More public school students in the Maryland suburbs are taking and passing Advanced Placement exams, the pre-eminent signal of college readiness, according to 2012 data released Wednesday by the local school systems.

Montgomery County students took a record 32,974 AP exams last spring, with 75 percent of those tests receiving college-ready scores of 3, 4 or 5. The pass rate increased more than 3 percentage points over 2011, marking the highest pass rate since 2006.