Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) and Advanced Placement (AP) tests come up yearly at the end of the second semester. Starting to prepare now relieves stress and allows students to feel more prepared on exam day. 

AP:

AP exams use a mixed format of multiple choice and essay responses to let students show their strengths in different formats.

Fully understanding topics and their correlation helps with the thought processes that are needed to answer AP level and style questions. 

There are many different styles of Free Response Questions (FRQs) per subject that students need to learn before the exams start. 

Practicing with old tests and tests on the College Board website can give students the opportunity to understand the format of the test and get a better understanding of what is required in their writing. 

Multiple choice questions are very stimulus heavy, meaning that students need to have a complete understanding of the course to answer questions. 

Creating a schedule to review for 10 to 15 minutes a day can improve students’ retention of the material.

AP Classroom includes videos to watch that cover the topics of exams and direct students through practice questions revealing the answer along with justification. 

AP classes are at the college level, meaning they count towards possible credits in college based on test results. Studying early encourages students to score high to obtain these college credits. 

AICE:

AICE exams are all hand written and most commonly grouped into sections. These sections are on separate days due to the length and labor intensivity from the tests being hand written.

Timed writing assignments and practice help students to understand the pacing and requirements for each of the tests. On Cambridge International’s website you can find past tests to practice for every subject. 

Command words are very important in AICE testing to understand what the question is asking you to complete; words include analyze, assess, evaluate or justify. Based on these command words, question requirements can change. 

AICE writing is based on a curriculum that is taught in class and formatted into different written questions, some of which are short responses, drawings and full essays. 

Many tests including AICE Marine, AICE Classical Studies and AICE Environmental contain graphs or photos questioning students about their contents and knowledge about the material. 

“AICE and AP classes help to shape your future in college and high school. Learning to start studying early can save you time and energy closer to your exam date…The more you study the more it can help, there are only benefits to extra studying, not negatives,” Violet Zborowski, junior, said.