The Advanced Placement (AP) Program At The King’s School, we are proud to be one of the few schools in Australia offering Advanced Placement (AP) exams to our students and the only one in New South Wales. With the increasing interest in pursuing opportunities abroad, we are delighted to support our students in this endeavour. The King’s School now provides a range of College Board examinations, including AP exams, SAT examinations, and PSAT exams, right on our campus, not only for our students but also as a service to external students in our community. The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is a standardised test that provide colleges with one common data point that can be used to compare all applicants used for both academic and athlete scholarship pathways. Most USA and international students will complete two to three SATs across Years 11 and 12 to ensure the best score is used. The King’s School hosts approximately 150 internal and external students across four Saturdays in March, June, May (2025), November and December each year. To assist students in preparing for the SAT, usually taken in Year 11 – 12, we offer the Preliminary SAT (PSAT). The PSAT gives students a chance to practise the test format and use the results to sharpen their skills in preparation for the SAT in later years. We offer the PSAT to both internal and external students in Years 9 to 11 once a year in March. AP courses are typically studied by students worldwide who want to apply to competitive United States, United Kingdom or Canadian universities. The AP program, introduced in 1955, is administered by the College Board in the US and offers high school students the chance to earn course credits for completed AP exams with many US universities (and some Australian universities), including most of the Ivy League institutes. While SATs are standardised tests and are highly encouraged, if not mandatory prerequisites, for any US college application, AP courses are an alternative curriculum offered in the USA to high school students. Students there have the choice of studying Biology or AP Biology, Calculus or AP Calculus. They may complete all AP courses or some of the courses where they are strongest to help support their college application. They are a valuable opportunity for students to showcase their academic capabilities and time management skills, while also potentially earning college credits. These exams are equivalent to entry-level college courses and can set a student’s application apart by demonstrating their commitment to academic excellence. AP courses are one year in duration and are studied in addition to normal school subjects. For 2025, some AP exams will be either paper-based, hybrid or online. Students are not required to take a standardised AP course at the high school level and can use the NESA or IB content to assist their preparation as there are similarities. Students who are not intending to apply overseas can also study APs to help prepare for other formal examinations including the HSC or IB.
Students can start taking APs at any age (see recommendations) and following completion of these courses, students can sit a final, external exam administered by the College Board and hosted by The King’s School. There are 38 different courses and some of the more popular subjects are Psychology, Calculus, Macroeconomics, Physics, Languages and Art. By performing well in the AP exams, students can not only gain admission to their preferred colleges but also potentially bypass introductory college courses. The AP exams are scored out of 5 and usually a 3 or above receives credit, depending on each institution’s rules. These examinations are held annually and are recognised by colleges and universities across the US, Canada, Europe, and other parts of the world. Many institutions also consider AP scores when awarding scholarships.
The AP exams could be for the following students: 1. Students in Years 9 to 12 who wish to apply to US colleges. 2. High potential including gifted and talented students in Years 9 to 11 looking for extension opportunities or to study subjects outside of their school curriculum. 3. Students aiming for US, UK and some Australian universities. Whilst it is a US-based qualification, it is often recognised by universities in other countries. 4. Years 9 or 10 students wishing to complete preparation courses that may assist should they be considering an IB Diploma Pathway in Years 11 and 12.
Suggestions for planning an AP pathway 1. Non-athlete students aiming for the top 20 US colleges (Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, Duke, UChicago, etc) and taking the Australian curriculum (HSC) should aim to complete two to four AP subjects. IB students should aim to complete one to two subjects. Please note that the intent behind taking the subjects matters more than the overall number of APs. 2. Students should choose subjects that complement the local curriculum, showing greater depth in their areas of interest (e.g. pre-engineering students taking more advanced maths and physics) and/or breadth (e.g. students studying several maths and science subjects from the Australian curriculum can add humanities or social science subjects to show that they could thrive in a liberal arts university context). 3. Some APs are easier than others. Year 9 students should consider starting with subjects including Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Computer Science Principles, Psychology, World History or Human Geography. The more difficult courses for advanced Year 11 students would be Physics C: Mechanics, Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism, Biology, Chemistry, Calculus BC or English Literature. 4. If students complete five or more courses with a score of 3 or more, the AP International Diploma can be awarded by the College Board upon completion. 1