AP teachers are encouraged to develop or maintain their own curriculum that either includes or exceeds each of these expectations; such courses will be authorized to use the “AP” designation. Credit for the success of AP courses belongs to the individual schools and teachers that create powerful, locally designed AP curricula.

The AP Chemistry course should be designed by your school to provide students with a learning experience equivalent to that of a one-year general chemistry college course. Your AP Chemistry course should include those topics regularly covered in a typical general chemistry college course, and differ from the usual first high school course in chemistry in respect to the kind of textbook(s) used, the range and depth of topics covered, the emphasis on chemical calculations and the mathematical formulation of principles, the nature and variety of laboratory work done by students, and the time and effort required of students.

Schools’ AP Chemistry courses are typically designed to be taken by students after the completion of a first course in high school chemistry and a second-year algebra course. Students are encouraged to keep copies of their laboratory work for use in determining college credit or placement.

All students who are willing and academically prepared to accept the challenge of a rigorous academic curriculum should be considered for admission to AP courses. The College Board encourages the elimination of barriers that restrict access to AP courses for students from ethnic, racial and socioeconomic groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in the AP Program. Schools should make every effort to ensure that their AP classes reflect the diversity of their student population.

High schools offering this exam must provide the exam administration resources described in the AP Coordinator’s Manual.