Key points:
- National mean scaled MBE score for July 2025 rose to 142.4, highest since 2013.
- 46,959 examinees sat for the exam, a 6% drop from July 2024.
- Performance gains were driven by first-time test takers, according to NCBE.
The July 2025 Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) produced its strongest national mean scaled score in over a decade, according to newly released data from the National Conference of Bar Examiners (Law.com report). The mean score of 142.4 marked the highest figure since 2013, excluding the anomalous 2020 pandemic-era administrations.
The 2025 figure is a 0.6-point increase from last July’s mean of 141.8 and a notable gain from 2023, when the score stood at 140.5. While the exam’s difficulty varies slightly across administrations, NCBE uses statistical equating to ensure comparability across years, making the upward trend significant for both law schools and firms monitoring bar passage rates.
A total of 46,959 candidates sat for the July exam—down from 49,844 in 2024. NCBE estimates that 77% of these were first-time takers, whose stronger-than-usual performance drove the mean increase. Repeat test takers represented 23% of the cohort, a slight decline from the year prior.
Bob Schwartz, NCBE’s managing director of Psychometrics, said in a statement that “performance by those first-time test takers this year drove the overall increase in the national mean,” while also projecting a modest rise in overall pass rates once jurisdictions release results. Jurisdictions are still grading written components, with official pass rates expected to follow later this fall on the NCBE’s official site.
The July results stand in contrast to the February 2025 administration, when the national mean scaled score fell to 130.8, down from 131.8 the prior year. That exam was also notable for the absence of California, which for the first time replaced the MBE with its own multiple-choice section. Even excluding California, performance in February reflected a slight year-over-year decline.
Despite the July improvement, the overall number of examinees continues to decline—an ongoing trend with potential implications for law school enrollment, bar admissions, and talent pipelines at major firms. With July scores trending upward since 2022, stakeholders will be watching whether this year’s results represent a sustainable shift in performance or simply reflect cohort dynamics.
