What is the Bar Exam?
The Bar Examination is a standardized exam created and administered by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE). The exam is designed to test skills and knowledge that every lawyer needs to become licensed to practice law in their state.
The Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) is administered and scored uniformly. Your UBE score is portable, as it can be used to apply in any jurisdictions that have adopted the UBE—although each jurisdiction does set its own passing score. Some jurisdictions also require applicants to complete educational components or exams.
The Uniform Bar Exam (UBE)
The UBE consists of three parts:
- Multistate Bar Examination (MBE)
- Multistate Essay Examination (MEE)
- Multistate Performance Test (MPT)
The UBE is administered twice a year across two days.
The first administration of the MBE falls on the last Wednesday of February, with the MEE and MPT being administered the Tuesday prior to that. The second administration of the MBE is on the last Wednesday of July, with the MEE and MPT on the Tuesday prior to that.
What’s Tested on the UBE?
The UBE is comprised of the following three sections, weighted as follows:
- MBE: 50%
- MEE: 30%
- MPT: 20%
Multistate Bar Examination (MBE)
The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) is a 200-question, multiple-choice exam that is administered over a six-hour period on two dates per year: the last Wednesday of February and the last Wednesday of July.
The MBE is used to help bar examiners determine competence to practice law. Specifically, it is used to assess an examinee’s ability to apply fundamental legal principles, exercise legal reasoning, and analyze fact patterns. Jurisdictions that administer the UBE weight the MBE component 50%.
Multistate Essay Examination (MEE)
The Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) consists of six 30-minute questions that are administered on the Tuesday before the last Wednesday in February and the Tuesday before the last Wednesday in July of each year (when the MBE is administered). When administered, the UBE the MEE component is weighted at 30%.
The MEE is used to determine effective communication in writing, specifically the ability to:
- identify legal issues raised by real-life, factual scenarios
- differentiate between relevant and non-relevant information
- present a reasoned analysis of relevant information through clarity in writing and composition
- demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental legal principles that are relevant to the issues tested
UBE essay subjects
The Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) may cover any of the following content areas:
- Business Associations – Agency and Partnership, Corporations, Limited Liability Companies
- Conflict of Laws
- Contracts
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Evidence
- Family Law
- Federal Civil Procedure
- Real Property
- Torts
- Trusts and Estates – Decedents' Estates; Trusts and Future Interests
- Uniform Commercial Code – Article 9, Secured Transactions
The MEE is graded exclusively by the jurisdiction that administers the bar examination, as opposed to the NCBE, who grades the MBE.
Multistate Performance Test (MPT)
The Multistate Performance Test (MPT) consists of two 90-minute exams that are both administered on the Tuesday before the last Wednesday in February and the Tuesday before the last Wednesday in July of each year (when the MBE is administered).
If your jurisdiction administers the UBE, they use both MPT items.
The MPT is used to practically determine the application of lawyering skills that beginning lawyers should be equipped to utilize. It tests and evaluates fundamental skills and their applications, as opposed to testing substantive knowledge. Jurisdictions that administer the UBE weight the MPT component 20%.
UBE states and UBE jurisdictions
[ READ: What's the Bar Exam like in your state? ]
The U.S. states and districts that accept the UBE are:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- District of Columbia
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Maine
- Massachusetts (beginning July 2018)
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Dakota
- Oregon
- South Carolina
- Utah
- Vermont
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
The UBE is uniformly administered across these jurisdictions, but the jurisdictions themselves are responsible for certain aspects of the exam and its administration, including, but not limited to:
- determining who can sit for the exam and how many times they can take it
- scoring the MEE and MPT components
- setting score release policies
- requiring additional jurisdiction-specific exams or educational components
- setting passing score rates and determining how long scores will be accepted