AP European History Practice Test Prep & Worksheets PDF

AP European History is an introductory college-level European history course. Students cultivate their understanding of European history through analyzing historical sources and learning to make connections and craft historical arguments as they explore concepts like interaction of Europe and the world.

AP European History Exam assesses student understanding of the historical thinking skills and learning objectives outlined in the course framework. The exam is 3 hours and 15 minutes long and students are required to answer 55 multiple-choice questions, 3 short-answer questions:

Section 1A: Multiple Choice

55 Questions | 55 minutes | 40% of Exam Score

Questions usually appear in sets of 3–4 questions.
Students analyze historical texts, interpretations, and evidence.
Primary and secondary sources, images, graphs, and maps are included.

Section 2A: Document-Based Question

1 Question | 1 Hour (includes 15-minute reading period) | 25% of Exam Score

Students are presented with 7 documents offering various perspectives on a historical development or process.
Students assess these written, quantitative, or visual materials as historical evidence.
Students develop an argument supported by an analysis of historical evidence.
The document-based question focuses on topics from 1600–2001.

Section 1B: Short Answer

3 Questions | 40 Minutes | 20% of Exam Score

Students analyze historians’ interpretations, historical sources, and propositions about history.
Questions provide opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know best.
Some questions include texts, images, graphs, or maps.
Students choose between 2 options for the final required short-answer question, each one focusing on a different time period:
- Question 1 is required, includes 1–2 secondary sources, and focuses on historical developments or processes between the years 1600–2001.
- Question 2 is required, includes 1 primary source, and focuses on historical developments or processes between the years 1600–2001.
- Students choose between Question 3 (which focuses on historical developments or processes between the years 1450 and 1815) and Question 4 (which focuses on historical developments or processes between the years 1815 and 2001). No sources are included for either Question 3 or Question 4.

Section 2B: Long Essay

1 Question | 40 minutes | 15% of Exam Score

Students explain and analyze significant issues in European history.
Students develop an argument supported by an analysis of historical evidence.
The question choices focus on the same skills and the same reasoning process (e.g., comparison, causation, or continuity and change), but students choose from 3 options, each focusing on historical developments and processes from a different range of time periods—either 1450–1700 (option 1), 1648–1914 (option 2), or 1815–2001 (option 3).

AP European History Course & Exam Description PDF – 2020 Official