CA Bar Exam Pass Rates: First-Timers, Repeaters, and School Types

The California bar exam pass rate for the most recent administration, July 2025, was 54.2 percent, with 4,196 of 7,740 examinees clearing the state’s required score of 1390.¹ That headline number hides a much wider story: first-time takers passed at 68.8 percent while repeaters passed at just 12.7 percent, and the numbers shift again depending on the type of law school an examinee attended.

Recent Pass Rates by Cycle

California administers the bar exam twice a year, in February and July. July draws the larger and generally stronger pool because most law schools graduate in May. February historically attracts more repeat takers and career-changers, which typically pushes that session’s rate well below the summer figure.

The last four administrations:

The February 2025 figure is unusual. Previous February exams sat in the low-to-mid 30s: 35.5 percent in February 2024, 32.5 percent in February 2023, and 33.9 percent in February 2022.⁵ The jump to 65.2 percent in February 2025 breaks the pattern, and applicants comparing themselves to historical winter numbers should account for it.

July numbers have drifted slowly upward. July 2022 came in at 52.4 percent, July 2023 at 51.5 percent across 7,555 examinees, July 2024 at 53.8 percent, and July 2025 at 54.2 percent.⁵

First-Time Takers Versus Repeaters

The single strongest predictor of passing is whether you’ve sat for the exam before. The gap between the two groups is enormous.

On the July 2025 exam, first-time takers passed at 68.8 percent. Repeaters passed at 12.7 percent.¹ Only 255 of the 2,013 repeaters who sat that July made it through. That 12.7 percent figure was a steep drop from July 2024, when 23.5 percent of repeat takers passed.

The pattern continues with each additional attempt: as prior tries pile up, the odds of passing fall further. California doesn’t cap the number of retakes, but the statistics make a strong case for passing on the first attempt. Repeaters also carry burdens beyond the material itself, including the psychological weight of a prior failure, the added cost of more prep and registration fees, and the difficulty of studying while working.

First-time takers from ABA-accredited California law schools do better still. That group passed at 84.4 percent in July 2025.¹ Several schools posted first-time rates above 90 percent, including Stanford (100 percent), UCLA (96.4 percent), UC Davis (92.9 percent), USC (92.9 percent), UC Berkeley (92.8 percent), and Pepperdine (90.7 percent).

Pass Rates by Law School Type

California is unusual in letting graduates from several tiers of law schools sit for the bar. Where you studied has a large effect on your chances.

ABA-Accredited Schools

Graduates of ABA-accredited schools consistently top the statistics. On the July 2025 exam, first-time takers from California ABA schools passed at 84.4 percent.¹ These programs are built around bar-tested subjects and analytical methods.

California-Accredited Schools

California also has schools accredited by the state’s Committee of Bar Examiners but not the ABA. These meet state standards set through the admissions rules under Business and Professions Code Section 6060.⁶ Their graduates pass at meaningfully lower rates than ABA graduates, with specific figures varying by cycle and school.

Unaccredited Schools

Unaccredited law schools, including correspondence and distance-learning programs, post the lowest rates. On the July 2025 exam, the overall pass rate for unaccredited school graduates was 10.2 percent. First-time takers from those schools passed at 40 percent; repeaters passed at 2.9 percent.¹ July 2024 was similar, at 13 percent overall for unaccredited graduates.⁷

Students at unaccredited schools also face an earlier filter: they must pass the First-Year Law Students’ Examination, known as the baby bar, before they can receive credit for further coursework and eventually sit for the full bar.⁸

What Counts as Passing

California uses a scaled score of 1390 as its pass/fail cutoff. The California Supreme Court permanently lowered the cutoff from 1440 in July 2020, a decision driven partly by pandemic disruptions and partly by study of whether 1440 was necessary for public protection.⁵ The 50-point reduction brought California closer to other large states, though its cut score is still among the highest in the country.

The 1390 total blends written and multiple-choice performance. There’s no separate passing threshold for either half; the combined score just needs to reach 1390. A weak showing on one side is difficult to make up on the other.

A Separate Rate for Licensed Attorneys

Applicants already licensed and in good standing in another U.S. jurisdiction, and actively practicing for at least four years immediately before the exam, can sit for the one-day Attorneys’ Examination instead of the full two-day test. It covers only the written portion, with no MBE.⁹ Anyone who doesn’t meet the four-year requirement takes the general exam alongside first-time law graduates, and is counted in the pass rates above.

What the NextGen Switch Means for Future Rates

The current exam won’t be around indefinitely. California’s Board of Trustees voted to adopt the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ NextGen bar exam starting in July 2028, when the current MBE will no longer be available. The NextGen format is a nine-hour integrated exam blending multiple-choice, short-answer, and writing tasks across three sessions, replacing the separate MBE, essay, and performance test.

Pass rates for that new format can’t be predicted from the current numbers. Other jurisdictions begin the NextGen exam in July 2026, so two years of outside data will exist before California switches. Until then, the rates on this page reflect the format still in use.

Finding the Official Numbers

The State Bar of California publishes a General Statistics Report after every administration, broken down by school type, first-time versus repeat status, and individual law school. Reports appear as PDFs on the State Bar’s website a few weeks after individual results go out.¹⁰ The State Bar also keeps a historical pass rate summary going back multiple years for anyone tracking longer trends.⁵

1
The State Bar of California. General Statistics Report – July 2025 California Bar Exam
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The State Bar of California. General Statistics Report – February 2025 California Bar Exam
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The State Bar of California. State Bar Announces Results for July 2024 Bar Exam
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The State Bar of California. General Statistics Report – February 2024 California Bar Exam
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The State Bar of California. General Bar Examination Pass Rate Summary
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California Legislative Information. California Code BPC 6060 – Admission to the Practice of Law
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The State Bar of California. 2024 California Accredited and Unaccredited Law School Performance Report
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The State Bar of California. First-Year Law Students’ Examination
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The State Bar of California. Attorney Applicants
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The State Bar of California. Exam Statistics