North Carolina Bar Exam Info

North Carolina Bar Exam Information

North Carolina bar exam format, subjects, scoring, pass rates, dates, and bar review course options. Comprehensive resources to help you pass the North Carolina Bar Exam.

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North Carolina Bar Exam Format

Overview

The North Carolina Bar Exam is administered over two days. The examiners have adopted the Uniform Bar Exam (“UBE”).

Day 1

The written portion of the exam is administered on the first day of the North Carolina bar exam. The written portion of the bar exam consists of the Multistate Performance Test (“MPT”) and the Multistate Essay Exam (“MEE”). You will have three hours to answer two MPT questions. You will have three hours to answer the six MEE questions.

Day 2

The Multistate Bar Exam (“MBE”) is administered on the second day of the North Carolina bar exam. The MBE is a multiple-choice test containing 200 questions. The MBE is split into a morning and afternoon session. Each session consists of 100 questions. You have three hours to complete each session.

North Carolina State Component

In addition to passing the North Carolina bar exam, an applicant for admission must take an online course, administered by the NC bar examiners, covering NC law. The course contains video presentations for several legal subjects and corresponding quiz questions.

North Carolina Bar Exam Format Video

Useful Links

North Carolina Bar Review Course – AmeriBar has been helping students pass the North Carolina bar exam for over 15 years.
NorthCarolinaBarExam.com – Detailed Information and resources for North Carolina bar exam takers.
MBEQuestionBank.com – Online question bank with over 2500 simulated MBE questions.

Exam Dates

July 30-31, 2024
February 25-26, 2025
July 29-30, 2025

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North Carolina Bar Admissions

Board of Law Examiners of the State of North Carolina
5510 Six Forks Road, Suite 300
Raleigh, NC 27609

North Carolina MPRE Score Requirement

North Carolina requires bar exam applicants to pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (“MPRE”). You must score 80 or higher on the MPRE in order to pass in North Carolina.

Scoring/Grading and Results

In order to pass the North Carolina bar exam, you must score at least 270 out of 400. This equates to 135, based on the MBE’s 200-point scale. The scores of the North Carolina UBE sections are weighted as follows: MEE 30%, MPT 20%, and MBE 50%. North Carolina makes bar exam results available approximately five to six weeks after the exam.

Reciprocity

Generally, an attorney of a reciprocating state bar has North Carolina bar exam reciprocity if the attorney has actually practiced law within the reciprocating state for at least four of the past six years. North Carolina will also accept a transferred UBE score of 270 within 3 years after the score was attained.

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Jennifer

Regent Law School

Jennifer failed twice with Barbri. “I felt so prepared…for the exam. I never felt that way the first couple of times. I can’t say enough about how I felt after failing twice to come back and just nail it after six years of absence from the law.”

North Carolina Bar Review Course

AmeriBar has been helping students pass the North Carolina bar exam for over 20 years.

AmeriBar Students

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Well, the one thing I did do differently was not use Barbri... I used the AmeriBar materials and had the one-on-one tutorial for the essays. I do think it probably made a large difference in how I handled and approached my essays.

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I felt so prepared and so well-versed in every area of the law for the exam. I never felt that way with BAR/BRI the first couple of times I took it. I can’t say enough about how well-prepared I felt and how relieved I was after failing twice to come back and just nail it after six years of absence from the law.

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They offered seven hours of personal tutoring and I thought, ‘wow this is a program that is quite different.’ So I signed up and paid the money. Guess what? That was what helped me pass the bar.

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I would tell law students considering AmeriBar they should go with AmeriBar because the materials are put together in a superior way. They read much more smoothly. I think they’re put together in a more sequential and chronological way. They are far easier to comprehend, and learning it in a linear sequential way, the way AmeriBar has them set out, really helped me pass.

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North Carolina Essay Subjects

MBE Subjects

Heidi

Thomas Cooley Law School

Heidi, who failed twice with BarBri, describes how AmeriBar was instrumental in raising her score from 121 to 144.

North Carolina Bar Exam Statewide Pass Rates

Exam Date	First	Repeat	Total
July 2023	78%	29%	69%
February 2023	63%	29%	47%
July 2022	76%	32%	68%
February 2022	62%	33%	50%
July 2021	84%	34%	75%
February 2021	71%	39%	60%
July 2020	90%	45%	83%
February 2020	69%	30%	51%
July 2019	83%	27%	73%
February 2019	72%	58%	65%
July 2018	73%	23%	57%
February 2018	48%	22%	33%
July 2017	72%	36%	62%
February 2017	45%	32%	37%
July 2016	66%	27%	57%
February 2016	51%	37%	43%

North Carolina Bar Review Course

AmeriBar has been helping students pass the North Carolina bar exam for over 20 years.

North Carolina Bar Exam Info