The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE)

The National Conference of Bar Examiners has produced the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) since 1972.

The MBE consists of 200 multiple-choice questions in the following areas: Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Real Property, and Torts. The purpose of the MBE is to assess the extent to which an examinee can apply fundamental legal principles and legal reasoning to analyze given fact patterns.

Both a raw score and a scaled score are computed for each examinee. A raw score is the number of questions answered correctly. Raw scores from different administrations of the MBE are not comparable, primarily due to differences in the difficulty of the questions from one administration to the next. The MBE, like virtually all high-stakes exams, is equated. Equating is a statistical process that adjusts for variations in the difficulty of the questions, producing scaled scores that represent the same level of performance across all MBE administrations. For instance, if the questions appearing on the July MBE were more difficult than those appearing on the February MBE, then the scaled scores for the July MBE would be adjusted upward to account for this difference. These adjustments ensure that no examinee is unfairly penalized or rewarded for taking a more or less difficult exam. Each jurisdiction determines its own policy with regard to the relative weight given to the MBE and other scores. (Jurisdictions that administer the Uniform Bar Examination [UBE] weight the MBE component 50%.)

Jurisdictions Using the MBE in 2021

Map of the continental US plus Hawaii and Alaska; the 54 jurisdictions using the MBE are shaded green. List with jurisdictions not shown (Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Puerto Rico, Palau) All jurisdictions use the MBE except for Louisiana and Puerto Rico.”

2021 MBE National Summary Statistics (Based on Scaled Scores)

The values in the following charts reflect valid scores available electronically as of 3/25/22.

	February	July	2021 Total
Number of Examinees*	16,759	45,872	62,631
Mean Scaled Score	134.0	140.4	138.7
Standard Deviation	16.5	17.8	17.7
Maximum	188.5	188.1	188.5
Minimum	46.3	46.3	46.3
Median	133.7	140.8	138.7

* 161 additional examinees took a makeup multiple-choice exam in Texas in March 2021 for local admission only as a result of severe weather that prevented them from taking the February 2021 MBE

2021 MBE National Score Distributions

The values in the following charts reflect valid scores available electronically as of 3/25/22. These data represent scaled scores in increments of 5, with the exception of 85, which includes all examinees below that score. For example, the percentage reported for 135 includes examinees whose MBE scaled scores were between 130.5 and 135.4. Percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

ID	MBE Scaled Score	February (Mean = 134.0) — Percentage of Examinees	July (Mean = 140.4) — Percentage of Examinees
1	85	0.3	0.2
2	90	0.2	0.2
3	95	0.5	0.5
4	100	0.9	0.6
5	105	1.7	1.3
6	110	3.1	2.2
7	115	5.4	3.3
8	120	7.8	5.6
9	125	9.3	7.3
10	130	12.5	7.8
11	135	12.3	10.4
12	140	11.8	9.6
13	145	10.1	10.1
14	150	8.0	9.9
15	155	6.4	9.9
16	160	3.7	7.9
17	165	2.5	6.4
18	170	2.1	3.8
19	175	0.8	2.2
20	180	0.3	0.8
21	185	0.0	0.2
22	190	0.0	0.0

MBE National Examinee Counts, 2012–2021

The values in the following charts reflect valid scores available electronically as of 3/25/22.

ID	Year	February (Number of Examinees)	July (Number of Examinees)	Year Total (Number of Examinees)
1	2012	20,695	52,337	73,032
2	2013	21,578	53,706	75,284
3	2014	22,083	51,005	73,088
4	2015	22,396	48,384	70,780
5	2016	23,324	46,518	69,842
6	2017	22,269	46,627	68,896
7	2018	21,111	45,274	66,385
8	2019	21,316	45,334	66,650
9	2020	19,122	5,678 July 1,811 September 417 October	27,028
10	2021†	16,759	45,872	62,631

† 161 additional examinees took a makeup multiple-choice exam in Texas in March 2021 for local admission only as a result of severe weather that prevented them from taking the February 2021 MBE.

Bar chart representing data in previous chart, split between February (orange) and July (blue) examinees, 2012–21. February totals hover around twenty thousand, with the exception of 2021. July totals range from the mid-forty thousands to low fifty thousands, with the exception of 2020.”

MBE National Mean Scaled Scores, 2012–2021

Note: The values in this chart reflect valid scores available electronically as of 3/15/2021.

ID	Year	February (Mean Scaled Scores)	July (Mean Scaled Scores)	Year Total (Mean Scaled Scores)
1	2012	137.0	143.4	141.6
2	2013	138.0	144.3	142.5
3	2014	138.0	141.5	140.4
4	2015	136.2	139.9	138.7
5	2016	135.0	140.3	138.5
6	2017	134.1	141.7	139.2
7	2018	132.8	139.5	137.4
8	2019	134.0	141.1	138.8
9	2020	132.6	146.1 July 142.7 September 137.2 October	136.2
10	2021	134.0	140.4	138.7

Line graph representing data presented in previous table, mapping MBE mean scaled scores against year of administration, 2012–2021. February mean scaled scores consistently lower than July’s. July 2020 values split between July/September/October

* Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the July 2020 MBE was administered on three separate dates: July 29, September 10, and October 1. The results shown are for in-person examinees only; approximately 29,000 additional examinees sat for a remotely administered exam using NCBE materials in October 2020. Comparability to other years’ results may be limited due to the lower examinee count.

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