State Bar Releases Results of February 2024 Bar Exam

State Bar Releases Results of February 2024 Bar Exam

The State Bar announced today that 1,337 applicants (33.9 percent) passed the February 2024 General Bar Exam, and 197 applicants (52.7 percent) passed the Attorneys' Exam. If those who passed satisfy all other requirements for admission, they will be eligible to be licensed by the State Bar to practice law in California.

"Congratulations to the 1,534 applicants who passed the February California Bar Exam," said Leah Wilson, State Bar Executive Director. "We recognize their hard work and share in their excitement and celebration and wish them the very best in their future legal careers."

Ms. Wilson also addressed concerns about the Cow Palace testing site: "We can report that a full and independent psychometric analysis of the potential impacts of the Daly City exam site on applicant performance outcomes was conducted, and no such impact was found," she said. "The State Bar is dedicated to ensuring the testing environment meets the highest standards and will incorporate the feedback received from test takers to improve future administrations. The July exam will not use the Cow Palace as a testing location."

The 33.9 percentage pass rate for the February 2024 General Bar Exam represents a slight increase from the February 2023 pass rate of 32.5 percent. The pass rates for the February 2024 bar exam nationwide followed a similar path, with most experiencing a slight increase, including:

• New York (42 percent, compared to 40 percent in 2023)
• Florida (41 percent, compared to 39 percent in 2023)
• Illinois (44 percent, compared to 43 percent in 2023)
• Pennsylvania (48 percent, compared to 44 percent in 2023)

According to the National Conference of Bar Examiners, the California mean scaled score on the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) for February 2024 was 1327, compared to the national average mean scaled score of 1318.

In most U.S. jurisdictions, including California, the bar exam consists of three sections, one of which is the MBE. An increase in the national mean MBE score would likely indicate an increase in the February 2024 pass rate, and in California's and other states' results, it did.

The State Bar commissioned an independent psychometric analysis to assess whether reported concerns about temperature, restroom facilities, and other site-related concerns with the Cow Palace testing center, impacted applicant scores. According to the independent analysis, score adjustments were not warranted or recommended: "Differences among groups of applicants who tested at different sites…does not support a hypothesis that the performance of applicants was meaningfully different at Cow Palace, locations within Cow Palace, or applicants who did not test at Cow Palace. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence that applicants were disadvantaged by the environmental conditions at the facility."

The February bar exam typically includes a higher proportion of repeat takers than a July administration. Repeat takers' exam performance, including pass rates, is lower on average than that of first-time test takers. The proportion of repeating examinees on the California February 2024 administration was 69.7 percent, which represents a slight drop from nearly 71 percent in 2023.

Attendance at California's February 2024 General Bar Exam was 3,944, nearly 5 percent higher than for the February 2023 exam, and 26.7 percent higher than the February 2022 exam.

February 2024 General Bar Exam preliminary statistics*

• Completed the General Bar Exam: 3,944 applicants
• First-time applicants: 1,195 (30.3 percent of total)
• Pass rate for first-time applicants: 44.8 percent overall
• Repeat applicants: 2,749 (69.7 percent of total)
• Pass rate for repeat applicants: 29.2 percent overall

Pass rate for the General Bar Exam by law school:

School Type	First-Timers	Repeaters
California ABA	55.1%	41.6%
Out-of-State ABA	49.0%	34.1%
California Accredited (not ABA)	34.9%	18.4%
Unaccredited: Fixed-Facility	100.0%	17.4%
Unaccredited: Correspondence	28.6%	13.3%
Unaccredited Distance-Learning	26.3%	12.2%
All Applicants	44.8%	29.2%

General information about the structure and content of the General Bar Exam.

The Attorneys' Examination is open to those who have been admitted to the active practice of law and are in good standing for at least four years in another U.S. jurisdiction, as well as disciplined lawyers who are ordered to take the examination as a condition of reinstatement.

A pass list from the exam will be published on the State Bar website on May 5, 2024, at 6:00 a.m. More detailed statistics about exam results will be available in four to six weeks on the State Bar website.

Successful applicants who satisfy all requirements for admission may take the Attorney's Oath individually or participate in admissions ceremonies held by their law school or others. Applicants are eligible to practice law in California after taking the Attorney's Oath and submitting their oath card to the State Bar. The State Bar has enabled digital signing and electronic processing of oath cards on a permanent basis.

*Please note that these are preliminary statistics. Law schools will be required to confirm the students allocated to their law school, and as a result, these statistics may change. The general statistics, including data on pass rates by gender, race/ethnicity, and law school type, will be released in four to six weeks.

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