AP Latin: 2021 Exam Results
The following data includes all 4,892 students worldwide who took the AP Latin Exam this year on any exam date prior to June 12.
Total group score distributions, 2021 vs. 2019
The following table enables comparisons of student performance in 2021 to student performance prior to the covid-19 pandemic:
| AP Score | 2019 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 13% | 10% |
| 4 | 19% | 17% |
| 3 | 31% | 30% |
| 2 | 24% | 25% |
| 1 | 13% | 18% |
Of these 4,892 students, 2 achieved a perfect score of all 100 of 100 points possible on this year’s exam.
The May 11 Exam Questions
The largest exam date for AP Latin was May 11, so the following information is specific to the exam version administered on that date.
Multiple-choice section:
- On questions about the syllabus readings, students scored significantly higher on Caesar syllabus readings than Vergil readings. But on sight reading questions, the opposite: much higher performance sight reading poetry than prose.
- Themes: On questions about the 7 themes of the course, students generally demonstrated a stronger understanding of themes 1–4 (Literary Style and Genre; Roman Values; War and Empire; and Leadership), than of Themes 5–7 (Views of Non-Romans; History and Memory; Human Beings and the Gods).
- Skills: Students generally demonstrated strongest skills in categories 1G (Identify stylistic features); 1H (Identify references to Roman culture, history, and mythology); 1I (Demonstrate overall comprehension); and 3 (Contextualization). Students’ weakest skill was generally 1C (Use of specific terminology to identify grammatical forms and syntactical structures).
- AP Latin students performed significantly better on the multiple-choice questions than the free-response questions.
- The highest average score was on free-response question 2, the translation of 2 routes out of Helvetian territory from Caesar’s Bellum Gallicum 1.6. About 15% of AP Latin students earned 13+ points for their excellent translations.
- The lowest average scores were on:
- free-response question 1, the translation of a storm at sea from Book 1 of the Aeneid; 11% of students scored 0/15 on this question;
- free-response question 4, the short answers about Book 6 of the Aeneid; 13% of students scored 0/7 on this question.