Can you retake an AP Exam?

How a retake works

1. Talk to your AP coordinator or counselor early in the school year.
2. Join an exam-only section in My AP with the join code they give you, and register.
3. Make sure the exam is ordered by November 13 to avoid the $40 late fee.
4. Take the exam in May with everyone else. The fee is the same, $99 in the US as of October 2026.

What happens to your old score

Your score report lists every AP score you’ve earned, including both attempts at the same exam. You can control that in two ways.

Withhold: hide a score from one college. It costs $10 per score per college and you can undo it for free. It can only be requested after scores come out.

Cancel: delete a score from your record for good. It’s free, but the exam fee isn’t refunded. To stop a canceled score from going to your free score send college, College Board must get your request by June 15.

Missed your exam, or had a problem on the day?

That’s not a retake. If something stops you testing on your date, or goes wrong during the exam, your AP coordinator tells you if a late-testing date is available. In 2027 late testing runs May 17-21.

Seminar, Research and Computer Science Principles

You can retake AP Seminar, but you can’t reuse work from earlier Seminar courses for the performance tasks. For AP Computer Science Principles, a retake may mean doing the course and a new performance task again. Ask your coordinator before you plan a retake of these.

Is it worth retaking?

Only if a higher score would get you credit you actually need. Check the AP Credit Policy Search for the colleges on your list. If they’d give credit for your current score, or none for the subject at all, a retake won’t change much.