The Supreme Court of California approved the State Bar’s requested modifications to the California Bar Exam, beginning with the February 2025 administration. Specifically, the Court approved:
The General Bar Exam will be administered remotely and/or in-person at vendor-run or State Bar-run test centers beginning the last Tuesday in February and July of each calendar year.
The first day of the General Bar Exam will constitute the written portion of the exam (five one-hour essays and one 90-minute Performance Test), and the second day will constitute the multiple-choice portion of the exam (200 multiple-choice questions administered over four 90-minute sessions).
Please see the Court’s order for additional information.
October 4, 2024
The State Bar today resubmitted its petition to the Supreme Court asking for a new standing order on future bar exams with the changes approved by the Committee of Bar Examiners on September 30.
Approved that beginning with the February 2025 exam, (a) the multiple-choice portion shall consist of 200 multiple-choice questions covering constitutional law, contracts, criminal law and procedure, civil procedure, evidence, real property, and torts and (b) be delivered remotely and/or in person at vendor-run or State Bar-run test centers.
Approved use of Kaplan-developed multiple-choice questions beginning with the February 2025 exam, subject to psychometric validation.
Approved Meazure Learning as the vendor to provide a secure examination delivery platform and administer the exam either remotely or in person, subject to contract negotiations.
The State Bar plans to resubmit its petition to the Supreme Court as soon as possible. This page will be updated when that step occurs.
The California Supreme Court today denied, without prejudice, the State Bar's petition proposing modifications to the February 2025 bar exam, which included:
Intent to replace the multiple-choice questions provided by the NCBE with questions developed by a new vendor, and
Intent to change modalities to administer the exam remotely and in person at small test centers.
As we read today’s order, before the State Bar brings the proposed modifications back to the Supreme Court, it must first seek the formal approval of the Committee of Bar Examiners on the proposed modifications to the California Bar Exam.
The State Bar plans to move forward as quickly as possible to secure the needed approval. The Committee of Bar Examiners is scheduled to meet on September 30; an agenda will be posted on our Public Meetings portal no later than September 20. The State Bar will file a petition as quickly as possible after the CBE meeting and adjust plans as needed in accordance with the Court’s direction.
At this point, the State Bar still intends to launch the February 2025 bar exam application on October 1, 2024.
Applicants will have the option to state their preference for a remote or in person exam.
With the understanding that the testing venue may change pending approval by the Supreme Court, the State Bar will notify applicants as the details are finalized.
Those who applied to participate in the November 8 or November 9, 2024, Bar Exam Experiment will also receive notification of any changes. The Court’s order did not impact the petition regarding the scoring incentive related to the November experiment, which is still pending with the Court.
Background
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 (NCBE).
The Committee of Bar Examiners discussed these changes at its March and April 2024 meetings and recommended that the State Bar retain a new vendor to develop the multiple-choice questions for the California Bar Exam, so that the State Bar can pursue alternative, cost-effective bar exam administration approaches that applicants prefer. This contract 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, assuming the plan is approved by the Supreme Court.
The multiple-choice questions developed by Kaplan will not substantially modify the training or preparation required to pass the exam. The bar exam will cover the same subject areas and continue to have 200 multiple-choice questions, five one-hour essay questions, and one 90-minute Performance Test. Applicants should prepare for the exam as they always have.
