The State Bar of California is conducting the California Bar Exam Experiment designed to inform upcoming and possible future changes in how the bar exam is administered. Beginning in February 2025, the multiple-choice questions on the California Bar Exam will be developed by Kaplan Exam Services, LLC, and the exam will be delivered remotely and in person at test centers. The experiment includes two phases. Phase One will occur on November 8 and November 9, 2024, and will test:
Phase Two will occur as a third day of the July 2025 California Bar Exam and will explore:
Note: The State Bar’s Committee of Bar Examiners has recommended to the California Supreme Court that a bar exam score adjustment be applied in 2025 for those who participate and perform well in one or both phases of the experiment. The proposal is currently pending before the Supreme Court and it is not yet approved.
Each phase of the experiment will require less than two hours of testing for standard test takers. Participation in the experiment will not impact an applicant’s eligibility to take the California Bar Exam, and there will be no penalty for poor performance on the experimental exam.
Below, you'll learn about Phase One and how you can participate. Please view the California Bar Exam Experiment FAQ for more details. Additional information about Phase Two of the experiment will be released at a later date.
In August 2024, the State Bar finalized an agreement with Kaplan to independently develop questions for the California Bar Exam. The questions will replace the Multistate Bar Examination, developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which will no longer be administered in California. This will allow the State Bar to make the bar exam available both remotely and in person at test centers starting with the February 2025 exam. Although the questions will be developed by Kaplan, the bar exam's subject areas will remain the same, and the multiple-choice questions developed by Kaplan will not substantially modify the training or preparation required to pass the exam. The content and subject areas featured in the experiment are also the same as those on the bar exam. The purpose of Phase One is to field-test the Kaplan questions and the new remote and test center exam delivery vendor.
Phase One will feature a multiple-choice only exam and will require less than two hours of testing for standard test takers. Any applicant registered with the State Bar who intends to sit for the February or July 2025 bar exams, including third- and fourth-year law students and repeat bar exam takers, is eligible to apply to participate in Phase One. Disbarred attorneys are not eligible.
Applicants selected to participate in the experiment will receive a notification to schedule an experimental exam session that is less than two hours for either Friday, November 8 or Saturday, November 9, 2024. There are limited spots available for each day; the State Bar may allow all eligible applicants to participate or may randomly select from those who applied. Participants will also be asked whether they prefer to participate in the exam experiment remotely online on their own computer or in person at test centers where computers will be provided. Due to limited space, an applicant’s preference is not guaranteed.
The State Bar’s Committee of Bar Examiners has recommended to the Supreme Court that a bar exam score adjustment of up to 40 points be applied in 2025 for those who participate and perform well on the experimental exams. The purpose of the score adjustment is to ensure that participants are highly motivated to participate in the experiment in good faith and that the resulting data analysis will closely replicate an actual exam. There will be no penalty for those who do not score well in either phase of the experiment.
Note: The proposed scoring adjustment is still pending before the Supreme Court and is not yet approved.
To apply to participate in Phase One of the California Bar Exam Experiment, please fill out the California Bar Exam Experiment: Phase One Application.
The application for Phase One will close at 11:59 p.m. PDT on October 13, 2024. To be eligible, you must be registered with the State Bar and must submit a complete application. If you are not already registered, please do so immediately by visiting the Applicant Portal.
The State Bar will review registration requests as quickly as possible, but approval before Phase One of the experiment is not guaranteed.
The State Bar will process requests for testing accommodations for Phase One separate from the process for other exams. Applicants must submit a complete California Bar Exam Experiment: Phase One Application by 11:59 p.m. PDT on October 13, 2024. An approved testing accommodation for the California Bar Exam Experiment does not guarantee that the same accommodation will be granted for a future State Bar exam. The testing accommodation request process for the California Bar Exam Experiment is separate from the process for other State Bar exams. Please view the California Bar Exam Experiment FAQ for more information or contact the Office of Admissions at experimentalexam@calbar.ca.gov.