• The new bar exam will be administered remotely and in person starting February 2025.

• California has thus become the first jurisdiction to fully break away from the bar exam created by the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

• Any candidates who agree to sit for a beta test next month and perform well will receive a score boost.

The California Supreme Court has officially approved a redesigned bar exam that will be introduced in February 2025, according to a Reuters report. The revamped test will allow aspiring attorneys to take the exam both remotely and in person, addressing long-standing concerns about access, particularly following the logistical issues raised during the pandemic.

• The new exam will officially debut on February 25-26, 2025.

• California is thus becoming the first jurisdiction to break away from the bar exam created by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which is set to launch its own overhauled exam in July 2026.

• California is the second-largest bar exam jurisdiction behind only New York, with 11,320 applicants taking the state’s bar exam in 2023.

Score Boost for Beta Testers

The Supreme Court also approved the State Bar of California's proposal to give a score boost to applicants who agree to take a beta test for the new exam next month.

The state bar plans to increase real bar exam scores by as much as 40 points for people who do well on the November experimental test, which will be used to evaluate potential exam questions. The total possible points on the bar exam is 2,000. 

Beta testers who score low will not be penalized on the real exam.

Cost Savings

The new bar exam has been in development for the last 15 months and is widely believed to save as much as $3.8 million a year since it can be administered remotely in smaller test centers. 

The alternative exam is developed by Kaplan North America, a provider of bar exam test prep programs. 

The Supreme Court’s decision was the last administrative hurdle for the exam, which had been delayed several times over the last few months. In September, several law deans across the state asked that the exam be postponed over concerns that it would not be ready in time, but the court rejected the request.