AI policy for AP courses

• College Board's AI guidance for 2026-27 sets course-specific rules for AP courses with a through-course project or performance task. Across all of them, AI is optional and should support learning, not bypass it.
• AP Seminar and AP Research: every performance task must be the student's own work. Students may use AI to explore topics, find initial sources, check their understanding of a hard text, and check grammar and tone. They must read the sources themselves and do their own analysis, synthesis and writing.
• Capstone students complete checkpoints with their teacher: short, oral-defense-style conversations in AP Seminar, and in-progress meetings and the Process and Reflection Portfolio in AP Research. Missing a checkpoint means a score of 0 on that task.
• Teachers affirm, to the best of their knowledge, that the checkpoints were done authentically and that the final work is authentic. In AP Seminar's team presentation, one member breaking the policy can mean a 0 for the whole team on that component.
• AP Computer Science Principles: students may use generative AI to understand concepts, help write code and debug. They are responsible for understanding any AI-assisted code and must be able to explain it in detail on the exam.
• AP African American Studies and AP World Languages and Cultures projects: the project must be the student's own work, with AI allowed for exploring topics and finding sources.
• AP Art and Design: generative AI may be used for research, ideas, practice and revision, but not to make the final artwork. Any AI use is disclosed in the portfolio.
• College Board may investigate suspected misuse of AI as an academic integrity violation, and may ask for a student's interim work.

Many AP courses, including AP English Language and AP English Literature, are scored on the exam alone, taken under supervision in Bluebook. College Board's AI guidance doesn't set rules for classwork in those courses, so your school's policy decides how students may use AI on essays, labs and homework.

Whether AI is allowed depends on the task, so every task sheet states one of four levels. Where no level is stated, no AI use is permitted.

Level 0

No AI use

AI tools must not be used at any stage. Typical for in-class writing, tests, exams and handwritten work.

Level 1

AI for ideas and feedback

AI may be used to generate ideas, explain concepts, ask questions or give feedback. All submitted work is the student's own.

Level 2

AI-assisted drafting and editing

AI may be used for the parts of the task the teacher specifies, such as planning or editing. The student revises any AI output and acknowledges how it was used.

Level 3

AI integrated into the task

Using AI is a required part of the task, and how the student uses and evaluates it is assessed.

• Purpose, scope and definitions
• Student use of AI, with an AI level for every task, and College Board's rules for the AP courses that have them
• Staff use of AI, with grades staying the teacher's professional judgment
• Academic integrity, including how suspected misuse is handled and how Capstone checkpoints are run
• Student privacy and approved tools, in line with your district's policies and federal student privacy law such as FERPA
• Roles and responsibilities, and when the policy is reviewed

1. Check your district's AI guidance and approved tools list first.
2. Ask a few AP teachers to set an AI level on their next task, and fix what was unclear.
3. Walk Capstone and AP CSP students through College Board's rules before their performance tasks start.
4. Send families a short summary of the AI levels.
5. Train staff, and review the policy each year when College Board updates its guidance.