Notices Regarding the California Bar Examination
NextGen UBE Beginning July 2028
Beginning with the July 2028 California Bar Exam, the State Bar will administer the NextGen Uniform Bar Exam (NextGen UBE1), produced by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE).
Please continue to monitor this page for important information as it becomes available. Applicants are encouraged to visit NCBE’s website to learn more about the NextGen UBE, review the examinees’ guide, and take the NextGen UBE tutorial to get a feel for the format, platform, and tools.
Standard Exam Format
The NextGen UBE is a computer-based test taken on applicants’ laptops. The standard exam format is administered over one and a half days, delivered through NCBE’s secure digital platform. Day one consists of two three-hour sessions, and day two consists of one three-hour session.
Each session has 40 stand-alone multiple-choice questions, two integrated question sets, and one performance task. For a discussion of the integrated question sets and the performance tasks, see the NextGen UBE Constructed Response Guide.
The foundational principles to be tested include business associations, civil procedure, constitutional law, contracts, criminal law, evidence, real property, torts, family law (starting July 2028), and trusts and estates (in skills questions). The foundational skills to be tested include legal research, legal writing, issue spotting and analysis, investigation and evaluation, client counseling and advising, negotiation and dispute resolution, and client relationship and management. For more information, see the July 2026–February 2027 Content Scope and the Family Law Scope for July 2028.
Applicants may use a hardwired external keyboard and a hardwired external mouse during the exam. The NextGen UBE digital platform offers several features to aid applicants in answering constructed-response questions. Additional features and tools are available for all question types.
For all questions, NCBE’s platform provides:
- A countdown timer for the session, with an optional five-minute warning;
- Highlighting in four colors;
- Contrast options of light, dark, and high for the display scheme;
- A zoom feature that allows applicants to adjust the size of on-screen elements; and
- An exam navigation tool that shows an applicant’s progress and lets an applicant mark questions for later review.
For multiple-choice questions, NCBE’s platform allows:
- Striking out answer choices.
For integrated question sets and performance tasks, NCBE’s platform permits applicants to:
- Copy and paste text from documents or the notepad into answer fields, spell check, and use formatting tools, such as bold, italics, and underline;
- Change the text size (i.e., small, medium, large, and extra-large) of the materials and the questions;
- Use a virtual notepad to take notes, and click and drag to move or resize the notepad; and
- Split the screen in the integrated question sets and performance tasks, so the question, answer field, and notepad can be displayed side by side. The width of each can be adjusted by the applicant.
Applicants are required to pay a technical fee (currently $145) to NCBE to support the administration of the exam.
Testing Accommodations
Handwriting and hard-copy materials will only be available for applicants granted those specific testing accommodations.
NCBE’s digital platform has built-in features for applicants approved for certain accommodations. In addition to accommodating extended time schedules, the platform allows stop-the-clock breaks. (Applicants may request stop-the-clock breaks as a testing accommodation for the California bar exam beginning with the July 2028 administration.) The platform also incorporates e-reader capability (i.e., text-to-speech) for all question types and speech-to-text capability for the integrated question sets and the performance tasks.
Policy and Deadline Changes
Currently, the State Bar allows applicants to arrive up to one hour after the bar exam has begun and still take the exam. With the NextGen UBE, the State Bar anticipates discontinuing this policy.
The State Bar anticipates that it may adjust deadlines for submitting a bar exam application and requesting testing accommodations.
Please see the NextGen UBE Test Day Policies on NCBE’s website.
Los Angeles 2028 Olympics
The 2028 Summer Olympics will be held in the greater Los Angeles area July 14–30, 2028. Since this event will affect test center availability, lodging options, and travel for applicants and proctors, the July 2028 California Bar Exam will not be held in the greater Los Angeles area. The State Bar is currently exploring options for a testing accommodations site in San Diego; however, one has not yet been secured.
The current test sites identified for the July 2028 California bar exam are shown below. This list is tentative and will continue to be updated as changes occur. To provide Southern California applicants with opportunities to test, testing at the Ontario Convention Center will be restricted to applicants whose address on file is in specific ZIP codes. The ZIP codes or counties will be published at a later date.
| Region | Test Site | Test Site for Applicants with Certain Accommodations |
|---|---|---|
| Sacramento | @the Grounds 700 Event Center Drive Roseville, CA 95678 | Pending |
| San Francisco | Oakland Convention Center 550 10th Street Oakland, CA 94607 | Oakland Convention Center 550 10th Street Oakland, CA 94607 |
| Southern California | Ontario Convention Center 2000 East Convention Center Way Ontario, CA 91764 | Ontario Convention Center 2000 East Convention Center Way Ontario, CA 91764 |
California Component
The July 2028 California Bar Exam will consist only of the NextGen UBE. There will be no California component.
The State Bar Board of Trustees and the Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE) are in the process of developing a recommendation to the California Supreme Court regarding the California component, which will be administered no earlier than July 2029.
Preliminary recommendations will be transmitted to the Court in February 2027. The recommendations will be outlined below as they occur.
- August 21, 2026, CBE Meeting, Item 4.4: The CBE adopted the following preliminary recommendations:
- Key recommendations regarding the California component shall be guided by the guiding principles adopted by the Board of Trustees in May 2025 and the Committee of Bar Examiners in August 2025, as applicable, with the following amendments:
- The principle “exam must be reliable and predictable” is amended to read, “The California component must be reliable and secure.”
- An additional guiding principle is added to read, “California licensees be treated equitably such that there is relative parity between how California treats attorneys licensed in other jurisdictions seeking admission in California vis-à-vis how other jurisdictions treat California licensees seeking admission in those other jurisdictions.
- The purpose of the California component shall be to ensure that an applicant has familiarity with, or exposure to, topics in the seven content areas identified by the Supreme Court that are most important for practice in California.
- Key recommendations regarding the California component shall be guided by the guiding principles adopted by the Board of Trustees in May 2025 and the Committee of Bar Examiners in August 2025, as applicable, with the following amendments:
- September 16, 1:00 p.m.: A stakeholder input forum will be held regarding the development of a California component to complement the NextGen UBE.
1 This page includes information from NCBE’s website as of September 9, 2026. For the most up-to-date information, please see the links provided for your reference.