The College Board's annual Advanced Placement exams were moved online due to coronavirus concerns, but glitches on the testing website are requiring some students to either email their test results or take a makeup exam.

Online AP testing began May 11 for students nationwide, including those at Plano ISD. Three different tests are being held daily through May 22. Between May 11-15, some students were unable to upload their completed tests to the AP website, according to Trevor Packer, the senior vice president of AP and instruction at the College Board.

Those students’ first test will not count, and they will have to take a makeup test, according to a news release.

An online petition with more than 26,000 signatures as of May 21 is asking the College Board to allow students to resubmit their original tests.

It is unknown how many PISD students may have been affected, according to the district. The College Board is responsible for regulating AP testing and said 1% of test takers during that period could not upload their completed tests.


"AP students took nearly 2.2 million AP Exams last week, and we’re so proud of every student who tested,” Packer said in a May 17 Tweet. “However, some students had tech challenges submitting their responses. So we're providing an extra safeguard for students moving forward.”

AP tests give high school students an opportunity to earn college credit in certain subjects based on their scores.


The College Board said this week’s tests will provide an email address to test takers in case the regular upload process fails, according to the news release. Students must then immediately email their tests responses following the failed submission, according to the College Board's submission guidelines.

“Any student testing between May 18 and 22 who can’t successfully upload their response through the exam platform or send it to us by email, will need to request a makeup exam,” the news release said.


Plano ISD has been in almost daily contact with parents since May 17, according to a statement from district spokesperson Lesley Range-Stanton. District counselors and administrators have assisted students where possible through emails and phone calls, she said.

Families were informed of the issue through a district update May 18 and given information on what steps to take if a submission were to fail, Range-Stanton said.