YOUR APES STUDY HUB
AP Environmental Science
Study Guide 2027
Free study notes, flashcards and practice quizzes for all 9 APES units.
2027 exam: 13 May · Session 2Details
LEARN · RECALL · PRACTISE
Study APES by unit
Choose your topic. Read the notes, recall with flashcards, then test your understanding.
The Living World: Ecosystems
Energy flow, food webs, biomes and nutrient cycles.
The Living World: Biodiversity
Ecosystem services, tolerance, adaptation and succession.
Populations
Population growth, carrying capacity and human demographics.
Earth Systems and Resources
Plate tectonics, soils, atmosphere, winds and climate.
Land and Water Use
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining and sustainable land use.
Energy Resources and Consumption
Fossil fuels, nuclear power, renewables and conservation.
Atmospheric Pollution
Smog, indoor air, acid deposition and pollution controls.
Aquatic and Terrestrial Pollution
Water pollution, waste, toxicology and human health.
Global Change
Ozone, climate, oceans, invasive species and biodiversity.
Weightings refer to the multiple-choice section. Use them to plan revision alongside your own knowledge gaps.
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Open the exam guideQuick Reference Cheatsheet
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Review the cheatsheetAP Environmental Science Exam Date 2027
Last verified: · 2026–27 school year
Regular APES exam
Thursday, 13 May 2027
Session 2 · Exam week 2
Dubai / UAE start time
3:00 p.m. GST
Session 2 at UTC+4. Start times vary by location; confirm your reporting time with your AP coordinator.
APES late testing
Thursday, 20 May 2027
Session 1. UAE published start: 11 a.m. GST. Arrange eligibility and entry through your coordinator.
Exam fees and late-order rules
APES Exam Fees for 2027
College Board’s base fee is US$99 at schools in the U.S., U.S. territories, Canada and DoWEA schools, or US$129 at schools elsewhere. Authorized international test-centre fees may vary; ask your UAE centre for its actual charge.
A US$40 late-order fee generally applies to orders placed 14 November 2026–12 March 2027, with exceptions such as courses that begin after the November deadline and transfer students. College Board’s reduction for eligible students is US$37.
PLAN AHEAD · 2026–27 SCHOOL YEAR
Important Registration Deadlines for 2027
For the May 2027 exams, key milestones begin in 2026. These are College Board school ordering and accommodations deadlines.
Students: Your school may set earlier registration and payment dates. Confirm your place and deadlines with its AP coordinator.
PREFERRED ORDERING MILESTONE
Recommended school ordering date, earlier than the final deadline below. This is a preferred milestone, not the final cut-off.
FINAL SCHOOL EXAM ORDER
11:59 p.m. ET
AP coordinators submit orders for full-year and fall-semester courses, including exam-only sections.
ACCOMMODATIONS REQUESTS
SSD coordinators submit AP accommodations requests and any required supporting documentation. Speak to your school early.
SPRING ORDERS & FALL CHANGES
11:59 p.m. ET
Deadline for courses beginning after 13 November 2026 and for changes to fall exam orders.
The March deadline does not replace November’s deadline for full-year, fall-semester or exam-only orders. The two ordering cut-offs shown use Eastern Time (ET), not local time.
Verified against College Board’s 2026–27 ordering guidance and coordinator updates on .
APES Exam Format and Calculator Rules
AP Environmental Science is a fully digital Bluebook exam with 2 hours 40 minutes of testing.
| Section | Questions | Time | Score weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| I: Multiple choice | 80 | 90 minutes | 60% |
| II: Free response | 3 | 70 minutes | 40% |
FRQs cover investigation design, interpreting quantitative data, and solving an environmental problem through calculations.
2027 calculator update: both sections allow Bluebook’s built-in Desmos scientific calculator or a permitted four-function (with square root) or nongraphing scientific handheld. Handheld calculators with storage capabilities, such as graphing calculators, are not allowed.
How to Study for AP Environmental Science
Use this APES study guide as a revision route through ecosystems, biodiversity, populations, resources, pollution and global change. The unit cards above show College Board’s multiple-choice weighting ranges; these are planning guides, not a prediction of individual questions.
- Understand the process. Read the notes and explain the cause-and-effect chain in your own words: what changes, why it changes and what happens next.
- Recall before rereading. Use the unit flashcards for terminology, cycles, pollutant sources and environmental effects.
- Test and repair gaps. Try the practice quiz without notes. Keep an error log with the topic, your mistake and a corrected explanation.
- Practise data and calculations. Work on graph trends, percent change, units, energy transfers and population calculations. Show working and label answers.
- Apply ideas in FRQs. Answer the command verb directly, connect a proposed solution to the problem and check your response against a scoring guideline.
Build timed practice into your final review. Use College Board’s released APES FRQs and scoring guidelines, and the APES score calculator to explore practice-score scenarios. Estimates do not guarantee an official AP score.
College Board has issued minor wording clarifications for 2026–27; course content is unchanged.
Course Preparation and College Credit
APES is comparable to an introductory, one-semester college environmental science course. College Board recommends two years of high-school laboratory science covering life and physical science, plus at least one year of algebra.
Credit and placement depend on each university’s policy, required score and degree programme. Check the exact institution rather than assuming a fixed number of credits.
AP Environmental Science Study Guide FAQs
When is the AP Environmental Science exam in 2027?
The regular APES exam is Thursday, 13 May 2027, Session 2. For Dubai and the UAE (UTC+4), College Board lists Session 2 at 3 p.m. Confirm your school’s reporting time with its AP coordinator.
Is the APES exam digital?
Yes. Both multiple-choice and free-response sections are completed in Bluebook. Practise navigating the app before exam day.
How long is the AP Environmental Science exam?
The exam has 2 hours 40 minutes of testing: 90 minutes for 80 multiple-choice questions and 70 minutes for 3 free-response questions.
Can I use a calculator in APES in 2027?
Calculators are allowed in both sections. Use Bluebook’s built-in Desmos scientific calculator or a permitted four-function with square root or nongraphing scientific calculator. Handheld calculators with storage capabilities, including graphing calculators, are not allowed in 2027.
Which APES unit has the highest exam weighting?
Unit 9, Global Change, has the largest published range: 15–20% of the multiple-choice section. Review every unit and use quiz results to decide where to spend extra time.
How should I use these APES study resources?
Read a unit’s study notes, recall key ideas with flashcards, then attempt its quiz without notes. Review mistakes and return to the relevant topic before moving to timed FRQs.
What are the registration deadlines for the 2027 AP Environmental Science exam?
College Board’s final school ordering deadline is 13 November 2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET for full-year and fall-semester courses and exam-only sections. Spring course orders and fall order changes are due 12 March 2027 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Your school may set earlier student registration and payment deadlines; confirm them with your AP coordinator.