Key takeaways
AP – Advanced Placement – is the College Board's program for college-level coursework in high school. An AP class runs a full year; at the end, students sit an exam. Score a 3, 4, or 5 and most US universities give credit or advanced standing. The number of AP courses offered globally depends on the institution – Legacy provides 19. AP exam scores from Legacy get accepted by 500+ universities in over 75 countries worldwide. Exams happen once a year, in May – no retakes that same year. Whether your child attends a school in Riyadh or Jeddah or studies online, the AP framework is the same. What varies is access.
- AP courses are college-level classes created by the College Board, designed to prepare high school students for university coursework.
- Legacy holds College Board Level I status under school code 000114 – verifiable on the College Board AP Course Ledger.
- Legacy offers 19 AP courses across sciences, mathematics, English, history, and social sciences.
- AP exams are scored on a 1–5 scale; scores of 3 and above are generally accepted for college credit at US universities, though each institution sets its own policy.
Contents
We are a US-accredited private international online school that coexists with local schooling. Families are responsible for ensuring compliance with any local education requirements applicable to their situation.
What AP Courses Actually Are
Advanced Placement courses are not honors courses. They’re not “harder regular classes.” AP courses are designed to match the content and rigor of introductory college courses. AP Biology covers what a first-year biology major would see in semester one. AP English Literature works through the same critical reading and analytical writing skills a college English professor expects on day one.
The College Board sets the curriculum for each AP subject. Schools that offer AP courses must pass an AP Course Audit – a review process confirming that the course content meets College Board standards. That’s why a student can sit in AP Chemistry in Riyadh and take the same AP exam in May as a learner in California. Same curriculum. Same exam. Same scoring scale.
Over 2,100 US colleges and universities awarded credit for AP scores in 2025, including a record 1,900 institutions granting credit for scores of 3 or above.
The exams are administered once per year, in May. Five points is the maximum. Three is widely considered a passing score for credit purposes, but universities vary – some require a 4, some accept a 3. A learner should check the AP credit policy of each university they plan to apply to before committing to a particular AP subject.
The Full List of AP Courses – and What Legacy Offers
The College Board offers approximately 38 AP courses globally. Not every school can offer all of them – staffing, demand, and course audit approval all play a role. Most physical international schools in Riyadh offer a limited AP catalog. Five to eight courses is typical. Some offer fewer.
Legacy’s full list of AP courses covers 19 subjects across the main academic areas:
Sciences: AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics (multiple levels), AP Environmental Science
Mathematics: AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics
English: AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition
History and Social Sciences: AP World History, AP US History, AP European History, AP Human Geography, AP Psychology, AP US Government and Politics
Other: AP Computer Science, AP Seminar, AP Research
AP Seminar and AP Research form the AP Capstone Diploma track – a separate credential that signals independent research ability, valued by selective universities. Not many schools globally offer both. Legacy does.
How Many AP Classes to Take?
There’s no universal answer. The right number depends on the student’s grade, workload, target schools, and which subjects they’re strongest in.
A reasonable general framework:
Grade 9: zero to one. It’s a transition year – most learners are still finding their footing in secondary workload. Starting AP here is possible but not necessary.
Grade 10: one to two AP courses. Academically ready students can start building the record here. This is also when SAT preparation should begin running in parallel.
Grade 11: two to four. The most important year. AP scores from this year reach universities before most admissions decisions are made.
Grade 12: two to three – but confirm predicted score policies at target universities before registration.
Five AP classes in a single year sounds impressive. It often isn’t. A pupil who scores 2s and 3s across five AP exams is less competitive than one who scores 4s and 5s across three. Quality over volume. Always.
AP Courses and College Applications – What Admissions Offices Actually See
When a student submits a college application, the admissions office sees the high school transcript. That transcript lists every course taken – including AP courses – and the grades received in class. The AP exam score is a separate report sent by the College Board.
For competitive US university admissions, the AP section of the transcript signals academic ambition. A learner who took no AP courses in four years of high school will be reviewed differently from one who completed several AP courses and scored consistently above a 3.
This matters more for families in Saudi Arabia than they sometimes realize. A student from an international school in Riyadh is not compared to the average US high school applicant – they’re compared to the international applicant pool, which skews heavily toward IB and AP pupils from well-resourced schools globally. The bar is not lower because you’re abroad.
AP scores can also reduce the time – and cost – of a university degree. A learner who arrives at a US university with six AP scores of 4 or 5 may be able to skip six introductory courses. That’s potentially a semester’s worth of tuition.
AP credits are accepted by over 500 Universities in over 75 countries, including the U.K., Canada and Australia. Many also accept AP scores for admissions, placement, and scholarship decisions..
Taking AP Classes Online from Saudi Arabia
Legacy offers online AP courses as part of its full online high school program and as supplementary courses for students already enrolled at a physical school. A family in Jeddah whose child’s school offers three AP courses can add AP Chemistry and AP Calculus through Legacy without leaving the physical school.
Classes are live. Capped at 15 learners. Run by qualified teachers who know the AP curriculum and exam format. The curriculum is delivered through Florida Virtual School, and each AP course follows the College Board’s required content framework.
For the AP exam itself: learners in Saudi Arabia sit exams at College Board-authorized testing centers in the region. Legacy’s admissions team can provide guidance on registration and center locations at the time of enrollment.
Part-time enrollment is available for families who want AP courses without full K-12 enrollment.
A Student’s AP Experience – Jeddah
Priya Nair’s family has been in Jeddah since 2022, on an SABIC-adjacent engineering contract. When Priya entered grade 10, her compound school offered AP English Language – nothing else at the AP level. Her mother contacted Legacy in January 2023.
Priya enrolled in AP Biology and AP US History through Legacy for grade 10 while continuing her other subjects at the compound school. Grade 11, she added AP Calculus AB. By May of grade 11 she had sat three AP exams: scores of 4, 3, and 4. Her college applications went out in November of grade 12 with a transcript that showed three years of a physical school and three AP courses through an accredited online provider. She was accepted at Florida Gulf Coast University and one Canadian institution.
The AP courses made the difference. Her compound school alone couldn’t have offered them.
Top Tips from Our Expert
Maya Robinson, College Prep Advisor at Legacy Online School
- Don’t pick AP subjects based on what sounds impressive. Pick them based on what connects to the student’s intended university major. A child aiming at business should prioritize AP Economics and AP Statistics. One targeting medicine should take AP Biology and AP Chemistry. The subject relevance is visible to admissions officers.
- AP Seminar and AP Research together form the AP Capstone Diploma. Not many learners complete both. Those who do stand out in college applications – the Capstone credential signals research and independent thinking skills that admissions offices explicitly value.
- The AP exam in May is the only opportunity that year. If a child is underprepared by March, it’s better to drop the exam registration and avoid a score of 1 or 2 landing on their record. A missing score is invisible. A low score is not.
- College guidance programs can help map which AP courses to take in which order. Some APs have prerequisites – or informal ones. AP Calculus BC assumes Calculus AB content. AP Physics C assumes comfort with calculus. Plan the sequence in grade 9, not grade 11.
- For those who’ve been away from the US education system for a year or two, tutoring at $25/hour is available to bridge gaps before AP coursework starts. Entering AP Chemistry without solid foundational chemistry is a setup for a poor exam score.
We are a US-accredited private international online school that coexists with local schooling. Families are responsible for ensuring compliance with any local education requirements applicable to their situation.
