July 2025 California Bar Examination - Information for Unsuccessful Applicants - Grade Information

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Quinn

Information for unsuccessful applicants for the July 2025 California Bar Examination explains how bar exam results are calculated and what grade details are available through the Applicant Portal. It covers the structure of the General Bar Exam and Attorneys’ Exam, including essay questions, the Performance Test, and MBE percentile reporting. The document details scaling methodology, written and total scaled score formulas, phased grading thresholds, subject areas for the essays and PT task, and timelines for accessing answer files before removal.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages3

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

Grade Information

Exam Structure and Portal-Available Scores

Scaled Score Adjustment for General Bar Exam

Passing Threshold and Subject Areas

Scaling Information and Score Calculations

Phased Grading Rules

Access to Examination Answers

OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS INFORMATION FOR UNSUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS JULY 2025 CALIFORNIA BAR EXAMINATION GRADE INFORMATION The General Bar Exam consists of two sections: a written section containing five essay questions and one Performance Test (PT), and the 200-item Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) questions. If you took the General Bar Exam, you will be able to view the following information through your Applicant Portal: the raw scores for your answers to the five essay questions and the one PT (written scores), your total raw and scaled written scores, your MBE scaled score, and your total scaled score. Also reported for the MBE will be local (state of California) and national percentile rank information, which indicates the percentile rank for each applicant’s performance on the seven MBE content areas and the MBE total score. For example, if 80.4 is listed after Civil Procedure, this means that you scored higher than 80 percent of all examinees who took this bar examination (nationally) on the civil procedure questions; only 19.6 percent received a score above yours. The Attorneys’ Exam consists of the same five essay questions and one PT used for the General Bar Exam. If you took the Attorneys’ Exam, you will be able to view the following information through your Applicant Portal: the raw scores for your answers to the five essay questions and the one PT (written scores), your total raw and scaled written scores, and your total scaled score. If you participated in the November 2024 bar exam study and answered at least 28 of the 49 multiplechoice questions correctly, a scaled score adjustment of 40 points was applied to the multiple-choice section of your General Bar Exam. This adjustment translates to a 20-point increase in your total scaled score. The adjusted scaled score was then used to calculate the final total scaled score reflected in your results letter. The score adjustment is applied only to your first attempt at the General Bar Exam. Emails are sent the same day that results are released to those who received this scaled score adjustment. To pass the exam, an applicant must have a total scaled score of at least 1390 out of a possible 2000 points. July 2025 Essay and Performance Test Subject Area • Question 1: Trusts • Question 2: Torts • Question 3: Business Associations • Question 4: Constitutional Law • Question 5: Professional Responsibility • PT Task: Write Advice Letter to Client – Real Property SCALING INFORMATION The State Bar’s Committee of Bar Examiners utilizes a scoring procedure designed to ensure the level of difficulty of the exam remains consistent with previous administrations of the exam. The statistical technique, called scaling, converts scores on the written section (essay questions and PT) to the same units of measurement used for the MBE scaled score. Converting the total written raw scores to the same scale of measurement as the MBE adjusts for possible differences in average question difficulty and grading across different administrations of the exam. This adjustment is used to ensure that an applicant’s likelihood of passing is not affected by any variation across administrations. On the written section of the exam, applicants were initially graded on a basis of 700 maximum possible points. An applicant could earn up to 100 raw points on each of the five essay questions and up to 100 raw points on the PT. The grade on the PT is doubled in the calculation of the total raw written points. The scores obtained on the written section of the exam are then translated to the 2000-point MBE scale. An applicant’s total score is the scaled MBE score multiplied by .50 plus the written scaled score multiplied by .50. Attorney applicants who took the Attorneys’ Exam have their scores on the written section placedon the same scale of measurement used for the General Bar Exam, but, as they are exempt from the MBE, their pass/fail status is based solely on the written se

FAQs

What grade information can unsuccessful applicants view in the Applicant Portal for the General Bar Exam?

Applicants can view raw scores for the five essay questions and the one Performance Test, written raw and scaled totals, the MBE scaled score, and the total scaled score. The MBE section also reports local and national percentile ranks across content areas and the MBE total score.

How does the scaled score adjustment for the General Bar Exam work for qualifying November 2024 study participants?

If an applicant answered at least 28 of 49 multiple-choice questions correctly during the November 2024 bar exam study, a 40-point scaled score adjustment is applied to the multiple-choice section, translating to a 20-point increase in total scaled score. The adjustment applies only to the applicant’s first attempt at the General Bar Exam.

What are the phased grading pass/fail thresholds?

After one reading, an applicant must have a total scaled score of at least 1390 out of 2000 to pass. Scores below 1350 fail after one reading, while totals between 1350 and 1390 are read again and the decision is based on whether the averaged total is 1390 or higher.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Quinn

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