AP Exam Accommodations

If you have a documented disability that limits your ability to participate on College Board exams, you may be eligible for accommodations. Some examples of disabilities include blindness and visual impairments; learning disorders; physical and medical impairments, such as cerebral palsy and diabetes; and motor impairments. There are many others.

If you already receive accommodations at your school, have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or a 504 Plan, you will also likely qualify.

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The Services for Students with Disabilities site offers in-depth resources for students, parents, and coordinators outlining what qualifies for accommodations, what documentation is required, how to place the request, and more.

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If you have previously been approved by College Board for testing accommodations (for example, when you took the PSAT/NMSQT or SAT), you do not need to submit a new request.

Once your accommodations are approved by College Board, they remain in effect until one year after high school graduation (with some limited exceptions) and can be used on the SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10, and AP Exams.

However, keep in mind the following:

• Some accommodations are administered differently across College Board programs. For example, for AP, if you’re approved for extended time, you won’t be automatically provided extra breaks. Extra breaks would need to be requested as a separate accommodation for AP.
• AP Exam subjects have different components and what may be appropriate for one exam subject may not apply to another exam. For example, if you’re approved for extended time for math only, you wouldn’t receive extended time for an AP English Literature and Composition Exam. 

• If you’ll be taking a digital AP Exam and need to test with a human reader or human writer/scribe, your SSD coordinator will need to contact the College Board SSD office to request this.  

If you have any questions about whether your existing approved accommodations are applicable for AP, talk to your school’s SSD coordinator.  

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Your family can submit a paper request for accommodations without the participation of your school. Documentation must be provided for College Board to review. To download the form you’ll need and to learn more, visit How to Fill Out the Student Eligibility Form.  

In most cases, however, students work with their school to request accommodations—the fastest and easiest method. At this time, the online system, SSD Online, is not available to parents or students.

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If you transferred schools after being approved for testing accommodations, let the SSD coordinator at your new school know about the accommodations you were previously approved for. If you need different accommodations, your school’s SSD coordinator may submit an Accommodations Change Request form for you.

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Yes. If you’ve been approved for any accommodations by the College Board SSD office, you’ll be able to take a digital AP Exam with the necessary accommodations. Many accommodations work the same way for digital exams as they do for paper exams, but there may be some differences. Speak with your SSD coordinator or AP coordinator if you have questions about taking a digital AP Exam with accommodations.  

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