For those taking the bar exam, it can be difficult to choose which aspect of the process is the toughest. Is it the seemingly endless hours spent studying? The exam itself, with two days of stress and anxiety compounded by the sinking feeling when you can't recall the answer to a question that you're sure you know? Or could it be the interminable wait afterward that seems to stretch on forever with your future as a legal professional in the balance?
Some may want to hold off hearing their score after the news that the results from the February 2025 Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) section of the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) show a national mean score of 130.8, a full point lower than last year's. It's the lowest score ever recorded by a group of test-takers. What happened, and what does it mean for their chances of passing?
An Exam of the Exam
Most jurisdictions in the U.S. use the UBE for their bar exam. Consisting of the MBE, the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), and two Multistate Performance Test (MPT) tasks, it's developed and coordinated by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE).
The MBE, with 200 multiple-choice questions to be answered in six hours, carries 50% of the weight for the final score. Designed to assess how well an examinee can apply legal reasoning and fundamental legal principles, the MBE covers six areas of law: Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Real Property, and Torts.
The bar exam adjusts scores based on difficulty to provide a consistent interpretation across test forms. As the difference in exams can make some harder than others, equating modifies the results to make them more fair. A subset of previously used questions are used to help determine difficulty.
February Made Me Shiver
The bar exam is administered twice a year. Since it's soon after graduation, July usually has many more test-takers than February. It also tends to have more first-time examinees, who historically score better than those retaking the exam.
For the past three years, 71% of February's examinees have been repeat testers. In addition, the number of those retaking the bar exam who have already passed at least once has been in decline, and they usually score higher than repeaters who are yet to pass successfully. This may have contributed to this February's lower MBE scores.
Well, I'm Going Out West Where I Belong
Another possible factor for February's drop in MBE scores was the removal of California from the equation. For the February 2025 bar exam, California eschewed the MBE for a proprietary version with a somewhat less-than-auspicious debut.
This meant over 4,100 fewer candidates taking the MBE. As a group, California examinees had consistently tested higher than average, so their removal may be partially responsible for the decline in February's MBE mean score.
It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
While the MBE counts for half of a test-taker's result, the lower score posted by February's examinees is not necessarily a death knell for their chances of passing the bar. The other test sections make up 50% of the final score, which may be more than enough to achieve the required grade.
With the rest of the results scheduled to be released in the coming months, the waiting may be over sooner rather than later. While every examinee wants to pass, those who don't can always try again.
Related Resources
- You've Finished the Bar Exam! 5 Things To Do Now (FindLaw's Practice of Law)
- California Offers Bar Exam Retakes for Free After Troublesome Rollout of New System (FindLaw's Practice of Law)
- What Is on the Bar Exam? (FindLaw's Law Students)
