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Here you will find helpful information for bar candidates, jurisdictions, the bar admissions community, the legal education community, and media/press.
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With Three Months to Go, NCBE Prepares to Launch NextGen Bar Exam, Marking First Major Redesign in Decades
Three hours shorter and fully digital, the NextGen UBE expands how legal competency is assessed, aligning the bar exam more closely with modern law practice.
NCBE Releases National Mean for March 2026 MPRE
MADISON, WISCONSIN, April 28, 2026—The national mean scaled score for the March 2026 MPRE was 97.4, 3.5 points higher than the March 2025 mean of 93.9. The March 2026 mean reflects the performance of 19,651 examinees, 588 fewer than the March 2025 examinee count of 20,239.
Narmeen Makhani Appointed Chief Product Engineering & AI Officer at NCBE
NCBE Publishes Updated Standard Character Report Application
MADISON, WISCONSIN, April 20, 2026—The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) has published an updated version of its standard Character Report Application. A sample of the new application is available on the NCBE website.
Wisconsin Adopts the Legacy Uniform Bar Exam
On March 24, 2026, the Wisconsin Supreme Court released an order stating that Wisconsin will administer the legacy Uniform Bar Examination and accept transferred legacy UBE scores of 260 or higher beginning with the July 2026 bar administration.[1]
NCBE Announces National Mean for February 2026 MBE
South Carolina to Administer NextGen UBE Beginning in July 2028
The Bar Exam Enters a New Era
by Judith A. Gundersen
Eight years ago, we asked a simple question: what does a competent new lawyer actually need to know? This July, the answer arrives in the form of the NextGen Uniform Bar Examination. For the first time, select US jurisdictions will administer the NextGen UBE—an exam built through research, transparency, legal industry engagement, and rigorous testing.
NextGen UBE Beta Test Demonstrates Strong Performance Across Full NextGen Ecosystem
2025 Year in Review and 2026 Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements Published
The latest editions of NCBE’s Year in Review and the Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements are now available via the NCBE website.