July 2023 California Bar Examination Press Release
Hello everyone.
The overall pass rate was 51.5%. Not bad at all. Just under a 1% decline from last July’s 52.4%.
When I calculated “The Bottom Line” – what it takes to narrowly pass on the first read with identical scores across the Board, here’s what I came up with:
60% across the board (with the July 2013 MBE Conversion Table, the last one available, for MBE scores) = 1375.3122.
61% across the board = 1398.9546.
From that perspective, a very normal, typical Cal Bar Exam. Although I found it interesting that the California mean MBE was about 16 points under the national mean. Anyhow, press release is below.
I have space remaining in my tutoring program. If you’re interested, now is the time. Spaces are filling up.
The State Bar of California reported today that 51.5 percent of applicants passed the July 2023 General Bar Examination (GBX). As a result, the 3,888 people who passed the July exam will be eligible for admission to the State Bar as soon as all admissions requirements are satisfied.
“The State Bar sends out a heartfelt congratulations to all who passed the General Bar Exam and Attorneys’ Exam,” said Leah Wilson, State Bar Executive Director. “We are excited that these individuals successfully completed this critical step in the licensure process. We hope they take great pride in this accomplishment. We look forward to welcoming them as new licensees to the profession soon and wish them continued success as they embark on their legal careers.”
California’s General Bar Exam pass rate of 51.5 percent represented a slight drop from last year’s July pass rate of 52.4 percent. Preliminary statistical analyses show that of the 7,555 applicants who completed the GBX, 67.3 percent were first-time takers. The pass rate for these 5,083 first-time applicants was 64.8 percent. The pass rate for the 2,472 applicants repeating the exam was 24.1 percent.
Here are preliminary pass rate statistics in greater detail:
| School Type | First-Timers | Repeaters |
| ABA Accredited – California | 76.3% | 36.7% |
| ABA Accredited – Out-of-State | 69.9% | 27.0% |
| CBE Accredited | 33.2% | 15.7% |
| Unaccredited – Correspondence | 40.0% | 18.8% |
| Unaccredited – Distance Learning | 17.4% | 13.3% |
| Unaccredited – Fixed-Facility | 14.3% | 4.8% |
| Others | 25.0% | 20.6% |
| All Applicants | 64.8% | 24.1% |
Attorneys’ Examination results
The statistics above do not include attorneys who took the one-day Attorneys’ Examination. The Attorneys’ Exam, which consists of the essay and performance test sections of the GBX, is open to lawyers who have been admitted to the practice of law in another U.S. jurisdiction and have been an active licensee in good standing for at least the four years immediately preceding the exam. Of the 356 lawyers who completed the Attorneys’ Exam, 170 (47.8 percent) passed.
Background information about the California Bar Exam
The two-day General Bar Examination is given twice a year, in February and July. The exam consists of three sections: a 200-item multiple-choice section, also known as the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), five essay questions, and a performance test designed to assess an applicant’s ability to apply general legal knowledge to practical tasks. The mean scaled MBE score in California was 1389 compared with the national average of 1405.
Successful applicants who have satisfied other requirements for admission―those who have received a positive moral character determination, passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, and are not on the California Department of Child Support Services’ list of those in arrears for family or child support―may take the Attorney’s Oath.
A pass list from the exam will be published on the State Bar website on November 12, 2023, at 6:00 a.m. More detailed statistics about exam results will be available in four to six weeks on the State Bar website.
*Please note that these are preliminary statistics. Law schools will be required to confirm the students allocated to their law school and, as a result, these statistics may change.
