AP and IB Exam Update

For the 2019-20 school year, the Arlington Public Schools requirement for students to take the International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement exam to earn the additional quality point for AP courses in the grade point average will be waived. This change applies to ALL students enrolled in an AP or IB class for the 2019-20 school year. This requirement will go back into effect on July 1, 2020.

This APS decision has no bearing on the requirements set by various colleges to earn college credit through Advanced Placement courses. Any decision to give college credit will be made by the specific institution.

Students are strongly encouraged to take their exam on the specific date/time scheduled during the regularly scheduled exam window between May 11-22. The regular and late testing dates and times are available online.

The late testing window should be used only if a technical issue occurs. If a technical issue occurs during the exam, students must fill out an incident report directly with the College Board. The College Board will then review the incident report and follow up with the student directly via email regarding their ability to take the exam again during the late testing window of June 1-5. There will not be make-up testing for the June 1-5 testing dates.

If a student decides not to take an AP exam this year, they will simply not participate on the testing day for their exam. No other action is needed by the student or their school to cancel the exam.  Students who do not take the regular schedule exam will automatically receive an email from the College Board offering them the late testing date. Again, students will not take the exam on the late testing date if they do not want to take the exam at all.

The College Board will be reaching out directly to the email address entered as part of the student’s College Board registration. Please be sure this email address is accurate and that you have access to it for all communications from the College Board regarding AP Testing. This task should be done as soon as possible.  See below for steps to check or update your email address.

Please visit the College Board website for the most up-to-date information regarding testing procedures and accommodations.

Tasks and Tips for Successful Testing Online at Home

Tasks Students Should Complete Now

• Log into your College Board account:
  • Go to Account Settings
  • Scroll down to the Email Address section
  • Check to make sure that the email address associated with your account is working and accessible. If not, change your email address in your profile.  If you have entered your schoolidnumber@apsva.us, you must set up an email account through Gmail or another email  provider as we do not have @apsva.us accounts set up for student email. Please enter your new email in the College Board account profile.
  • Scroll to the bottom and click Save.
  • You can also enter a parent email address into your profile section if you would also like your parent to receive important updates about this year’s AP testing.
  • If you cannot log into your account, please visit https://pages.collegeboard.org/account-help and click on Troubleshooting or call the AP Services for Students help line at 888-225-5427.

• Log into your MyAP Account using your College Board login and password to check your school code and to designate where you want your free cumulative score report to be sent this summer.
  • Click on AP Profile (on the top left of screen)
    • Click on the Registration Tab
    • Make sure your school code is correct:
      • Arlington Career Center: 470073
      • HB Woodlawn: 470127
      • Wakefield HS: 470120
      • Washington-Liberty HS: 470125
      • Yorktown HS: 470130
      • Homeschool (if no code through online provider): 970000
    • Click on Save
    • Click on the Score Send Tab
    • Designate the college where you want your free cumulative score report to be sent this summer (Note: you do not have to designate a college if you are not sure where you want your scores sent yet. To have the scores sent this year, this information must be updated by June 20th.)
    • Click on Save

• Check to make sure you have a working device. If you need help with the APS provided devices, please visit our website for additional details.  

• Check to make sure you have strong internet connectivity. If you need help with this service and have not already notified your ITC, please let them know through the email listed in the URL mentioned above.

Prior to the Test Date (Late April):

• Continue to check https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/students and your email for updates
• Learn about testing procedures in late April when the College Board provides information on how to access the testing system on test day and video demonstrations so that students can familiarize themselves with the testing system.
• You will not need to use a lockdown browser for the AP online exams. Other security measures will be in place to ensure that students are not plagiarizing or cheating on the exams.
• Organize class notes and/or textbooks in preparation for exam day. You can use your notes and books used for class on the exam.  Be aware of the time limitations as you will not have much time to refer to notes or books.

Test Day:

• Log into your exam early, up to 30 minutes prior to the exam start time
• You must conserve your data on test day if you have limited WIFI availability. If you are using a MiFi or have limited data, be certain to conserve your data by not using the internet earlier in the day as the exams are in the afternoon. You do not want to run out of data during the exam. Also, make sure to tell anyone else who may use the data to not use the internet earlier in the day.
  • MiFi’s provided by APS have a limitation on data usage, so it is important to factor that into your plan and time for the test.
• Be sure you have a working device (Laptop, Desktop, iPad, Smart phone)
• Be sure your device is charged, or that you are connected to a working electrical outlet
• Ensure you have strong internet connectivity
• Have a quiet place to work with no interruptions for the duration of the test

Following Test Day:

• Scores should be released in mid-July and will be available through your College Board account.

We wish you all the best for your AP exams.  If you have any questions, please email your school’s AP Coordinator.

• Arlington Career Center – Cristin Caparotta; cristin.caparotta@apsva.us
• HB Woodlawn – Debi Patterson; debi.patterson@apsva.us
• Wakefield HS – Maggie Hsu; maggie.hsu@apsva.us
• Washington-Liberty HS – Jessica Gregory; jessica.gregory@apsva.us and Kristin Devaney; kristin.devaney@apsva.us
• Yorktown HS – Suzanne Evans; suzanne.evans@apsva.us and Jennifer Webster; jennifer.webster@apsva.us