About 61% of people who sit for the bar exam pass, based on 2024 results reported across all U.S. jurisdictions.1National Conference of Bar Examiners. 2024 Statistics That single number hides most of what matters. The percent of people who pass the bar exam swings dramatically once you separate first-time takers from repeaters, July takers from February takers, and one jurisdiction from another. If you want to know your own odds, the national average is only a starting point.
The Headline Number
In 2024, 70,436 people took the bar exam nationwide, and 61% passed.1National Conference of Bar Examiners. 2024 Statistics That was a modest climb from 2023, when 66,174 examinees produced a 58% pass rate.2National Conference of Bar Examiners. Persons Taking and Passing the 2023 Bar Examination So in any given year, roughly four out of ten takers walk away without a passing score.
That average blends very different groups of people sitting very different versions of the test. Pull them apart and the picture changes a lot.
July vs. February: A 25-Point Gap
The bar is given twice a year, and the two sittings produce strikingly different results. In 2024, 68% of July takers passed. Only 43% of February takers did.1National Conference of Bar Examiners. 2024 Statistics
That gap holds up year after year, and it isn’t about the test being harder in winter. Most law school graduates take the exam for the first time in July, right after finishing school, with the material still fresh and months of full-time preparation behind them. The February sitting draws a heavier share of repeat takers and candidates who graduated earlier. The pool is different, so the pass rate is different.
First-Time Takers vs. Repeat Takers
If one variable predicts whether you’ll pass, it’s whether you’ve taken the exam before. In 2024, 75% of first-time takers passed. Among repeat takers, 31% did.3National Conference of Bar Examiners. 2024 Statistics Snapshot A 44-point spread.
Several things drive that gap. First-time takers usually have just completed three years of law school and devoted months to full-time bar prep. Repeat takers are often working, studying part-time, and carrying the weight of a previous failure. There’s also a selection effect built in: well-prepared candidates tend to pass the first time, leaving a repeat-taker pool that, on average, faced greater obstacles the first time around. Roughly one in three repeat takers still passes, but the numbers argue strongly for putting everything you have into attempt one.
Why Your Jurisdiction Matters
The bar exam is ultimately a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction test, and pass rates reflect that. Of the 41 jurisdictions using the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE), the minimum passing score ranges from a scaled 260 (used in states like Alabama, Missouri, and New Mexico) up to 270 (required in Alaska, Colorado, Massachusetts, and more than a dozen others).4National Conference of Bar Examiners. Uniform Bar Examination UBE Minimum Scores A ten-point spread on a scaled score sounds small, but at the margins it decides who passes.
The effect shows up in the state-level numbers. On the July 2024 exam, the District of Columbia reported an overall pass rate of 80%. Alabama came in at 54%, California at 55%.5National Conference of Bar Examiners. Bar Exam Results by Jurisdiction Those differences reflect the scoring threshold, the mix of first-timers and repeaters sitting that exam, how many out-of-state graduates are testing in, and the accreditation profile of the law schools feeding each state.
Some states don’t use the UBE at all. California and Louisiana are well-known examples that test heavily on state-specific law, which tends to depress pass rates because out-of-state graduates face an additional knowledge hurdle.
Where You Went to Law School
School matters, and the gap can be large. Graduates of ABA-accredited law schools consistently post higher pass rates than graduates of state-accredited or unaccredited programs. In states where non-ABA schools operate, their graduates’ first-time pass rates often trail ABA-school graduates by 30 points or more. This isn’t just a reflection of student quality; ABA-accredited programs have to meet curricular and resource standards that better prepare students for what the exam actually tests.
The ABA treats bar passage as a measure of school quality. Under Standard 316, at least 75% of a school’s graduates who sit for a bar exam must pass within two years of graduation.6National Conference of Bar Examiners. Revised Bar Passage Standard 316 – Evolution and Key Points Schools that miss it face public notice of noncompliance and can be put on probation or lose accreditation.7American Bar Association. Sanctions, Remedial Action, Withdrawal of Approval, and Significant Noncompliance
Bar Prep Completion
Commercial bar prep courses are nearly universal among first-time takers, and the data backs the habit. Candidates who complete a high percentage of a structured prep course pass at significantly higher rates than those who don’t finish. The specific provider matters less than the completion rate; getting through 75% or more of any reputable course is where outcomes improve meaningfully.
Self-study is possible but rare among successful candidates. The exam covers civil procedure, contracts, evidence, torts, constitutional law, criminal law, property, and more, and commercial courses are built around the weighting and format the NCBE actually uses. Most courses run about two months of full-time study.
What Changes With the NextGen Exam in 2026
The exam itself is about to shift. The NextGen Uniform Bar Examination launches in July 2026 in ten jurisdictions: Connecticut, Guam, Idaho, Maryland, Missouri, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Palau, the Virgin Islands, and Washington.8NCBE. NextGen UBE Other UBE jurisdictions are expected to follow in later years.
The new exam runs a day and a half across three three-hour sections and leans harder on practical lawyering skills — legal research, client counseling, drafting — alongside standalone multiple-choice questions.9National Conference of Bar Examiners. NextGen UBE Blueprint, July 2026–February 2027 No one yet knows what pass rates will look like under the new format. The NCBE has said it aims to hold the same competency threshold, but any major format change creates uncertainty, and the historical pass-rate figures in this article all come from the current exam structure. If you’re testing in a NextGen jurisdiction in 2026 or 2027, treat the national averages as a rough reference rather than a prediction.
If You Don’t Pass
With a national pass rate of 61%, failing is more common than the profession tends to acknowledge, and that figure already includes first-timers at 75% pulling the average up. Repeat takers sit in a group where the majority doesn’t pass on a given try.
Most states let you retake the exam as many times as you need, but not all. About half a dozen jurisdictions enforce absolute caps, typically between four and six lifetime attempts, after which no further sittings are allowed. Another fifteen or so have discretionary limits, meaning you can apply for additional attempts but may need to show special circumstances or get approval from the board of bar examiners. Check your jurisdiction’s rules before committing.
Costs add up fast. Between application fees, prep course renewals, and lost income from another study period, each additional attempt can run several thousand dollars. If you fail on the first try, the useful first step is an honest look at what went wrong — content gaps, timing, test anxiety — before signing up to repeat the same approach.