NextGen Bar Exam

NextGen UBE Score Portability: Same “Uniform” Exam Name, Three Different Transfer Rules (so far)

For years, the Uniform Bar Examination portability pitch was simple: take the exam in one UBE jurisdiction place, transfer an eligible score to another UBE jurisdiction. The NextGen UBE transition is turning that simple idea into a more complicated planning problem, especially during the July 2026 through February 2028 window when some jurisdictions will be administering the NextGen UBE and others will still be offering the Legacy UBE. Recently, the landscape has started to c

Tommy Sangchompuphen

3 days ago2 min read

Washington’s New 610 NextGen UBE Cut Score and the Retroactive 260 Legacy UBE Pass

Every once in a while, a bar-exam order drops that makes me stop mid-scroll, blink twice, and say, “Wait! They did what?” That just happened in Washington. Washington will be one of the first jurisdictions to administer the NextGen UBE starting in July 2026, and on December 8 the Washington Supreme Court issued a short, two-page order that quietly made three big moves at once. In its new order, the Washington Supreme Court did three key things: 1️⃣ Set the NextGen UBE pass

Tommy Sangchompuphen

Dec 10, 20253 min read

On the NextGen UBE, 620 is the new 270

For years, bar takers in Uniform Bar Exam jurisdictions have lived and breathed one magic number: 💬 “I just need a 270,” an Ohio examinee declares. 💬 In Missouri, another might quietly ask, “Did you hit 260?” 💬 Over in New York, an examinee might simply note, “Our state’s cut score is 266.” Minimum passing scores in UBE jurisdictions range from 260 to 270. That "cut score" became shorthand for “I passed” in many UBE jurisdictions. With the rollout of the NextGen UBE , th

Tommy Sangchompuphen

Nov 15, 20254 min read

NextGen’s “Ultimate Readiness Test”: Proof or PR?

The National Conference of Bar Examiners' news release yesterday frames the Jan. 8-10, 2026 “Beta Test” of the upcoming NextGen Uniform Bar Exam as the ultimate readiness test—a capstone proving that the July 2026 exam is good to go. For clarity, a beta test, according to Merriam-Webster , is “a field test of the beta version of a product (such as software) especially by testers outside the company developing it that is conducted prior to commercial release.” Software daevel

Tommy Sangchompuphen

Nov 1, 20253 min read

Backstreet Boys x Taylor Swift (and the Bar Exam Goes NextGen)

You’ve might have heard it by now. The viral mashup of Taylor Swift’s “Elizabeth Taylor” and the Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” has taken over social media. It’s a nostalgic, unexpected blend of pop eras that somehow works. And believe it or not, it’s a pretty good preview of what’s coming your way with the NextGen Bar Exam. The Mashup Analogy A mashup works only when two songs—often with very different rhythms, keys, and eras—are artfully combined to sound

Tommy Sangchompuphen

Oct 26, 20252 min read