For the first time in over a decade, U.S. law graduates are celebrating more than just the end of the grueling summer bar exam. This July’s national test results show the strongest performance since 2013, marking a rare high point in an exam long known for humbling even the most prepared candidates.
The Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) — a 200-question marathon that counts for half of most states’ licensing scores — averaged 142.4 points nationwide. That’s a 0.6-point climb from last summer, small on paper but significant enough to push the average to heights unseen in twelve years.
Officials overseeing the exam expect this bump to translate into slightly higher pass rates when states begin rolling out official results in the weeks ahead.
The trend, however, has been uneven. July exams since 2022 have shown steady improvements, while the February version of the test tells a harsher story. The February 2025 average plunged to 130.8 — the lowest since the MBE was first introduced in 1972. That sharp decline was worsened by California’s decision to ditch the MBE for its own exam, only to see the experiment collapse under technical failures. The state has since been ordered back into the national fold.
For now, though, this July’s numbers offer a rare moment of relief for law schools, bar prep companies, and aspiring attorneys who have weathered years of uncertainty in legal testing. After twelve years in the doldrums, the summer exam finally gave them something worth celebrating.
