Bar Exams, California

California Bar Exam Results Reveal Worst Pass Rate In Nearly 30 Years -- But It's Not All Bad News

Less than half of all test-takers passed the exam. Yikes!

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We may not have gotten any Biglaw bonus news today, but recent law school graduates on the West Coast received a gift that was almost as good. The results of the July 2015 administration of the California bar exam have been released. While the actual results were scheduled for mailing today, test-takers can hop online right now to see if their names are on the pass list.

Given the stark decline in bar passage rates nationwide, many have been waiting with anticipation to see if California’s passage rates for the July 2015 exam would take a nosedive the likes of which had never before been seen. After all, California already has the nation’s most difficult bar exam, with notoriously low passage rates year after year; it was almost expected that test-takers would suffer fates similar to their colleagues across the country.

Were California’s bar examinees in July 2015 “less able” than their predecessors?

According to a press release from the State Bar of California, the overall pass rate for the July 2015 exam was 46.6 percent, while the pass rate for first-time takers was 60 percent. In July 2014, the overall pass rate was 48.6 percent, and the pass rate for first-time takers was 61.4 percent. California’s overall pass rate dropped by only two percentage points, which wasn’t what most people expected to happen. In fact, California’s examinees seemed to be more able than test-takers in other states. The state’s mean scaled MBE score was 1424 compared with the national average of 1399.

On the other hand, this is the lowest overall pass rate California has seen for the July administration of the bar since results were released in the fall of 1986, when only 44.4 percent of all test-takers passed the exam. California hasn’t seen an overall pass rate this low in almost three decades. That’s almost as bad as what happened in New York.

Year Overall Pass Rate
July 2015 46.6 percent passed
July 2014 48.6 percent passed
July 2013 55.8 percent passed
July 2012 55.3 percent passed
July 2011 54.8 percent passed
July 2010 54.8 percent passed
July 2009 56.4 percent passed
July 2008 61.7 percent passed
July 2007 56.1 percent passed
July 2006 51.8 percent passed
July 2005 48.8 percent passed
July 2004 48.2 percent passed
July 2003 49.4 percent passed
July 2002 50.5 percent passed
July 2001 56.9 percent passed
July 2000 55.3 percent passed
July 1999 51.2 percent passed
July 1998 52.5 percent passed
July 1997 62.9 percent passed
July 1996 55.9 percent passed
July 1995 59.4 percent passed
July 1994 63.2 percent passed
July 1993 59.0 percent passed
July 1992 59.4 percent passed
July 1991 54.9 percent passed
July 1990 58.0 percent passed
July 1989 59.5 percent passed
July 1988 52.5 percent passed
July 1987 50.3 percent passed
July 1986 44.4 percent passed

Here are some additional statistics from this summer’s administration of the exam:

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Once again, graduates of ABA-accredited law schools displayed an obvious advantage over their peers who attended California-accredited or unaccredited law schools. We’re eager to see the pass rates for individual law schools when that data is available.

Congratulations to everyone who was lucky enough to have passed the California bar exam. Less than half of your peers passed, so this is truly a special accomplishment.

STATE BAR ANNOUNCES RESULTS FOR JULY 2015 CALIFORNIA BAR EXAMINATION [State Bar of California]

Earlier: Which State Has the Most Difficult Bar Exam?
As Bar Exam Scores Continue To Plummet, Early Results Reveal Worst Performance In Decades
New York Bar Exam Results Reveal Worst Pass Rates In More Than A Decade

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