California Bar Exam Info

California Bar Exam Information

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

AmeriBar’s California Bar Review Course and California Attorneys’ Exam Course have helped students pass the California bar exam for over 20 years.

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California Bar Exam Format

Overview

The California Bar Exam is administered over two days.

Day 1

The written portion of the exam will occur on Tuesday of the week containing the Wednesday of the Multistate Bar Exam (“MBE”), the multiple-choice portion of the exam. You will have three hours to answer three California essay questions. You will have two hours to answer two California essay questions and one and one-half hour to answer one California Performance Test.

Day 2

The MBE is administered on the second day of the California 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.

California Bar Exam Format Video

Useful Links

California Bar Review Course – AmeriBar has been helping students pass the California bar exam for over 20 years.
California Attorneys’ Exam Course – If you are only taking the California Attorneys’ Exam, then this course is specifically for you.
CaliforniaBarExamTutor.com – Intensive tutoring for the California bar exam.
MBEQuestionBank.com – Online question bank with over 2500 simulated MBE questions.

Exam Dates

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

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California Bar Admissions

State Bar of California
Office of Admissions
180 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94105-1639

California MPRE Score Requirement

California requires bar exam applicants to pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (“MPRE”). You must score 86 or higher on the MPRE in order to pass in California.

Scoring/Grading and Results

In order to pass the California bar exam, you must score at least 1,390 on a 2,000-point scale, based on the combined scaled scores of the California Performance Test, the California essay questions, and the MBE. The California Committee of Bar Examiners weights the California Performance Test and the California essay questions at 50% and the MBE at 50%. The California Performance Test is worth twice the amount as a California essay question score. Usually, the California Committee of Bar Examiners releases the February California Bar Exam results by the end of May, and the July California Bar Exam results before Thanksgiving.

Reciprocity

California does not provide for admission on motion or reciprocity, rather it offers the California Bar Exam. If an attorney does not qualify to sit for the California Attorneys’ Exam, then the attorney would sit for the California General Bar Exam.

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Jared

Thomas Jefferson School of Law

“Once you go with AmeriBar they will help you emotionally and academically. They will get you 100% ready for the bar exam… I’m grateful for AmeriBar – because they helped me accomplish my dream. And without them, I wouldn’t be an attorney today.”

California Bar Review Course

AmeriBar has been helping students pass the California 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 chose AmeriBar and I’m convinced that had it not been for AmeriBar I wouldn’t have passed the exam.

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I really appreciate everything AmeriBar has done for me. It was probably the best decision I’ve made in the past five to six years of my life. If I didn’t pass this time, I wasn’t going to take the bar exam again. Without AmeriBar it would have been another disappointment. My scores went up 10-15 points in each section. The only thing I did differently this time is use an AmeriBar tutor.

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So, I can’t emphasize enough how much I would recommend AmeriBar to any student. I was able to pass the bar on the first attempt, even in a state that I didn’t go to law school in, and I feel like AmeriBar was a very significant contributing factor to my success on the bar exam.

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Here we are again, second bar exam, second time passing. I was a first-time passer on both...I have absolutely no complaints about AmeriBar. Anyone who’s thinking of taking AmeriBar, I would definitely recommend it.

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You are also taking a step in the right direction by considering AmeriBar for your test materials.

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The first time I took the bar exam, I took the Barbri program, which was a big, huge program where you don’t get a lot of individualized attention. However, the second time I took a bar preparation course, I took it through AmeriBar. AmeriBar really provided the one-on-one help that I needed to pass the bar.

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This was the fourth time taking the bar ...and this time I passed. I used a competitor’s program for the prior three times, and I didn’t pass. I have to say that I think AmeriBar’s tutoring is what really pushed me over the top.

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I think having a personal tutor help to prepare me for the bar exam is the only reason I finally passed the bar. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to AmeriBar and their program.

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Once you go with AmeriBar they will help you emotionally and academically. They will get you 100% ready for the bar exam... I’m grateful for AmeriBar – because they helped me accomplish my dream. And without them, I wouldn’t be an attorney today.

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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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After three unsuccessful attempts at the bar exam, I felt as though as though I had nowhere to turn.... AmeriBar is a large contributor to my success in passing and achieving the dream of becoming a lawyer

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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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California 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.

California Bar Exam Statewide Pass Rates

Exam Date	First	Repeat	Total
July 2023	65%	24%	52%
February 2023	45%	28%	33%
July 2022	62%	17%	52%
February 2022	53%	24%	34%
July 2021	71%	19%	53%
February 2021	53%	27%	37%
July 2020	74%	43%	61%
February 2020	38%	22%	27%
July 2019	64%	28%	50%
February 2019	41%	26%	31%
July 2018	55%	16%	41%
February 2018	39%	23%	27%
July 2017	62%	28%	50%
February 2017	39%	33%	35%
July 2016	56%	17%	43%
February 2016	45%	32%	36%

California Bar Review Course

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

California Bar Exam Info