Today, an email was sent to applicants providing important updates for those who did not pass or withdrew from the February 2025 bar exam.
An independent, privileged review of scoring for unsuccessful applicants is underway. If any scoring errors are identified, individual adjustments will be made before the July 2025 exam. The review will also assess whether unsuccessful applicants who were granted testing accommodations received them.
The State Bar also explored public feedback on alternative methods for estimating Performance Test scores instead of the imputation approach that was used. The suggested alternatives either resulted in fewer applicants passing the exam or were not appropriate for estimating Performance Test scores.
Additionally, the State Bar’s Board of Trustees extended flexibility for applicants with a fee waiver: those registered for the July 2025 exam may withdraw at any time before the first day of the exam and retain their fee waiver for use on one 2026 exam.
For more details, please view the email sent to applicants.
Today, an email was sent to applicants with important updates regarding additional remedies approved by the California Supreme Court in response to the challenges experienced during the February 2025 California Bar Examination.
Scoring Adjustments: The Supreme Court approved the Committee of Bar Examiners’ recommendation to impute Performance Test scores for all unsuccessful February 2025 test-takers. The Court also approved extending the window for eligible November 2024 study participants to apply their multiple-choice score adjustment to the first bar exam they take in either 2025 or 2026.
Non-Scoring Adjustments: The Court approved expanding eligibility for the Provisional Licensure Program to applicants who registered as first-time test takers and either withdrew from or were unsuccessful on the February 2025 bar exam.
For more information, please refer to the email and the following resources:
Today, an email was sent to applicants sharing that the State Bar completed a re-evaluation of exam results following the Committee of Bar Examiners’ May 30 decision to use the higher of the first and second read scores for each written response. As a result of these changes, 230 additional applicants have now passed the February 2025 bar exam and were notified today. This total includes four individuals who were mistakenly not awarded their November 2024 score adjustment.
In addition, the State Bar has submitted a petition (and attachments) to the California Supreme Court requesting approval to impute Performance Test scores for all unsuccessful applicants. If approved, the higher of the earned or imputed PT score would be applied. This additional scoring remedy is estimated to result in approximately 79 more applicants passing the exam.
Yesterday, an email was sent to applicants with updates on scoring adjustments and review measures related to the February 2025 California Bar Examination. Following the Committee of Bar Examiners’ May 30 decision, the higher of the first and second read scores will now be used for each essay and performance test response for the February 2025 bar exam, rather than averaging the two. As a result, updated score calculations are underway for applicants whose written responses underwent second read. Because imputation is derived by assessing how all test takers performed on a question, the previous California Supreme Court-approved imputation process is also being re-run for all test takers who previously received imputed scores.
The State Bar will submit a separate petition to the Supreme Court this week seeking approval to impute Performance Test scores for all unsuccessful applicants, as approved by the committee on May 30. The petition recommending non-scoring adjustments is still pending with the Court.
For complete details, please view the email sent to applicants
May 30, 2025
Today, an email was sent to applicants with updates from the May 30, 2025, Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE) meeting.
The CBE met to consider further scoring remedies for February 2025 Bar Exam test takers, and ultimately adopted two measures. First, for the February 2025 bar exam only, the CBE decided to change how scores are calculated for applicants whose written work went through two phases of grading. Instead of averaging the applicant’s first and second read scores for each written question, the higher of the two scores given for each question will be used. The second remedy, which requires Supreme Court approval, will allow performance test scores to be psychometrically imputed for all unsuccessful February 2025 test takers using the same methodology previously used for imputing scores, utilizing the higher of the first and second read scores for each essay for that test taker. A petition outlining this request will be submitted to the Court as soon as possible.
Please see the resolutions here, adopted by the CBE
For complete details, please view the email sent to applicants.
May 22, 2025
Today, an email was sent to applicants with an update on scoring for the February 2025 bar exam.
The State Bar has identified that for 431 non-passing February 2025 exam applicants, the notes field was not fully exported from the Meazure Learning system to graders. After review, eight applicants moved from non-passing to passing status, with 13 others qualifying for second reads that did not result in passing scores. Review of the remaining affected applicants will be completed next week. Additionally, one more March retake exam applicant has been moved from fail to pass. The State Bar is retaining an independent consultant to conduct a thorough review of the grading process.
Reminders: The Committee of Bar Examiners will meet May 30 to consider specific remedies, and the final deadline to apply for the July 2025 bar exam is June 2.
May 16, 2025
Yesterday, an email was sent to applicants with an update on the timing of the State Bar's petition to the Supreme Court seeking approval for expanding the Provisional Licensure Program (PLP) to include individuals who either withdrew from or did not pass the February 2025 exam, recommending a path to licensure for U.S.-barred attorneys, without requiring them to take the California Bar Examination, contingent on amendments to Business and Professions Code section 6062, an interim expedited special admissions category or path for out-of-state attorneys, and a recommendation to allow participants in the November 2024 special session who met the minimum threshold and received a scoring adjustment to apply that adjustment to their first bar exam attempt through July 2026.
Additionally, the Committee of Bar Examiners will meet on May 30 to consider further remedies for February 2025 California Bar Examination. For complete details, please view the email sent to applicants.
May 14, 2025
Today, an email was sent to applicants addressing scoring irregularities reported to staff or shared online following the release of the February 2025 Bar Exam results. State Bar staff conducted a manual review of these issues and today we are able to report the resolution of three distinct categories of concern and the status of a pending review of another. For full details, please view the email.
May 9, 2025
Earlier today, the State Bar Board of Trustees met and approved resolutions regarding non-scoring remedies for February 2025 Bar Exam applicants, including expanding the Provisional Licensure Program (PLP) to exam takers who were unsuccessful or withdrew.
May 5, 2025
Today, the February 2025 bar exam pass list was released on the Examination Pass List webpage. If your name does not appear, unfortunately you were unsuccessful on the exam. Result details, including any score imputations or adjustments for the November special session, immediate repeater applications, and fee waivers will be available on Tuesday, May 6, at noon through the Applicant Portal.
The administration of the July 2025 California Bar Exam is scheduled for July 29-30, 2025. Immediate repeaters may register for the July 2025 bar exam starting on May 6, 2025, after 12:00 p.m. (PT).
The State Bar’s Board of Trustees authorized a waiver of the application fee for the July 2025 bar exam to applicants who were unsuccessful on the February 2025 exam. On May 5, the Committee of Bar Examiners recommended that the Board of Trustees approve, on May 9, that this waiver be extended for use on one of the next three bar exams; either July 2025, February 2026, or July 2026. The committee also directed staff to request that the Supreme Court extend the score adjustment for those who took the November special session to apply to the first exam an applicant takes in 2025 or 2026.
May 2, 2025
The California Supreme Court today issued an order on the State Bar’s petition regarding recommendations made by the Committee of Bar Examiners on scoring adjustments for the February Bar Exam. The Court also ordered that the State Bar return to the Multistate Bar Examination for multiple-choice questions for its July 2025 bar exam.
For more details, please view the email that was sent to applicants.
April 29, 2025
Today, an email was sent to applicants informing them that the State Bar submitted a petition to the Supreme Court of California advancing recommendations made by the Committee of Bar Examiners regarding a raw passing score and scoring adjustments for the February 2025 California Bar Examination. Due to the timing, the Court may not have sufficient opportunity to issue a decision which may postpone the release of May 2 bar exam results.
April 21, 2025
On April 18, an email was sent to applicants related to the Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE) meeting to review data and performance from both the November 2024 examination study and February 2025 Bar Exam to identify the scoring adjustment for November takers, make recommendations for scoring adjustments in response to the issues experienced in February, and set the minimum raw passing score for the February exam. For details, please read the full news release.
April 14, 2025
Missed State Bar Day? You can now watch the recording on the State Bar's YouTube channel.
April 7, 2025
On April 4, an email was sent to applicants with the following updates related to the February 2025 bar exam:
On April 2, the State Bar of California’s Board of Trustees discussed potential remedies for applicants affected by issues during the February 2025 Bar Exam, focusing initially on an expansion of the Provisional Licensure Program recommended by the Committee of Bar Examiners on March 14. The Board postponed a vote on that recommendation, pending a more comprehensive review of additional remediation options. The Committee of Bar Examiners will begin exploring additional options at its April 18 meeting, where it will also review initial grading results and scoring adjustment recommendations. A special committee meeting will follow to finalize recommendations, which will then be considered at a special meeting of the Board of Trustees. For more details, please read the full news release.
March 27, 2025
Applicants may apply for the July 2025 bar exam in the Applicant Portal now.
The July 2025 bar exam will take place over two days, Tuesday, July 29, and Wednesday, July 30, in person at designated test sites across California.
For more details, please visit the July 2025 California Bar Exam webpage.
March 25, 2025
April 7, 2025 | 12:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m. | Register here
State Bar Day is an online event where law school students and bar applicants can meet members of State Bar leadership, learn about the Admissions process, engage and get your questions answered. This year, the following topics will be covered:
State Bar Day is open to all California law students and bar applicants and is free to attend. Space is limited and is first come, first served. Register now to save your spot!
March 20, 2025
The July 2025 bar exam application will be available on March 27, 2025, in the Applicant Portal.
March 14, 2025
Today, the State Bar sent an email with details from a meeting of the Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE) on the February 2025 bar exam, possible remediation efforts, and other key updates, including next steps on the July 2025 bar exam.
The CBE resolved to recommend "to the Board of Trustees that the Supreme Court expand the Provisional Licensure Program to include test takers who took the February 2025 bar exam or who withdrew from the February 2025 bar exam.” A specially set meeting of the Board of Trustees will be scheduled to consider the recommendation. The committee also took action to ensure that future recommendations to the Supreme Court about scoring adjustments, other remediation measures, or other matters related to the February 2025 Bar Exam do not have to wait for a regularly scheduled meeting of the committee. The committee also discussed the performance of the multiple-choice questions for quality and validity.
The State Bar is returning to fully in-person testing for the July 2025 bar exam. The application is expected to open the week of March 24, 2025, with the initial late filing fee eliminated due to the delay. Applicants who withdrew ahead of the February 2025 exam or who are unsuccessful on the February exam will receive a full fee waiver for the July 2025 bar exam application.
Updated on March 18, 2025
March 5, 2025
On March 4, 2025, the State Bar sent an email to all February 2025 bar exam applicants with details and updates on the State Bar's plans to address the challenges applicants experienced.
February 28, 2025
Today the State Bar posted a fact sheet on performance standards for the bar exam detailed in the vendor contract.
February 25, 2025
Applicants, please check your email for an important update after the first day of the February Bar exam. The email is also posted here.
Please be aware that the Exam History section of the Meazure Learning platform does not display submissions after each session; it only displays your submissions after the final part has been submitted and the exam is considered “complete.”
February 24, 2025
To ensure a smooth exam experience, please review the steps needed to access the exam platform on exam day. As a reminder, your confirmation email from Meazure Learning, sent after you booked your session, contains instructions and your unique exam session information. Be sure to review this in advance.
Remote Test Takers
In-Person Test Takers
February 23, 2025
We had been receiving reports of issues in the Meazure Learning platform affecting the ability to type into the answer window, use backspace/delete, and cut and paste. Meazure has informed us that these issues have been resolved. If you continue to experience problems, please contact testingsupport@meazurelearning.com.
Please note that the spellcheck/autocorrect feature within the Meazure platform has been disabled. Spellcheck functionality may have contributed to the recent issues with the platform. In addition, this feature was not functioning properly and appeared to be more distracting than helpful. As a reminder, spelling is not taken into consideration in the grading of responses.
February 21, 2025
Although we know that monetary compensation is not sufficient, today the Board of Trustees authorized a waiver of the application fee for the July 2025 bar exam for applicants who are unsuccessful on the February 2025 bar exam despite their good faith efforts and those who withdrew from the exam. Staff are directed to develop parameters within this general framework. Following the Board’s action, Brandon Stallings, Chair of the Board made the following statement:
"The State Bar Board of Trustees is committed to addressing the myriad issues that have arisen leading up to the February 2025 California Bar Exam. This new exam has not rolled out the way it should have, and we, the Board, apologize along with State Bar leadership and staff. The continued issues with testing locations, scheduling, technical issues, and communication lapses have distracted applicants from their studies and created confusion. These problems are deeply concerning."
Read more in the State Bar's February 21 news release.
We recognize that many of you already booked travel and lodging based on the initial test center availability. To support those affected, we are offering reimbursement for nonrefundable travel and lodging expenses, other nonrefundable transportation expenses, and change fees. To qualify, you must have booked nonrefundable travel and lodging and later switched to a test site added in the Central or Eastern time zones, switched to test sites added in Bakersfield (Kern County Superior Court), Fresno (San Joaquin College of Law), or Los Angeles (State Bar office), or been reassigned to a different test site by Meazure Learning.
To apply for reimbursement, you must fill out the State Bar's form by 11:59 PT, March 30, 2025, and email it to nonCABarExamExpenseRequest@calbar.ca.gov. Please note that limited funds are available for this purpose.
Applicants cannot view the Performance Test File and Library in a separate window next to the exam platform on exam day; it is only accessible in a different tab. The Guardian Browser is more secure on exam day; if you were able to view two windows side-by-side during the tutorial exam, this will not be possible on exam day.
This week, Meazure Learning reached out to some remote applicants with the option to move their exam start time due to the peak demand for some time slots. The benefit of changing the start time is connecting with a proctor and beginning the exam faster. If you expressed interest in doing so, Meazure Learning will notify you of your new start time tomorrow.
February 14, 2025
You may schedule your bar exam session until 11:45 pm PST on Friday, February 14. All remote and in-person standard test takers must do so through the Meazure Learning website. In-person test takers with testing accommodations and handwriters are scheduled directly by Meazure Learning. If you need to change to one of the three new sites (the State Bar Office in Los Angeles, the Kern County Superior Court in Bakersfield, or San Joaquin College of Law in Fresno) after that date, please email admissions@calbar.ca.gov to check availability.
Whether you sit for the exam remotely or in-person, there will be five-minute breaks between exam sessions. The break countdown timer in the platform will appear either when you submit the section of the exam you are working on, or when the exam section time has elapsed. If you submit your exam before time has elapsed, the remaining time from that exam section will be added to the countdown timer. You have only the time noted on the timer to take your break. Do not close out of the browser or your exam. You will not be permitted to access any other computer functionality during your break time. If you leave the room during the break, you will be required to do a room scan upon your return. Be sure to return to the exam within the allotted time, as you will not be allowed to continue taking the exam after your break has elapsed.
We know there has been some confusion about what items are permitted in the exams. We hope this prohibited and allowable items table will help clarify the issue.
February 13, 2025
We are extremely sorry for how the administration of the February 2025 Bar Exam has been rolling out. We understand that scheduling challenges, poor communication, and inconsistent messaging between the State Bar and Meazure Learning have caused a lot of frustration, confusion, and anxiety.
As a result, we are offering all applicants who wish to withdraw from the February exam a full refund (less bank fees).
To qualify, you need to withdraw before the exam by submitting your request to withdraw through the Applicant Portal.
We know many applicants do not have the option of withdrawing, and we are committed to making the exam the best experience we can.
On Monday afternoon, the State Bar posted an update to the California Bar Exam Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ) Student Guide. This guide provides a content map for all seven testable subjects and includes 25 sample multiple-choice questions with detailed answer explanations. In response to valuable feedback from law students and faculty, we made updates to the Student Guide and made enhancements by adding to the content map the approximate proportion of questions drawn from each subject.
Today, the State Bar also posted a redline copy of the Student Guide to make it easier for students to identify areas where the text has been updated. These changes are consistent with our commitment to not materially changing what is needed to study for the bar exam in light of the transition to a new multiple-choice questions vendor. As such, this guide is designed to complement, not replace, your existing bar preparation resources.
To minimize the number of test takers who need to travel more than 50 miles to a test center, there will be three new sites available for scheduling shortly in the Meazure Learning system for standard test takers not handwriting their exam:
Applicants will be able to self-schedule a session at one of these locations as soon as the system is updated. To book a test site, log in to your Meazure Learning account, navigate to the Exams page, and select the option to book if you have not already done so. If you already have a booked exam session, you can cancel it and rebook at one of the new test centers. If you do not see these locations, please return to the website later, as it may take some time to update.
The self-booking window is open until midnight on February 14. If you need a change into one of those three new sites after that date, please email admissions@calbar.ca.gov to check availability.
To be able to post information in a timely manner and in a way that is easier to digest, the February 2025 Bar Exam FAQ will no longer be updated. Going forward, additional notices will be provided on this webpage.
Please return to this page periodically ahead of the exam day to ensure you have received the most up-to-date information. When needed, emails will be sent to all applicants.