Help

Answers to the things people ask most. If yours is not here, the chat button in the corner will have a go at it — no sign-in needed — and can hand you to a person if it cannot.

Getting started

What this is, what it costs, and what you need before you begin.

What is Ladder 2 Five?: A free study site for Advanced Placement exams. It covers all 42 AP courses plus an AP Networking pilot, with 1,015 lessons, 116 interactive labs and simulations, 43 scored investigations, 139 generated quantitative drills, flashcards, practice questions, free-response prompts with rubrics, per-unit tests, printable cheatsheets, score calculators, a study planner and a teacher portal. It is built to sit alongside your AP class, not to replace it.
How much does it cost?: Nothing. Every course, lesson, lab, question bank, investigation and teacher tool is free, with no paid tier, no trial that expires and no card required at any point. If you are ever asked to pay for something on this site, that is a bug and we want to hear about it.
Do I need an account?: Not to read. Lessons, labs, unit pages and the score calculators are open to anyone. You need a free account only for the things that have to remember you — saving lesson progress, flashcard review scheduling, quiz and test history, your projected 1–5, and joining a teacher's class.
How do I sign in?: Two ways, both on the login page: continue with Google, or enter your email and we send you a one-time sign-in link. There is no password to choose or forget. If the emailed link does not arrive, check spam first, then request a second one — the newest link is the only one that works, so an older link in your inbox will fail even though it looks fine.
Where do I start if I do not know my level?: Take the diagnostic on your course page. It is short, it is not recorded as a grade, and it produces a projected 1–5 plus the units you are weakest in, which is a better starting point than working through Unit 1 because it is first.

Studying and practice

How the lessons, drills, labs and grading actually work.

Is my progress saved automatically?: Yes, once you are signed in. Lesson completion, checkpoint answers, quiz and unit-test results, flashcard boxes and investigation submissions all save as you go. Work done while signed out is not saved and cannot be recovered afterward, so sign in first if you want it kept.
How does AI grading of free response work?: You write your response, and it is graded against the same rubric the model answer is scored on — one line per rubric row, saying what earned or lost the point and pointing at your actual words. It is a study aid, not an official score, and it can be wrong; the rubric and the model response are shown alongside it so you can check it. There is a daily limit of 30 AI gradings per account to keep the service running for everyone. Self-scoring against the rubric is always available and unlimited.
Why do the math drills give different numbers every time?: Because that is the point. Each drill generates a fresh problem rather than replaying a stored one, so a skill can be practiced indefinitely without you memorizing the answer instead of the method. The worked solution is computed from the same numbers you were shown, so the question and answer cannot disagree.
What is a scored investigation?: You run a simulation, record your own measurements, and answer an AP-style free response that is graded against the rubric AND against the data you actually collected. Many of them ask you to commit to a prediction before the procedure unlocks, because predicting and then being wrong is what makes the result stick.
I think an answer or explanation is wrong.: Please tell us, with the course and the question. We take this seriously and fix it — answer keys have been audited more than once and errors still surface. Use the "I found a bug" option in the help assistant, or email us. Including a screenshot makes it much faster to find.
Can I use it offline or print things?: Every course has a printable cheatsheet built for exactly this. The interactive parts — labs, drills, graded practice — need a connection.

Teachers

Classes, join codes and what you can see about your students.

How do I set up a class?: Open the teacher portal, create a class, and share the join code it generates. Students enter that code from their own account. You then see roster progress, assignment completion and their free-response submissions for grading.
Is the teacher portal free too?: Yes — same as everything else. There is no per-seat charge, no school license and no quote to request.
What can a teacher see about a student?: Progress and performance within the classes that student has joined: lessons completed, quiz and test results, and free-response work submitted for grading. Teachers do not see anything from courses outside their class, and they cannot see a student's activity on the site before that student joined the class.

Account and privacy

Your data, your control over it, and who can see it.

How do I delete my account or my data?: Email hello@driftwood-labs.com from the address on the account, or use the contact page, and ask for deletion. A person handles this — the help assistant cannot delete anything, on purpose.
I am under 18. Can I use this?: Yes, and most of our users are. Two things worth knowing. Do not type personal details — full name, school, address, phone number — into the help assistant; it does not need them and we would rather not hold them. And if your school or family requires consent before you use an outside study service, that is for them to give.
Is my help conversation stored?: Only if you escalate it to a human. A conversation you have with the assistant and then close is not kept. When you choose to send it to us, the transcript and the reply address you give are stored so a person can answer, and they are deleted after 90 days.
Do you sell my data?: No. See the privacy policy for the full statement of what is collected and why.

Getting help from a person

When the assistant cannot sort it out.

How do I reach a human?: Email hello@driftwood-labs.com, or use the contact page, or escalate from the help assistant — all three land in the same place. We reply within 2 business days.
Is there a phone number?: No. We are a small team and we do not offer phone support, so email is both faster and more likely to reach someone who can actually fix the thing.
Can I request a feature or a course?: Please do — use the "I want to suggest something" option in the assistant, or email us. A good chunk of what is on the site started as somebody asking for it.

Still stuck?

Email hello@driftwood-labs.com or use the contact page. A person replies within 2 business days. We do not offer phone support.