North Carolina Bar Exam

North Carolina Bar Examiners

Board of Law Examiners of the State of North Carolina
5510 Six Forks Road Suite 300
Raleigh, NC 27609
(919) 848-4229

Bar Exam Format

North Carolina has adopted the UBE that includes the MPT and MEE on Tuesday and the MBE on Wednesday.

Day 1

Two MPT questions are administered within a 3-hour session, allowing an average of 90 minutes to answer each of them. Six MEE questions are administered within another 3-hour session, allowing an average of 30 minutes to answer each essay question.

Day 2

Both 3-hour sessions have 100 MBE multiple choice questions to answer in 1.8 minutes each, on average.

Reciprocity

Generally, an attorney of a reciprocating state bar has North Carolina bar exam reciprocity if the attorney has actually practiced law within the reciprocating state for at least four of the past six years. North Carolina will accept a transferred UBE score of at least 270 attained within the prior 3 years.

Subjects/Topics

The North Carolina Uniform Bar Exam (“UBE”) essay questions may examine these subjects:

  • Agency;
  • Article 9 of the U.C.C. – Secured Transactions;
  • Conflict of Laws;
  • Constitutional Law;
  • Contracts (including Article 2 of the U.C.C. – Sales);
  • Corporations;
  • Criminal Law (including Criminal Procedure);
  • Decedents’ Estates;
  • Evidence Law;
  • Family Law;
  • Federal Civil Procedure;
  • Limited Liability Companies;
  • Partnerships;
  • Real Property;
  • Torts; and
  • Trusts and Future Interests.

Bar Exam Dates

The North Carolina bar exam is held in February and July. The exam is usually on the last Wednesday and prior Tuesday of each month.

2024

  • February 27-28, 2024
  • July 30-31, 2024

Exam Results

The February North Carolina bar exam results are released in late March. The July North Carolina bar exam results are released in late August. All bar examinees will receive results letters by regular mail. The board’s website will have a list of successful examinees, who have fulfilled all licensure requirements. Upon written request, an unsuccessful examinee can obtain his bar exam scores.

Scoring/Grading

The passing score is 270 on a 400-point scale. The Multistate Performance Test (“MPT”) is weighted 20%, the Multistate Essay Exam (“MEE”) is weighted 30%, and the Multistate Bar Exam (“MBE”) is weighted 50%.

Pass Rate/Stats

The pass rates of each North Carolina bar exam can differ. In a series of those exams,

  • between 46% and 78% total takers passed;
  • between 63% and 87%, first-time takers passed; and
  • between 23% and 51% repeat takers passed.