By Kara Smith, PhD
In January 2026, NCBE took an unusual step for development of a new high-stakes licensure examination: we conducted a full dress rehearsal in partnership with the constituents we serve.
Our collective mission is to protect the public. The licensure process is therefore a shared responsibility among courts, admission authorities, and NCBE as developer and deliverer of the exam. The January 2026 NextGen UBE Beta was designed and administered in that spirit. More than 1,500 individuals from over 40 jurisdictions participated as examinees, with administration sites across five locations in four jurisdictions. A total of 64 jurisdiction representatives from 40 jurisdictions observed and supported the process. Together, the profession tested both a new examination and the operational ecosystem that must sustain it.
Operational Readiness as Public Protection
For a high-stakes licensure examination, operational readiness is inseparable from public protection. Courts depend on the bar exam to function predictably under pressure—across sites, across roles, and across thousands of candidates. That requires secure content delivery, accurate accommodations implementation, complete response captures, disciplined grading at scale, and reliable result reporting. The Beta was structured to evaluate each of those responsibilities under live, multisite conditions before the debut administration in July.
…operational reliability becomes an extension of public protection itself—supporting the integrity of licensure decisions and reinforcing confidence in the fairness and stability of the examination process.
The results were steady and instructive. Completion rates exceeded 99 percent, with lack of completion being examinee driven. All technical systems performed reliably, even during intentional technical interruptions designed to test mitigation strategies. Accommodation delivery operated effectively within the same platform architecture as nonaccommodated testing, reinforcing equity of experience. More than 64,000 constructed responses were scored through independent double grading and structured reconciliation within projected timelines. Where refinement needs were identified, they reflected product maturation rather than structural concern. The Beta confirmed that the NextGen UBE and its supporting systems function cohesively under live conditions.
Jurisdiction representatives likewise described the administration model as structured and navigable during the Beta exam. Real-time monitoring dashboards provided meaningful visibility into candidate status without exposing content. Escalation protocols were clear, and documentation workflows created consistent administrative records across sites. Several representatives noted that consolidating readiness tracking, location assignment, and post-exam reporting into a single portal reduced reliance on manual reconciliation. Perhaps most importantly, observers characterized the administration as predictable—not in the sense of scripted perfection, but in the sense that when even a small issue arose, the systems and administration protocols functioned as designed. In this way, operational reliability becomes an extension of public protection itself—supporting the integrity of licensure decisions and reinforcing confidence in the fairness and stability of the examination process.
Alignment with Practice
Examinees engaged with the Beta exam with seriousness and candor. Many described the experience as professionally grounded and reflective of the reasoning tasks entry-level lawyers perform. The integrated format—combining selected-response questions with drafting and counseling tasks—was viewed as more aligned with practice than traditional compartmentalized testing. Usability feedback reflected confidence in navigation, instruction clarity, and response submission verification. Taken together, examinee feedback suggests that the examination is operationally viable and meaningfully connected to the competencies it seeks to measure.
Stability for Policy Decisions
Beyond operational readiness, the Beta administration carried significant policy implications. Jurisdictions set passing standards and make portability decisions that directly affect candidates and the public. Those decisions require confidence not only in the NextGen UBE’s design, but in the stability of its reporting scale and the defensibility of its recommended passing score range.
The recommended passing score range of 610–620 was established through a convergence of evidence: national standard-setting judgments, concordance analyses with the legacy UBE, and scale calibration during the October 2024 prototype exam. The Beta provided an opportunity to confirm those conclusions under operational conditions.
Full technical details will be shared in the forthcoming report that describes the comprehensive research, development, and testing of the NextGen UBE. However, early findings suggest that jurisdictions considering passing standards within the recommended range can be confident that the underlying measurement framework is stable and replicable.
For courts evaluating portability policies, that stability is essential. Score portability depends on comparability. The Beta exam provided further evidence that the NextGen scale supports consistent score interpretation across administrations and jurisdictions, preserving the foundational principle that a portable score represents the same level of demonstrated competence wherever it is applied.
Looking Forward with Confidence
The January 2026 Beta test represents a defining milestone in the evolution of the NextGen UBE. It confirmed that the examination’s design, digital infrastructure, grading model, and reporting scale operate cohesively under live conditions. Jurisdictions were able to observe administration workflows directly, evaluate grading at scale, and examine the stability of the recommended passing score range that will inform consequential policy decisions. As July 2026 approaches, the work ahead calls for disciplined execution and continued collaboration.
Modernizing a high-stakes licensure examination is an exercise in stewardship—and in institutional maturity. The NextGen UBE reflects an evolving profession that measures readiness with greater integration of knowledge and skills, delivers assessment through resilient digital infrastructure, and validates policy decisions through evidence gathered in partnership with the jurisdictions it serves. This shared commitment ultimately sustains public confidence in the high standards of the legal profession.
Kara Smith, PhD, is Chief Product Officer for the National Conference of Bar Examiners.
About the NextGen UBE
Set to debut in July 2026, the NextGen UBE will test a broad range of foundational legal doctrine and lawyering skills in the context of the current practice of law. The skills and concepts to be tested were developed through a nationwide legal practice analysis and reflect the most important knowledge and skills for newly licensed lawyers in both litigation and transactional practice. NCBE is committed to ensuring a systematic, transparent, and collaborative implementation process, informed by input from and participation by stakeholders, and guided by best practices and the professional standards for high-stakes testing. For more information, visit ncbex.org/exams/nextgen.
This article originally appeared in The Bar Examiner print edition, Spring 2026 (Vol. 95, No. 1), pp. 54–56.
Contact us to request a pdf file of the original article as it appeared in the print edition.
