Exam Calendar 2027: AP and Maths Olympiad Dates
Confirmed AP dates for May 2027, the format change at that administration, and the competition windows worth planning around.
Every year students lose marks to a calendar rather than to mathematics: a registration deadline missed by a week, two exams discovered to be on consecutive days only in April, a revision plan built around a date that turned out to be wrong. This exam calendar 2027 gathers the dates we can state with confidence, says plainly where a date is not yet fixed, and explains what each one means for planning.
Bookmark it rather than copying it out. We update this page as organisers publish, instead of republishing it as a new article each time.
Advanced Placement, May 2027
These anchor the exam calendar 2027: they are published by the College Board and are firm. Note how tightly the physics papers cluster.
| Date | Exam | Session |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 3 May 2027 | AP Physics C: Mechanics | 1 |
| Wed 5 May 2027 | AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based | 2 |
| Wed 5 May 2027 | AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism | 2 |
| Thu 6 May 2027 | AP Physics 2: Algebra-Based | 1 |
| Mon 10 May 2027 | AP Calculus AB and AP Calculus BC | 1 |
What this clustering means. A student taking both Physics C papers sits Mechanics on the Monday and Electricity and Magnetism on the Wednesday - two days apart, with a working day between them. That gap is a planning opportunity if you allocate it in advance, and a wasted day of post-exam fatigue if you do not.
A student taking both algebra-based papers has it harder: Physics 1 on Wednesday and Physics 2 on Thursday, back to back. The final fortnight of revision should be built around that adjacency rather than treating the two as independent events.
The 2027 AP format change almost nobody has noticed
More important than the dates, and far less known: every AP maths and physics exam changes format with the May 2027 administration. The College Board documents the changes in its official clarifications papers.
| Exam | Multiple choice, before | From May 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Calculus AB and BC | 45 questions, 105 min | 42 questions, 100 min |
| Physics 1, Physics 2 | 40 questions, 80 min | 42 questions, 85 min |
| Physics C Mechanics, Physics C E and M | 40 questions, 80 min | 42 questions, 85 min |
The physics free-response sections also shorten, from 100 minutes to 95, with the same four questions. Course content is unchanged in every case.
The practical consequence is that any prep book printed before 2026, and any mock paper timed to the old figures, is training students at the wrong pace. Our guides set out each change in full: AP Calculus, AP Physics 1 and 2, and AP Physics C.
Competition mathematics: what is fixed and what is not
Here we have to be careful, and most calendar pages are not. Competition dates are set by their organisers and published on their own schedule, and reprinting last year's date as though it were next year's is how students miss registrations.
What we can state as structure rather than date:
- AMC 8 - sits in a January window. Registration runs through the preceding autumn, arranged by schools.
- AMC 10 and AMC 12 - two November administrations, an A date and a B date roughly a week apart. Students sit one, not both.
- AIME - early February, by invitation from AMC 10/12 performance. The AMC 10 qualification threshold is a fixed 100 points.
- UKMT Senior Mathematical Challenge - an early-October window.
- UKMT Intermediate Mathematical Challenge - an early-February window.
- UKMT Junior Mathematical Challenge - a late-April window.
Treat those as typical windows for planning and confirm the exact date with the MAA or the UKMT before you promise anything to a student. We would rather say "early October" and be useful than print a precise date and be wrong.
How to actually use a calendar
An exam calendar 2027 is only worth having if it changes what you do each week. Four rules make it useful.
Work backwards from the paper, not forwards from today. A May exam with a three-term build means the last full paper should be sat in the final fortnight, mocks begin about eight weeks out, and topic work finishes before that. Anchoring to the date rather than to the syllabus is what stops a plan drifting.
Put the registration deadline in the diary, not the exam date. Exams are missed at the registration stage far more often than on the day. For school-administered competitions that deadline usually falls months earlier and lands on a teacher's desk rather than a parent's.
Check for collisions early. A student taking AP Physics 1 and Physics 2 in 2027 has them on consecutive days. Someone taking AP Calculus and a competition paper in the same term needs to know that in September, not April.
Protect the last fortnight. Nothing new goes in. The final two weeks lower an error rate; they do not raise a ceiling.
A term-by-term shape for 2026-27
Set against the exam calendar 2027, the year has a natural shape.
Autumn. The UKMT Senior Challenge sits in early October and the AMC 10 and 12 in November - the busiest competition stretch of the year. AP students are in the build phase, working units in course order.
January and February. AMC 8 in January, the UKMT Intermediate Challenge and the AIME in early February. For AP students this is the conversion phase: past papers by unit, marked to rubric.
March and April. The UKMT Junior Challenge sits in late April. AP students move into full timed papers, and this is when the 2027 format change matters most - mocks must use the new timings.
May. The AP fortnight. Three physics papers across four days, then Calculus the following Monday.
Practising at the right pace
A calendar only helps if the practice matches the paper. Our practice series run 120 papers and 3,450 questions across the AMC and the three UKMT challenges, each applying its competition's real marking scheme including negative marking - and seventeen of those papers are free, with no card required.
For AP students, our courses teach to the 2027 format rather than to the one the textbooks still describe.
The short version
The AP dates for May 2027 are fixed and unusually tightly clustered: three physics papers across four days, Calculus the following Monday. Every AP maths and physics exam also changes format at that administration. Competition dates follow typical windows that should be confirmed with the organiser rather than assumed. Plan backwards from the paper, diarise the registration deadline rather than the exam, and keep the last fortnight clear.
Sources
Questions people ask
When are the 2027 AP Calculus and Physics exams?
AP Physics C: Mechanics on Monday 3 May 2027; AP Physics 1 and AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism on Wednesday 5 May; AP Physics 2 on Thursday 6 May; and both AP Calculus AB and BC on Monday 10 May. All are hybrid digital administrations, with multiple choice in the Bluebook app and handwritten free-response booklets.
Is the AP exam format changing in 2027?
Yes, across all the maths and physics papers. AP Calculus multiple choice drops from 45 questions to 42. AP Physics 1, 2 and both Physics C papers rise from 40 questions in 80 minutes to 42 in 85, with free response shortening from 100 minutes to 95. Course content is unchanged in every case - only the exam structure moves.
When are the AMC and UKMT competitions held?
By typical window rather than a fixed annual date: AMC 8 in January, AMC 10 and 12 across two November administrations, the AIME in early February by invitation. For the UKMT, the Senior Challenge sits in early October, the Intermediate in early February and the Junior in late April. Confirm exact dates with the MAA or UKMT, since organisers publish on their own schedule.
How far ahead should preparation start?
Work backwards from the paper. For a May exam with a full-year build, topic work should finish roughly ten weeks out, mocks begin around eight weeks out, and the last full paper is sat in the final fortnight. Nothing new should be introduced in the last two weeks - that period lowers an error rate rather than raising a ceiling.
What is the most common calendar mistake?
Missing the registration deadline rather than the exam. For school-administered competitions the deadline often falls months before the paper and lands on a teacher’s desk rather than a parent’s. The second most common is discovering a collision late - two exams on consecutive days is a planning problem in September and a crisis in April.
Get a study plan for this
Tell us the class and what they are working towards, and we will send a plan built around it, plus the next free trial class. No cost, and we will not pass your details on.