Surprising Updates to the NextGen Bar Exam
The National Conference of Bar Examiners made a few surprising announcements yesterday about the development and implementation of the NextGen Bar Exam, which is scheduled to launch with the July 2026 test administration. And two of those announcements directly contradicted previous announcements the testing agency made after it concluded its three-year study of the current bar exam.
Yesterday’s announcements beg the question: Why weren’t these changes adopted during its three-year study, which included a public comment period, or before the NCBE released its final version of the content scope for the NextGen Bar Exam?
Perhaps doing so could have prevented the testing agency from creating a “moving target” exam for future applicants.
A big change to the bar exam developed by the NCBE is a reduction in the number of subjects that will be tested and an expansion of skills testing. Almost every jurisdiction currently uses at least one component of the bar exam developed by the NCBE; more than 40 jurisdictions uses the NCBE's current bar exam format in its entirety (which includes 200 multiple-choice questions, two performance test questions, and six essay questions administered over 12 hours during a two-day period).
Addition of Family Law
The first surprise announcement made yesterday was that the NCBE will be adding Family Law as one of the subjects tested on the NextGen Bar Exam.
Yesterday’s announcement – “ … family law will be added to the list of foundational concepts and principles to be tested on the NextGen exam beginning with the July 2028 administration.”
This announcement is in direct contrast to its public announcement made exactly five months earlier:
05/25/2023 announcement – “ … The new exam will no longer require examinees to have a base of knowledge in the areas of conflict of laws, family law, trusts and estates, or secured transactions … ”
So, as of now, the NextGen Bar Exam, when it first rolls out with the July 2026 test administration, will initially cover the following eight subjects: Business associations and relationships (including agency); Civil Procedure; Constitutional Law; Contracts and Sales; Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure; Evidence; Real Property; and Torts. Two years later, beginning with the July 2028 exam, the list of eight will become nine with the addition of Family Law.
Sunsetting of Current Exam Delayed
The second surprise announcement made yesterday was that the NCBE would be extending the availability of the current bar exam for another test administration so that jurisdictions who decide to adopt the NextGen Bar Exam could smoothly transition to the new testing format.
Yesterday’s announcement – “ … the current bar exam will remain available to jurisdictions through the February 2028 administration.”
Less the two months earlier, however, the NCBE announced that the last administration of the current bar exam would be July 2027:
08/28/2023 announcement – “The July 2027 bar exam will be the last for which the current NCBE-developed bar exam components will be administered.”
Stay Tuned for More
The third announcement was a bit of a teaser for what is to come. The NCBE announced that:
“Several jurisdictions will soon announce plans to administer the NextGen exam beginning in July 2026.”
I can only imagine that the recent changes to the content and implementation of the NextGen Bar Exam might have been concessions to state licensing boards who were on the fence before committing to the adoption of the NextGen Bar Exam.
So far, only Missouri has made a public announcement that it anticipates adopting the NextGen Bar Exam beginning with the July 2026 administration. Missouri was also the first state that adopted the NCBE's Uniform Bar Exam.
