Bar Exam (USA)

Key Topics to Master:

• The eight foundational concepts and principles appear in approximately equal numbers: business associations, civil procedure, constitutional law, contract law, criminal law, evidence, real property, torts
• Two formats: select one of four options, and select two of six options with partial credit
• Questions are independent, so no answer relies on information from another question
• Some questions test more than one foundational concept
• Starred topics in the content scope outline are tested purely from recalled knowledge, with no legal resources supplied
• Unstarred topics may be tested either with or without supplied legal resources
• NCBE expects examinees to average approximately 1.8 minutes per question

Key Topics to Master:

• Standard performance tasks: one extended writing assignment scored 0 to 24 points
• Legal research performance tasks: multiple-choice and short-answer questions, each double weighted, followed by a medium-answer writing assignment
• Each task opens with a memo introducing the client, the matter, and an index of the file and library
• Family law concepts appear in a performance task on every exam from July 2026 through February 2028, with legal resources supplied
• Trusts and estates concepts appear in a performance task on every exam from July 2026 through at least February 2028, with legal resources supplied
• NCBE expects each task to take approximately 60 minutes
• Performance tasks are pretested separately from the live exam, so all three tasks on your paper are scored

Key Topics to Master:

• Drafting sets contain medium-answer questions worth 0 to 8 points each
• Counseling sets contain multiple-choice questions and short-answer questions worth 0 to 2 points each
• Sets test the seven foundational lawyering skills in realistic situations
• Sets may include areas of doctrinal law outside the eight foundational concepts, with the necessary legal resources supplied
• Sets may include supplemental documents such as a police report or a deposition excerpt
• The eight foundational concepts are not equally distributed across integrated question sets
• NCBE expects each set to take approximately 24 minutes

Key Topics to Master:

• 175 scored questions and 25 unscored pretest questions, indistinguishable from each other
• Subjects: civil procedure, constitutional law, contracts, criminal law and procedure, evidence, real property, torts
• Administered on the last Wednesday of February and July
• Weighted at 50 percent of the legacy UBE total
• The July 2025 national mean scaled score was 142.4, an increase of about 0.6 points over July 2024
• Scored by NCBE, which reports MBE scores to the jurisdiction where the examinee tested
• Used by non-UBE jurisdictions including California, Florida, and Georgia alongside their own written components

Key Topics to Master:

• Business associations, covering agency and partnership plus corporations and limited liability companies
• Civil procedure, constitutional law, and contracts including Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code
• Criminal law and procedure, evidence, real property, and torts
• Some questions cross more than one area of law, and the areas covered vary from exam to exam
• Graded by the jurisdiction, then scaled to the MBE by NCBE
• Weighted at 30 percent of the legacy UBE total

Key Topics to Master:

• Each item supplies a File containing all case facts and a Library containing the legal authority
• The File may include interview and deposition transcripts, pleadings, correspondence, client documents, contracts, news articles, medical records, police reports, or lawyer's notes
• The assignment arrives as a memorandum from a supervising attorney
• No outside legal knowledge is required or rewarded
• Graded by the jurisdiction and scaled to the MBE by NCBE
• Weighted at 20 percent of the legacy UBE total

Key Topics to Master:

• 50 scored questions and 10 unscored pretest questions, each with four answer options
• Administered three times a year at Pearson VUE test centers
• Scores are reported on a scale from 50 to 150, with each jurisdiction setting its own passing score
• The 2026 test fee is 185 USD, with a 25 USD fee to reschedule an appointment
• Registration closes on a fixed deadline with no late registration accepted
• Accommodations must be determined before you register and cannot be added to an existing appointment

• 1Check the NextGen UBE Decisions by Jurisdiction page to find whether your jurisdiction administers NextGen or the legacy UBE on your test date.
• 2Look up your jurisdiction's minimum passing score, on the 500 to 750 NextGen scale or the 200 to 400 legacy scale.
• 3Read the NCBE Official Examinees' Guide to the NextGen UBE, or the MBE, MEE, and MPT pages if your jurisdiction is still on the legacy format.
• 4Download the NextGen UBE Content Scope Outline and mark every starred topic, since those are tested without supplied legal resources.
• 5Confirm your application deadline with your jurisdiction's bar admission agency and diarise the fee payment date.

• 1Work through civil procedure and evidence outlines from a commercial course such as Barbri, Themis, Kaplan, or UWorld.
• 2Do 50 practice multiple-choice questions in each subject and log every miss by rule rather than by topic.
• 3Attempt the free NCBE sample multiple-choice questions to calibrate to the actual NextGen wording.
• 4Install the NCBE Secure Browser on the exact laptop you will use and complete the exam software preview.
• 5Start a running error log that you will revisit weekly rather than a set of notes you never reopen.

• 1Cover contract law including Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, and torts including negligence, strict liability, and defamation.
• 2Do 50 practice questions in each subject under timed conditions of 1.8 minutes per question.
• 3Practise select-two multiple-choice questions specifically, since partial credit changes how you should guess.
• 4Write one timed answer to a drafting-style medium-answer question and compare it against the NCBE rubric structure.
• 5Review the week 2 error log before starting new material.

• 1Cover real property including estates, future interests, recording acts, and landlord and tenant.
• 2Cover criminal law and the constitutional protections of accused persons.
• 3Do 50 timed questions in each subject and add every miss to the error log.
• 4Attempt one NCBE sample integrated question set and time yourself against the 24-minute expectation.
• 5Complete your NCBE Account pre-exam steps early rather than at the deadline.

• 1Cover constitutional law including individual rights, federalism, and justiciability.
• 2Cover business associations across agency, partnership, corporations, and limited liability companies.
• 3Do 50 timed questions in each subject.
• 4Study the select Model Rules of Professional Conduct listed on pages two and three of the Content Scope Outline, which are tested from recalled knowledge.
• 5Do a full 40-question multiple-choice block in 72 minutes to rehearse section pacing.

• 1Complete one standard performance task per day for five days, each under a strict 60-minute clock.
• 2Practise reading the supervising attorney memo first, then the library, then the file, so you know what you are looking for.
• 3Attempt the NCBE sample legal research performance task, which mixes multiple-choice and short-answer items with a medium-answer writing assignment.
• 4Work at least one family law performance task and one trusts and estates task, since both appear on every exam through February 2028 with resources supplied.
• 5Score your own answers against the structure of the assignment rather than against your instinct about quality.

• 1Drill the seven foundational skills named by NCBE: legal research, legal writing, issue spotting and analysis, investigation and evaluation, client counseling and advising, negotiation and dispute resolution, and client relationship and management.
• 2Complete four integrated question sets, alternating drafting sets and counseling sets.
• 3Practise short-answer responses at the 0 to 2 point scale, where brevity that hits the rule scores better than length that circles it.
• 4Review the Model Rules in the specific contexts NCBE names: client counseling and advising, negotiation and dispute resolution, and client relationship and management.
• 5Use the NCBE Sourcebooks of Law for any concept you cannot state cleanly from memory.

• 1Sit one complete three-hour section: 40 multiple-choice questions, two integrated question sets, and one performance task, in that order and with no pauses.
• 2Score it and split your losses between knowledge gaps and pacing failures, because the fixes are different.
• 3Rebuild outlines only for subjects where you lost points to knowledge rather than to time.
• 4Repeat the 40-question block until you can finish it inside 72 minutes without rushing the last ten.
• 5Practise on the real NCBE exam software using the official study aids so the interface is familiar.

• 1Sit two complete three-hour sections on consecutive days to rehearse the actual Tuesday schedule.
• 2Have someone else read three of your written answers and mark only whether each required point is present.
• 3Practise the split-screen, notepad, highlighting, and copy-paste tools in the NCBE platform so they are automatic.
• 4Drill the subjects where the error log shows repeated misses rather than reviewing everything evenly.
• 5Confirm your government-issued photo ID name matches your NCBE Account and your jurisdiction registration exactly.

• 1Sit all three sections across a Tuesday and Wednesday, matching the real schedule including start times.
• 2Complete all NCBE pre-exam requirements, since failing to finish them at least 72 hours before the exam bars you from testing.
• 3Pay the required technology fee and confirm the payment shows in your NCBE Account.
• 4Confirm your laptop passes the system check and that you have a working charger, plus a wired mouse if you use one.
• 5Book accommodation near the testing location if you are travelling, and confirm the 90-minute arrival requirement.

• 1Rank your losses by scoring weight: multiple choice at 49 percent, performance tasks at 30 percent, integrated question sets at 21 percent.
• 2Spend the week disproportionately on whichever component is costing you the most weighted points.
• 3Do 200 mixed multiple-choice questions across the eight foundational concepts.
• 4Complete two more performance tasks under time.
• 5Re-read your error log end to end and delete entries you have genuinely fixed.

• 1Reduce volume deliberately: consolidate rather than adding new subjects.
• 2Do one 40-question block a day to hold pacing without exhausting yourself.
• 3Pack for the rules: laptop, charger, government-issued photo ID, wired mouse only, and your NCBE Number. Phones, smartwatches, fitness trackers, earbuds, notes, and books are prohibited at the seat.
• 4Confirm the arrival time and the location, and plan the route so a 90-minute early arrival is realistic.
• 5Stop studying the evening before the first section.