AP Biology Updates Launching in 2025-26
We’re updating the AP Biology course framework to give teachers more clarity about course content and help students engage with the concepts.
These updates are for the 2025-26 school year and will not impact the May 2025 exam.
What’s Changing
We're making changes to the AP Biology course framework, including:
- Reorganizing Unit 1 to reflect a more logical sequence of the biological macromolecules.
- Clarifying essential knowledge language to better explain the depth and breadth at which content needs to be taught.
- Merging or moving some topics to provide a more logical organization of content.
- Updating science practices to provide a clearer set of skills students will need for sequent college science courses.
- Reorganizing content related to the components of Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration in Units 2 and 3 to help students better engage these concepts.
- Adding the biogeochemical cycles to topic 8.2 Energy Flow Through Ecosystems and reducing redundant content to offset this addition.
What's Not Changing
The sections, numbers, and types of questions, timing, and percentages of units and skills assessed on the AP Biology Exam will remain the same.
AP Classroom Updates
To support teacher planning and student learning, we will update the following free AP Biology resources in AP Classroom to align with the updated framework starting in July 2025 and continuing throughout the school year:
- Updated AP Daily topic videos.
- Question bank items recoded to match the updated framework coding.
Send Us Your Questions
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FAQ
Will AP Biology teachers need to resubmit in the AP Course Audit?
No. Since the framework is only being updated, AP Biology teachers are not required to resubmit in the AP Course Audit.
Why is College Board making these updates?
We’re updating the course framework to provide a more complete and accurate description of the essential knowledge students must demonstrate on the AP Biology Exam.
Who was involved in updating the course framework?
As with all AP courses, the development committee, which includes experienced high school educators and college faculty, made the AP Biology course updates. The AP Biology Development Committee also worked with other higher education faculty reviewers and consultants.
Will there be AP Classroom resources for the updated course?
Yes. We’ll begin launching the following updates in AP Classroom in July and continue throughout the school year:
- Aligning current video collection to the updated framework.
- Adding new AP Daily videos aligned to the updated framework.
- Recoded question bank items to match the updated framework coding.
What will happen to the questions and quizzes that teachers created in AP Classroom?
Questions and quizzes created by teachers will stay in AP Classroom. We’ll contact AP Biology teachers with more information about how to recode their questions and quizzes to the updated course framework this summer.
Will the textbooks we previously used work with the updated course?
Yes. Textbooks published within the last 10 years adequately address the material needed for the updated course, as the course scope has not changed.