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Understand the five Big Ideas, plan your Create task and prepare for the AP exam with personal help at your pace.
Free, no-obligation chat · Affordable plans that fit your budget · Start this week
About this course
AP Computer Science Principles is a broad introduction to computing: how programs, data, the internet and society fit together. Students often find the pseudocode exam questions, the vocabulary of networks and data, and the written parts of the Create performance task the hardest.
The course follows the five Big Ideas of the College Board course framework: Creative Development, Data, Algorithms and Programming, Computer Systems and Networks, and Impact of Computing. The score combines two parts: a digital end-of-course exam with 70 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours (70%), and the Create performance task, a program you design and develop yourself, plus two written-response questions in 60 minutes (30%). Each module below lists its topics and outcomes.
Learn programming basics with our free Python lessons, or work with an affordable 1:1 mentor who explains each Big Idea and helps you prepare. Message us on WhatsApp or email, or fill in the short form, for a free, no-obligation chat. We will suggest a plan that fits your budget and flexible timings in your time zone, and you can start this week.
Outcomes
Detailed syllabus
Every module lists its topics and what you will be able to do. Where we have a matching free lesson, it is linked so you can study or revise on your own.
How programs are designed with collaboration, purpose and iteration.
By the end of this module you can
How information is stored as bits, compressed, and used to find patterns.
By the end of this module you can
Covered in 1:1 mentoring sessions
Variables, lists, conditions, loops, procedures and how algorithms are judged.
By the end of this module you can
How the internet moves data, and how computers work together.
By the end of this module you can
Covered in 1:1 mentoring sessions
Benefits and harms of computing, and how to protect data.
By the end of this module you can
Covered in 1:1 mentoring sessions
Planning, building and writing about your own program during the 9 hours of class time your teacher provides, following the rules on working independently.
By the end of this module you can
Covered in 1:1 mentoring sessions
Multiple-choice technique and a revision plan.
By the end of this module you can
Covered in 1:1 mentoring sessions
Ways to learn
A mentor who knows this course plans sessions around your goal, explains each idea with fresh examples and checks your understanding. Personal attention, flexible timings in your time zone and affordable plans that fit your budget.
Talk to our teamShort lessons in plain English with examples you run in your browser, quizzes and practice. Learn at your pace, and add a mentor whenever you want help.
How it works
Four simple steps to start AP Computer Science Principles with a mentor. A real person replies to you; there is no booking system.
Message us on WhatsApp or email, or fill in the short form. The first chat is free, with no obligation.
We listen to your goal, level and deadlines, then suggest a plan that fits your budget and timings.
Online 1:1 sessions with a mentor who knows your course, explains clearly and checks your understanding.
Keep going between sessions with practice, and watch your confidence grow week by week.
Learn by doing
Plan your own program with a purpose, a list and a procedure, and practise explaining how each part works. Mentors explain; the program and written responses stay your own work.
Write small Python programs that convert numbers to binary and count the bits needed for a data set.
Trace AP-style pseudocode programs by hand and write what each one outputs, then check with a mentor.
Draw how a web page request travels as packets through routers and DNS, then explain each step aloud.
Your progress
Milestones from the start, middle and end of the syllabus.
Describe the purpose of a program and how its parts work together
Early on
Explain how a message travels across the internet in packets
Halfway
Work through a full practice paper in the real time limit
By the end
For parents
If you are a parent reading this: AP Computer Science Principles is demanding, and many students benefit from steady, personal help alongside school lessons. MentorNxt mentoring is 1:1, online and affordable, and your student sets the pace.
FAQs
Free, no-obligation chat
Tell us what you need. Our support team replies within one working day, by email or WhatsApp, whichever you prefer, and arranges your mentor.
Prefer to talk first?
Message the support team directly. We usually reply the same day.
Our mentors teach and explain. They never complete graded work, tests or assessments for students.
Keep going
A language-agnostic first course: logic, loops, functions, data and debugging.
Core Python from zero to functions, collections, files, OOP and algorithms.
The four AP CSA units in Java, with free-response and digital exam practice.
Networks, cryptography, web security, secure coding and defensive practice.
IB Diploma Computer Science SL and HL: Themes A and B, case study and IA.
Last reviewed
Message us on WhatsApp or email, or fill in the short form. Our team replies with a plan that fits your goal and budget, and you can start this week.
Talk to us about a mentor