Pennsylvania Bar Exam

Pennsylvania Bar Examiners

Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners
601 Commonwealth Avenue, Suite 3600
P.O. Box 62535
Harrisburg, PA 17106-2535
(717) 231-3350

Bar Exam Format

The Pennsylvania Bar Examiners administer the Uniform Bar Exam, which consists of the MEE, MPT, and MBE.

Day 1

On day one, six MEE questions are given in a three-hour session. Two MPT questions are also given in a three-hour session.

Day 2

On day two, the 200 question multiple-choice MBE is given over two three-hour sessions.

Reciprocity

If you are a domestic attorney, you may qualify for admission to the Pennsylvania Bar if you fulfill many detailed requirements.  Some of those requirements are:

  • You have an initial law degree from an American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law school;
  • You are a member of the bar of a reciprocal state on active status; and
  • You prove having spent at least half of your time practicing law in a reciprocal state for five of the past seven years or having passed the bar exam in a reciprocal state.

Subjects/Topics

Pennsylvania Essay questions can test 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania law examiners release the February Pennsylvania bar exam results in mid-April and the July exam results in mid-October.  The exam takers will receive official result notification in a results letter.  The exam passers’ names will be posted online.

Scoring/Grading

To pass the Pennsylvania bar exam, you have to score 272 based on the combined scaled scores of the Multistate Performance Test (“MPT”), the Multistate Essay Exam (“MEE”), and the Multistate Bar Exam (“MBE”).  The UBE score is broken down into three components: (1) the MPT counts for 20%; (2) the MEE counts for 30%; and (3) the MBE counts for 50%.

Pass Rate/Stats

Although Pennsylvania bar exam pass rates can vary by administration, for some exams the pass rates range between 56% and 83% for total takers, 72% and 89% for first-time takers, and 24% and 55% for repeat takers.