The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) just announced that after the new NextGen Bar Exam launches in July 2026, the July 2027 bar exam may be the last administration of the current Uniform Bar Exam (UBE).

The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE), a separate attorney ethics test, will not be affected by this change.

Many legal academics have expressed grave concerns about this announcement, as it appears designed to force states to make a snap decision as to whether to adopt the NextGen Exam or create new state tests instead.

The backlash has led to speculation that the NCBE may end up pushing back this deadline until at least 2028 to allow states more time to see how the new exam fares and decide how to proceed.

“There is no hard deadline for these decisions,” Sophie S. Martin, director of communications, education and outreach for NCBE, said on September 8th, adding that jurisdictions are currently considering whether—and if so, when—to administer the NextGen Bar Exam for the first time.

NCBE expects the first round of formal announcements to be made this fall with jurisdictions having the option of adopting NextGen or developing their own exams.

“Some jurisdictions require more time in their planning and rule-making processes and some require less time, and we’re sensitive to the needs of each,” Martin continued. “We know that all jurisdictions seek to give ample notice to their future applicants and to the law schools, and our understanding is that they will seek to balance that need for notice with their own rulemaking timelines.”

“Within the timeline set forth for the first administration of NextGen and the final administration of the current exam, the jurisdictions have the discretion to choose which exam they’ll use for each administration,” she added.

The number of subjects tested on the new exam decreased to eight (8) from twelve (12). They are Civil Procedure, Contracts, Evidence, Torts, Business Associations Constitutional Law, Criminal Law and Constitutional Protections of Accused Persons and Real Property. The new exam will no longer test Conflict of Laws, Family Law, Trusts and Estates or Secured Transactions, according to NCBE.

The NextGen Bar Exam will be divided into three sessions of three hours each, with each session containing two integrated question sets, one performance task, and approximately 40 multiple-choice questions. These three-hour sessions will be administered over one and a half days, with six hours of testing time on day one and three hours on day two—with NextGen reducing the total exam time from 12 hours to 9 hours.

You can read more about this issue here.

But for those of you who need to pass the current bar exam in February 2024 and want to get a head start (which is always a good idea), just email or call us to discuss our Early Start bar review program.