[2024-25] How Hard Is AP English Literature? Answer: ‘Very Hard’ (Real Student Reviews + Pass Data)

Is AP English Literature easy or hard? Read on to discover why we’ve given AP Literature a difficulty rating of “Very Hard”, based on our unparalleled, deep-dive analysis of 2024 (and historic) pass rate data and over 3200 course reviews from alumnae.

An overview of the data: how hard is AP English Literature?

Here’s an overview of all the data we’ve analysed on AP Lit, from both 2024 pass rates and alumnae reviews:

• AP English Literature and Composition is considered very hard, with class alumnae rating it 7.3/10 for overall difficulty
• That makes it the 4th-most-difficult out of the 28 large AP classes we surveyed
• The pass rate is slightly higher than other AP classes, with 72% graduating with a 3 or higher
• AP English Literature is very widely-taken (389,000 entries last year)
• However, only 77% of alumnae would recommend the class, which is lower than other AP classes

Alumnae recommendations: the tl;dr

Although AP Lit is rated as one of the hardest courses, alumnae reviewers found the course enjoyable and manageable, especially with regular practice of mock exams and writing.

Taking a visual comparison:

Here’s a fun visual on how AP Literature compares to other classes, by difficulty, the amount of study time required, and class size:

We’ve only highlighted the two English courses, AP Literature AP English Language. But you can see the full multi-coloured version of this chart in our popular, definitive difficulty ranking of ALL the AP classes!

Psst: we’ve also got a deep-dive into AP English Language if you want a full comparison of English tracks!

Behind the scenes: our Data Analyst and methodology

Analysing AP class data: the methodology

We want to be transparent about how we research, collect and analyse the AP data we use to provide you with our assessments and recommendations. This methodology gives a brief outline of our source material and analytical processes:

Please click here to learn more about our rigorous editorial policies here at Exam Study Expert.

Source material for AP data:

We use two primary sources of data:

1. Pass rate data from College Board itself, including the proportion of students who pass overall (3+ score) and the proportion of students who score a 5. This data is taken from the College Board website plus tweets from Head of AP Trevor Packer, which include the score breakdown and numbers of students taking each class.
2. Student reviews posted by users from r/APStudents who actually took the AP courses (as of 2024 the dataset includes 3,295 reviews). These reviews include a rating for:
   • Overall difficulty rating
   • Difficulty if self-studying
   • How much time is required

The data we post is based on College Board’s June data release and may shift slightly as late-arriving exams are scored. This shift has historically been negligible.

How we evaluate and use the data on AP classes:

We consider class alumnae’s difficulty ratings to be the most reliable indicator of difficulty, more so than pass rate.

Pass rate, or percentage of students scoring a certain grade, is a misleading metric for two main reasons:

1. Some classes attract highly able students, so may have a high pass rate, but this is more a reflection of the calibre of students taking the class. This particularly applies to language classes.
2. Research has shown that popular, widely taken AP classes tend to have lower passing rates. So, a low passing rate could indicate a larger variety of student skill, not necessarily class difficulty.

Our assessments of course difficulty

We have given each every AP class a graded ranking of difficulty, primarily based on class alumnae difficulty ratings. Many other important factors are taken into consideration when making our recommendations for how easy or hard you may find the AP course.

The rankings are determined as followed:

• Very Easy – scores less than 4.0
• Quite Easy – scores between 4.0 and 4.9
• Moderate Difficulty – scores between 5.0 and 5.9
• Quite Hard – scores between 6.0 and 6.9
• Very Hard – scores more than 7.0

You should take every available metric into account when making your choice of AP classes. Remember that some students tend to find certain fields easier or harder than others, based on pre-existing experience.

And remember, as College Board’s Trevor Packer reminds us, an AP score is only one indicator of student learning and achievement.

A deep dive into the 2024 exam data on AP Literature

If you want to know more about how AP Lit stacks up against the average AP class, and against previous years’ results: read on for five charts that set out all the data you could want.

1. Difficulty: a look at the ratings

AP English Literature is considered very hard, with class alumnae rating it 7.3/10 for overall difficulty, making it the 4th-most-difficult course out of the 28 large AP classes we surveyed.

2. The AP English Literature pass rate in 2024

The AP Lit 2024 pass rate was slightly higher than the all-AP average, at 72%. The highest percentage of candidates received a 3 (34%), and 15% of students attained a 5.

3. So, how does this compare to the last five years?

Over the many years we’ve been doing this analysis, we’ve learnt that AP pass rates can fluctuate wildly. So to get a better picture, let’s examine the score distribution for the past five years of exams – all the way back to 2020.

A great example of that is the variation in AP English Literature pass rates since 2020. Most notably, there was a significant leap of 34% in 2022, from the lowest pass rate to the highest of 78%. The pass rate dropped slightly in 2024.

4. How time consuming will AP Lit be?

AP Literature is rated as quite time-intensive relative to other AP classes.

N.B. A survey of AP alumnae asked for a rating out of 10 for time needed to study each class, with 1 = least time needed, 10 = most time. The average rating for AP English Literature was 6.0/10 (vs the average across all AP classes of 5.4/10).

5. How hard is it to self-study for AP Literature?

AP English Literature is rated as quite hard to self-study relative to other AP classes.

N.B. A survey of AP alumnae asked for a rating out of 10 for how easy each class is to self study, with 1 = easiest to self study, 10 = hardest to self study. The average rating for AP Literature was 6.9/10 (vs the average across all AP classes of 5.7/10).

Reviewing the course: 31 alumnae share their experiences

If you’re looking forward to taking AP Literature, it’s important to take both the positive and negative feedback in context. There are multiple factors that could contribute to a great or poor experience of the class, such as your teacher and your personal preferences as a learner.

Only 77% of AP English Literature alumnae would recommend the class, one of the lowest scores of the 28 large AP classes surveyed.

The majority of reviews focus on course enjoyment and difficulty, and the importance of writing practice and reading.

1.      Many students found AP Literature enjoyable and worthwhile

“If learning the conventions of writing in AP Lang wasn’t your thing but you still wanted to learn about literature and actual writing, AP Lit will be lightyears more enjoyable.” – Score: 4

“My analytical and oratorical abilities grew in leaps and bounds from this course. Also, my workload was extremely low, but I had a good and economic teacher.” – Score: 5

“My teacher literally didn’t have us follow the curriculum at all, he just made us write a TON of in-class essays, and gave us feedback on them, and then gave us practice tests near test day to iron out the multiple choice. I would say it’s pretty easy to study the vocab. With all of this, I felt pretty well-prepared.” – Score: 5

2.      Although some students found the course to be difficult

“This class is really difficult for those like me who aren’t inherently good writers.” – Score: 2

“Literature is hard.” – Score: 3

3.      And recommendations for self-studying vary

“This is an absolutely amazing course! It’s also easy to self study if you express the desire.” – Score: 5

“I think AP Lit would be hard to self study for because you need to develop the ability to come up with meaningful analysis, fast. I did that through my class.” – Score: 5

What does it take to succeed in the AP Lit exam?

Well, a good starting place is knowing what’s required of you – and what the experts say went well (or not!) this year:

What is AP English Literature? Course Outline & Requirements

According to College Board:

“The AP English Literature and Composition course focuses on reading, analyzing, and writing about imaginative literature (fiction, poetry, drama) from various periods.” The course studies short and long fiction, poetry and drama.

There are no prerequisites for AP Lit. Students are expected to comprehend college-level texts.

You will develop skills in:

• Explaining the function of character and setting, plot and structure, narrators and speakers
• Describing the function of word choice, imagery, symbols and comparison
• Developing “textually substantiated arguments about interpretations” about a text

The exam consists of one 3-hour exam, with 45% (60 minutes) for five sets of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and 55% (120 minutes) for three free-response questions.

For more details, see: College Board’s AP English Literature course page.

Takeaways for success from the Head of AP

Every year as the exam results come out, College Board’s Head of AP, Trevor Packer, offers an update on what’s gone on in each subject this year, including what people found easy and hard.

In 2024, Trevor made the following comments about the AP English Literature exam results:

• “AP English Literature MC section: students demonstrated strongest literary analysis skills on questions that measured skill 6, the function of comparisons in a text; 24% of students earned all available points for this skill.”

• “AP English Literature essays – I’ll comment on Set 1, the paper version taken by most students this year: students scored highest on the poetry analysis (Q1;analysis of John Rollin Ridge’s 1868 poem “To a Star Seen at Twilight”); 21% of students earned 5-6 of the 6 pts possible.”

• “The most challenging essay this year for AP English Lit students was the prose analysis (Q2; analysis of an excerpt from Mavis Gallant’s short story “One Morning in June”); 16% of students earned 5-6 points of the 6 points possible on it.”

How to (self) study for AP Literature, with advice from alumnae

Let’s turn back to those alumnae reviews. Many students who’ve taken the course also have great advice on how to study – and self-study – for the exam, including what to practice and the best resources. We’ve collated a selection for you:

1. Make sure you DO read the literature

“Do your goddamn reading — like I get it, the allure of Sparknotes and Shmoop is tempting, but I know plenty of smart kids in my class who bombed it or got a subpar AP score because they didn’t want to put in the effort of taking 45 minutes a night to read.” – Score: 4

“Read the books; don’t just read summaries” – Score: 5

2. You’ll need to practice writing essays!

“Practice essay-writing a lot by using the rubrics and resources given by CollegeBoard” – Score: 5

“Write as many essays as you can crank out. It’ll help you on the exam” – Score: 5

3. Mock tests can be really helpful for exam preparation

“Review book MCs are 10000 times harder than the actual exam… it took everyone by surprise. Ask your teacher to administer weekly practice tests (only takes 15-20 minutes at the start of class tbh)” – Score: 4

“Make sure you know three or so novels inside and out for Question three. Practice your essays and MC and you’ll have your five.” – Score: 5

“Practice a lot of multiple choice, it’s really difficult and i think it cost me on the exam. also having a good teacher who can give you advice on all three essays and multiple choice is a must!” – Score: 3

Best books and test prep resources for AP English Literature

If you’re looking for the best books to study to help you ace AP Literature, we’ve crunched the numbers on the available textbooks. Check out the winners, according to reviews from successful AP students, in our overview of the best AP study guides for every subject.

Where next?

Find out how AP English Literature compares to other classes: click here for our popular, definitive overview of all AP Classes ranked by difficulty.

Or compare how AP Lit compares to the other English courses with our deep-dive into AP English Language.

If you’ve found our analysis helpful, have a question for our Data Analyst and AP expert, William – or just have some thoughts to share: please leave a comment below and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Good luck!