Pennsylvania Bar Exam Information

Pennsylvania Bar ExamPennsylvania bar exam information including format, subjects, scoring, pass rates, dates, and bar review course options. Comprehensive resources to help pass the Pennsylvania Bar Exam.

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Pennsylvania Bar Exam Format

Overview

Pennsylvania has adopted the Uniform Bar Exam. The exam is administered over two days usually in February and July.

Day 1

The written portion of the exam is administered on the first day of the Pennsylvania bar exam. The written portion of the bar exam consists of 6 Multistate Essay Exam questions and 2 Multistate Performance Tests questions. You will have three hours to answer the 6 essay questions, and 3 hours to answer the 2 MPT questions

Day 2

The Multistate Bar Exam (“MBE”) is administered on the second day of the Pennsylvania 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.

Pennsylvania Bar Exam Format Video

Useful Links

  1. Pennsylvania Bar Review Course – AmeriBar has been helping students pass the Pennsylvania bar exam for over 20 years.
  2. PennsylvaniaBarExam.com – Detailed Information and resources for Pennsylvania bar exam takers.
  3. 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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Pennsylvania Bar Admissions

Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners
601 Commonwealth Avenue
Suite 3600
P.O. Box 62535
Harrisburg, PA 17106-2535

Pennsylvania MPRE Score Requirement

Pennsylvania requires bar exam applicants to pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (“MPRE”). You must score 75 or higher on the MPRE in order to pass in Pennsylvania.

Scoring/Grading and Results

In order to pass the Pennsylvania bar exam, you must score at least 272. This equates to 136, based on the MBE’s 200-point scale. The scores of the exam sections are weighted as follows: the written portion 50% (MEE 30%/MPT 20%), and MBE 50%. Pennsylvania releases the February bar exam results in mid-April and the July exam results in mid-October.

Reciprocity

If you are a domestic attorney, you may qualify for admission to the Pennsylvania Bar if you fulfill many detailed requirements. Some of those requirements are:

  • You have an initial law degree from an American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law school;
  • You are a member of the bar of a reciprocal state on active status; and
  • You prove having spent at least half of your time practicing law in a reciprocal state for five of the past seven years or having passed the bar exam in a reciprocal state.

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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.”

Pennsylvania Bar Review Course Books

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

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Pennsylvania Bar Exam Subjects

Pennsylvania Essay Subjects

MBE Subjects

MBE Question of the Day
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Heidi

Thomas Cooley Law School

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

Pennsylvania Bar Exam Statewide Pass Rates

Exam DateFirstRepeatTotal
July 202379%33%71%
February 202355%37%44%
July 202275%27%68%
February 202256%27%37%
July 202177%25%69%
February 202164%39%51%
July 202082%40%76%
February 202069%38%52%
July 201981%27%75%
February 201975%49%58%
July 201879%28%71%
February 201867%37%52%
July 201781%38%74%
February 201772%44%54%
July 201675%28%69%
February 201674%44%56%

Pennsylvania Bar Review Course Books

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