{"id":112771,"date":"2025-03-31T11:03:14","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T19:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/03\/31\/february-bar-exam-mbe-score-sinks-to-all-time-record-low-again\/"},"modified":"2025-03-31T11:03:14","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T19:03:14","slug":"february-bar-exam-mbe-score-sinks-to-all-time-record-low-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/03\/31\/february-bar-exam-mbe-score-sinks-to-all-time-record-low-again\/","title":{"rendered":"February Bar Exam MBE Score Sinks To All-Time Record Low \u2014 Again"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Uh-oh! As noted by Reuters<\/a>, the national Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) mean scaled score is back to an all-time low. This isn\u2019t what we like to see when it comes to the bar.<\/p>\n

Higher MBE scores from recent administrations of the exam gave those in legal academia some hope that the future would be brighter for test-takers. Unfortunately, according to the the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), average MBE scores are down to a dismal 130.8. This is (once again) the lowest February MBE score on record.<\/p>\n

Could this have happened thanks to California\u2019s decision to create its own exam? Here\u2019s a statement that Bob Schwartz, NCBE\u2019s managing director of Psychometrics, gave to Law.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe decrease in this February\u2019s mean represents a change in population and a change in overall performance. In four of the past five years, the MBE mean for California has been higher than the mean for the combined non-California jurisdictions, so it makes sense that removing California from the national pool might bring the national mean down slightly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schwartz further noted that the \u201cabsence of California from the examinee pool does not affect February\u2019s examinees in jurisdictions that administer the MBE,\u201d he said, adding that the MBE is equated as part of the scoring process to control for any possible differences in exam difficulty or examinee population compared to previous administrations.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Per the NCBE, the blame for the decreased MBE score cannot be placed solely upon California\u2019s shoulders. Schwartz continued, stating, \u201cExcluding California from the comparison, we saw a decline in performance across all groups of examinees this February; first-time test takers\u2019 performance declined by about a point, while repeaters\u2019 performance was down by about 0.7 points.\u201d <\/p>\n

According to the NCBE, of the 15,350 people who took the February 2025 exam, approximately 71% were likely repeat test-takers, meaning they\u2019d already failed the exam previously. The February administration is usually dominated by repeaters, as July is the traditional time for new law graduates to take the test. Schwartz says that for the February 2025 MBE, first-time test takers scored an average of 135.1, while repeat test takers scored an average of 129.0.<\/p>\n

Jurisdictions are currently in the process of releasing results. We\u2019ll have to wait to see just how bad this early indicator is for overall pass rates.<\/p>\n

National bar exam score hit record low in February<\/a> [Reuters]<\/p>\n

February 2025 MBE Scores See Modest Decline From Prior 2 Years<\/a> [Law.com]<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post February Bar Exam MBE Score Sinks To All-Time Record Low \u2014 Again<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Uh-oh! As noted by Reuters<\/a>, the national Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) mean scaled score is back to an all-time low. This isn\u2019t what we like to see when it comes to the bar.<\/p>\n

Higher MBE scores from recent administrations of the exam gave those in legal academia some hope that the future would be brighter for test-takers. Unfortunately, according to the the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), average MBE scores are down to a dismal 130.8. This is (once again) the lowest February MBE score on record.<\/p>\n

Could this have happened thanks to California\u2019s decision to create its own exam? Here\u2019s a statement that Bob Schwartz, NCBE\u2019s managing director of Psychometrics, gave to Law.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe decrease in this February\u2019s mean represents a change in population and a change in overall performance. In four of the past five years, the MBE mean for California has been higher than the mean for the combined non-California jurisdictions, so it makes sense that removing California from the national pool might bring the national mean down slightly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schwartz further noted that the \u201cabsence of California from the examinee pool does not affect February\u2019s examinees in jurisdictions that administer the MBE,\u201d he said, adding that the MBE is equated as part of the scoring process to control for any possible differences in exam difficulty or examinee population compared to previous administrations.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Per the NCBE, the blame for the decreased MBE score cannot be placed solely upon California\u2019s shoulders. Schwartz continued, stating, \u201cExcluding California from the comparison, we saw a decline in performance across all groups of examinees this February; first-time test takers\u2019 performance declined by about a point, while repeaters\u2019 performance was down by about 0.7 points.\u201d <\/p>\n

According to the NCBE, of the 15,350 people who took the February 2025 exam, approximately 71% were likely repeat test-takers, meaning they\u2019d already failed the exam previously. The February administration is usually dominated by repeaters, as July is the traditional time for new law graduates to take the test. Schwartz says that for the February 2025 MBE, first-time test takers scored an average of 135.1, while repeat test takers scored an average of 129.0.<\/p>\n

Jurisdictions are currently in the process of releasing results. We\u2019ll have to wait to see just how bad this early indicator is for overall pass rates.<\/p>\n

National bar exam score hit record low in February<\/a> [Reuters]<\/p>\n

February 2025 MBE Scores See Modest Decline From Prior 2 Years<\/a> [Law.com]<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Uh-oh! As noted by Reuters, the national Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) mean scaled score is back to an all-time low. This isn\u2019t what we like to see when it comes to the bar. Higher MBE scores from recent administrations of the exam gave those in legal academia some hope that the future would be brighter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":112750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Staci-Zaretsky-oyDKoy.jpeg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}