{"id":127940,"date":"2025-07-22T15:16:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T23:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/07\/22\/remote-and-on-demand-bar-exams-could-be-on-the-way\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T15:16:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T23:16:22","slug":"remote-and-on-demand-bar-exams-could-be-on-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/07\/22\/remote-and-on-demand-bar-exams-could-be-on-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Remote And On-Demand Bar Exams Could Be On The Way"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I know what you\u2019re thinking: great idea with a terrible track record. Experimental bar exams have left a bad taste in everyone\u2019s mouth since February, and for good reason. The California Bar\u2019s Kaplan-powered rollout was terrible: <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/04\/california-bar-reveals-it-used-ai-for-exam-questions-because-of-course-it-did\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AI-generated questions<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/05\/the-california-bar-was-so-bad-that-the-exam-vendor-is-getting-sued-over-it\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">comically bad service from the exam vendor<\/a>, and grading fixes <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/06\/the-number-of-people-who-passed-californias-february-bar-exam-has-grown-by-the-hundreds\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">that spat out way more lawyers than usual<\/a>. But knowing where things derailed is the first step to getting back on track. Remote bar exams carry some serious benefits: convenience, lower operational costs, greater access, the list goes on. With some work, the dream could be a reality. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abajournal.com\/web\/article\/could-the-bar-exam-become-on-demand\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ABA Journal<\/a> spoke with the NCBE about their blueprint for successful remote examinations:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cIt would be fantastic to move away from event-based testing,\u201d where all candidates take the exam at once, Kara Smith, chief product officer at the NCBE, told the ABA Journal. \u201cIt would be great to have window-based testing, or on demand testing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith went on to outline five key areas that need to be developed before the exam could be administered remotely:<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8cf370e7 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Confidence of licensing authorities, courts and the public in the fairness and rigor of the exam.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Security to prevent test-taker impersonation, content theft and unauthorized assistance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reliability of devices and connectivity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Assurances that candidates with disabilities or from underresourced communities aren\u2019t disadvantaged.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Guarantees that examinees are in distraction-free, secure and private environments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>The checklist could have been shortened by writing \u201cDO THE OPPOSITE OF WHATEVER CALIFORNIA DID\u201d on the itinerary. One of the first hiccups in the break from the NCBE exam <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2024\/09\/california-needs-to-focus-on-procedurals-before-administering-bar-replacement\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">came directly the Supreme Court of California<\/a>. Part of the Bar\u2019s lawsuit against Meazure Learning accused them of lax exam security and distracting proctors, just some of the things you really don\u2019t want to deal with during a test that will determine if you can make good on your recent six-figure commitment to study Quimbee outlines.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a rough road ahead for NCBE, but the challenge isn\u2019t insurmountable. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.abajournal.com\/web\/article\/could-the-bar-exam-become-on-demand\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Could the bar exam become on demand?<\/a> [ABA Journal]<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/06\/Chris-Williams-2025.jpg?resize=512%2C288&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1162378\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:cwilliams@abovethelaw.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cwilliams@abovethelaw.com<\/a> and by tweet at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WritesForRent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/07\/remote-and-on-demand-bar-exams-could-be-on-the-way\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Remote And On-Demand Bar Exams Could Be On The Way<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-single__featured-image post-single__featured-image--medium alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/02\/laptop-6062423_1280-300x200.jpg?resize=300%2C200&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p>I know what you\u2019re thinking: great idea with a terrible track record. Experimental bar exams have left a bad taste in everyone\u2019s mouth since February, and for good reason. The California Bar\u2019s Kaplan-powered rollout was terrible: <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/04\/california-bar-reveals-it-used-ai-for-exam-questions-because-of-course-it-did\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AI-generated questions<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/05\/the-california-bar-was-so-bad-that-the-exam-vendor-is-getting-sued-over-it\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">comically bad service from the exam vendor<\/a>, and grading fixes <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/06\/the-number-of-people-who-passed-californias-february-bar-exam-has-grown-by-the-hundreds\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">that spat out way more lawyers than usual<\/a>. But knowing where things derailed is the first step to getting back on track. Remote bar exams carry some serious benefits: convenience, lower operational costs, greater access, the list goes on. With some work, the dream could be a reality. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abajournal.com\/web\/article\/could-the-bar-exam-become-on-demand\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ABA Journal<\/a> spoke with the NCBE about their blueprint for successful remote examinations:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cIt would be fantastic to move away from event-based testing,\u201d where all candidates take the exam at once, Kara Smith, chief product officer at the NCBE, told the ABA Journal. \u201cIt would be great to have window-based testing, or on demand testing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith went on to outline five key areas that need to be developed before the exam could be administered remotely:<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8cf370e7 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Confidence of licensing authorities, courts and the public in the fairness and rigor of the exam.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Security to prevent test-taker impersonation, content theft and unauthorized assistance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reliability of devices and connectivity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Assurances that candidates with disabilities or from underresourced communities aren\u2019t disadvantaged.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Guarantees that examinees are in distraction-free, secure and private environments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>The checklist could have been shortened by writing \u201cDO THE OPPOSITE OF WHATEVER CALIFORNIA DID\u201d on the itinerary. One of the first hiccups in the break from the NCBE exam <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2024\/09\/california-needs-to-focus-on-procedurals-before-administering-bar-replacement\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">came directly the Supreme Court of California<\/a>. Part of the Bar\u2019s lawsuit against Meazure Learning accused them of lax exam security and distracting proctors, just some of the things you really don\u2019t want to deal with during a test that will determine if you can make good on your recent six-figure commitment to study Quimbee outlines.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a rough road ahead for NCBE, but the challenge isn\u2019t insurmountable. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.abajournal.com\/web\/article\/could-the-bar-exam-become-on-demand\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Could the bar exam become on demand?<\/a> [ABA Journal]<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/06\/Chris-Williams-2025.jpg?resize=512%2C288&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1162378\" title=\"\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#c1a2b6a8adada8a0acb281a0a3aeb7a4b5a9a4ada0b6efa2aeac\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">[email\u00a0protected]<\/a> and by tweet at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WritesForRent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I know what you\u2019re thinking: great idea with a terrible track record. Experimental bar exams have left a bad taste in everyone\u2019s mouth since February, and for good reason. The California Bar\u2019s Kaplan-powered rollout was terrible: AI-generated questions, comically bad service from the exam vendor, and grading fixes that spat out way more lawyers than [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":127674,"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-127940","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\/07\/Chris-Williams-2025-90GIO3.jpg?fit=512%2C288&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127940","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=127940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}