—print source |
Literary text |
Interpretive—print source |
Article and chart |
Interpretive—print source |
Letter |
Interpretive—print source |
Audio report and article |
Interpretive—audio and print sources |
Conversation and chart |
Interpretive—audio and print sources |
Interview |
Interpretive—audio source |
Instructions |
Interpretive—audio source |
Presentation |
Interpretive—audio source |
Email reply |
Interpersonal—written |
Argumentative essay |
Interpersonal—written |
Conversation |
Interpersonal—spoken |
Cultural comparison |
Interpersonal—spoken |
AP Spanish Language and Culture Exam Content
At 3 hours and 3 minutes long, the AP Spanish Language and Culture exam is one of the longer-lasting AP exams. It consists of two primary sections—the first section featuring multiple-choice questions, and the second made up of free response questions.
The multiple-choice questions are further broken down into two parts—one part based on text as a stimulus, the other part uses audio as a stimulus.
Section 1(a): Multiple-Choice Text
40 minutes | 30 questions | 23% of score
The first part of the AP Spanish Language and Culture exam uses a variety of printed materials—journalistic and literary texts, announcements, advertisements, letters, charts, maps, and tables—as a stimulus. You’re asked to identify ideas and details, define words in context, identify an author’s point of view or target audience, and demonstrate knowledge of cultural or interdisciplinary information contained in the text.
Example of a text-based multiple-choice question:


Answers to multiple-choice questions above:
Section 1(b): Multiple-Choice Audio
55 minutes | 35 questions | 27% of score
The second part of the multiple-choice section uses audio material—interviews, podcasts, PSAs, conversations, and brief presentations—as a stimulus. In this part of the exam, students will encounter two subsections of questions.
- In the first subsection, you’re asked to answer questions using two audio sources and related print materials as a stimulus.
- The second subsection uses three audio sources (and no print material) as the stimulus.
Example of a question you’ll encounter in the audio-based multiple-choice section, click on the question for audio:


Answers to the multiple choice questions above:
The free-response section of the AP Spanish Language and Culture exam is also broken down into two parts—one part focusing on writing, and the other on speaking.
Section 2 (a): Free Response Written
1 hour 10 minutes | 2 questions | 25% of score
The first free response section features two questions—one on interpersonal writing and the other on presentational writing. The first of the two questions require you to read and respond to an email. You have 15 minutes to complete this section, and it’s worth 12.5% of your exam score. The second of these questions provides three sources—including an article, a table, graph, chart, or infographic, and a related audio source offering different viewpoints on a topic—that you will use to construct an argumentative essay. This question is allotted 55 minutes (15 minutes to review materials and 40 minutes to write) and is also worth 12.5% of your exam score.
Example of an email free-response question:

Section 2: Free Response Spoken
18 minutes | 2 questions | 25% of score
The spoken part of the free response section tests your interpersonal and presentational speaking ability. For interpersonal speaking, you will participate in five exchanges in a simulated conversation with 20 seconds for each response. For the second part, you’re tasked with delivering a two-minute presentation requiring you to compare a cultural feature of a Spanish-speaking community to another community you are familiar with.
When delivering oral responses, you will be digitally recorded and your proctor will submit your recordings with the rest of your test materials. Learn more about submitting audio on the College Board’s webpage of the same name, Submitting Audio.
Example of a spoken, presentational, free-response question:

AP Spanish Language and Culture Score Distribution, Average Score, and Passing Rate
Exam |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
AP Spanish Language and Culture |
25.2% |
34.2% |
29.4% |
9.5% |
1.8% |
In 2019, students generally did quite well on the AP Spanish Language and Culture exam. More than half of all students received a score of 4 or 5, and nearly 90% of test-takers received a passing score (3 or higher). Though students who regularly spoke or heard Spanish outside of school did perform slightly better overall than the standard group of foreign language students, the standard group still passed the exam at a rate of nearly 85% and only 3% received the lowest score of a 1.
To guide your studying, read the full AP Spanish course description. For a comprehensive listing of the score distribution on all of the AP exams, check out our post Easiest and Hardest AP Exams.