By Angelina Tang
AP Exams are over… or are they? Rumors of exam leaks having occurred prior to examination dates are circulating Reddit, particularly on r/APStudents. Exam leaks would jeopardize the integrity of the exam scores, and potentially result in all of us retaking our exams.
On May 6th, 2024, an international school teacher reported that “multiple” AP exams had been leaked in China and were on sale on an app called Xian Yu. Students apparently verified that the exams listed online were the same as the ones administered. They were concerned that the exam scores will be canceled as a result of this, but despite contacting College Board, no updates have come since.
Xian Yu is a second-hand sale website run by Chinese shopping platform TaoBao. Xian Yu is comparable to Depop or eBay in the U.S.. Other Reddit users since posted, asking for leads on how to obtain the leaked exam forms to cheat. Comments under those posts included supposed Discord users who were selling the exams to individuals outside of China, but these claims are unsupported by solid proof.
Fortunately for the average AP student, this exam leak should not cause much worry. Exam leaks have happened in the past, and generally, since they are not too major and internationally widespread, College Board does not care. Especially considering that a retake of all exams for all students would be an expense out of their pockets, College Board has no incentive to cancel exams that the vast majority of students took honestly and already paid for.
