Each year, approximately 16,000 applicants take the California General and Attorneys Bar Exam. Beginning in February 2025, the State Bar is introducing significant changes to the administration of the California General Bar Exam (CBX), including switching the exam vendor, introducing remote testing and smaller in-personal testing locations, and some new policies for applicants. Here’s a breakdown of the upcoming changes:
Key Changes to the February 2025 California Bar Exam
- CA Bar Exam Subjects Remain the Same: The subjects tested on the bar exam will remain the same, including:
- Constitutional Law
- Contracts
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Civil Procedure
- Evidence
- Real Property
- Torts
- CA Switches from the NCBE MBE Exam to Kalpan CBX MCQ Exam: The most significant change is the switch from the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) to Kaplan for the multiple-choice portion of the exam.
- What’s changing: The California Bar Exam will no longer use the NCBE developed MBE questions. Instead, Kaplan has come onboard to develop multiple-choice questions (MCQs) starting in February 2025.
- About Kaplan: Kaplan is a well known education company specializing in test preparation materials including bar exam courses and books. Given the clear conflict of interest in this situation, Kaplan has ceased to offer California-specific bar exam preparation courses and materials, but it continues to offer bar exam prep for other states.
- Remote and In-Person Testing: The exam is being offered both remotely and at smaller in-person test centers.
- Changes to the Structure in February 2025:
- Day 1: The written portion will remain the same with five one-hour essays and one 90-minute performance test.
- Day 2: Bar takers will get 200 new multiple-choice questions (MCQs) developed by Kaplan and administered over four 90-minute sessions. The total testing time remains the same at six hours. See here for the student guide with sample MCQs released by the State Bar.
The Experiment: Testing New Ideas
The February 2025 exam is being considered an “experiment” with two main goals:
- Quality Control: Testing Kaplan’s new MCQs for accuracy and fairness.
- Exploring Future Options: Experimenting with remote testing, open-book exams, and extended time to see if these methods could become a part of the bar exam in the future.
Phases of the Experiment
- Phase 1 (Nov 2024): Kaplan conducted its first experiment in November 2024 with new MCQs. Bar takers participated in a 90-minute session with 49 MCQs, covering seven subjects (7 questions per subject).
- Phase 2 (July 2025): This phase will test Kaplan’s essays and short questions since in future Kalpan will also develop essays and PT for Day 1 of the exam. Phase 2 of the experiment exam will occur as a third day of the July 2025 CBX. The State Bar is planning to run this experiment to also test an open-book exam concept and applicants would be split into two groups: one with and one without access to personal notes and web content.
Participation Incentives
- Score Adjustments: Participants in the experiment may receive a scaled score with an adjustment of up to 40 points. The State Bar will determine and announce the exact adjustment of the scores after the exam.
- Eligibility: The experiment was open to:
- Law students in their final year of study.
- Applicants who are eligible to take the California Bar Exam in 2025, including repeat takers and those with testing accommodations.
Looking Ahead: What’s Next?
- Remote and Open-Book Exams: One major aspect being tested is whether remote testing and open-book exams could become part of the California Bar Exam in the future. This will depend on the success of the experimental phases.
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