According to the National Conference of Bar Examiners, the February bar exam scores in the US have dropped for the second consecutive year. The average score on the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), the multiple-choice portion of the test for attorney licensing, was 131.1, down by 1.5 points from the previous year. The decline has been linked to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on US law schools.
The scores had fallen by three points since 2021 when the average score was 134. Rosemary Reshetar, the assessment and research director at the National Conference of Bar Examiners, has said that the decrease was caused by a rise in the number of repeat test takers and the pandemic’s impact on learning.
Reshetar has noted that first-time test takers were the most affected by the decline in the February MBE exam. On average, they scored two points lower than their counterparts in 2022. Many first-time examinees were in their first year of law school when campuses shut down, and classes moved online abruptly in the spring of 2020.
Reshetar has cited surveys of law students and research on undergraduates to indicate that these changes severely disrupted education. She has suggested that this cohort of test takers may have borne the brunt of the pandemic’s impact. Law school typically takes three years to complete, and many bar exam-tested topics are taught in the first year of law schools’ curricula.
The February version of the bar exam is held twice yearly and traditionally draws a more significant proportion of test takers who have already failed the exam at least once. These takers are statistically more likely to fail again than first-time takers. According to the National Conference of Bar Examiners, around 72% of the February 2023 takers were likely repeaters, up from 68% the previous year.
The legal profession has been significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, with many law firms and legal departments moving to remote work to ensure the safety of their employees. Law schools have also had to adapt to the pandemic, with many shifting to online learning.
The pandemic has created significant challenges for law students and new lawyers, who have had to adjust to remote learning and work. Law firms have reported a slowdown in the recruitment process and have had to change their onboarding process to accommodate remote work.
The bar exam is a critical step in the legal profession, and the decline in scores concerns the profession’s future. Law schools and legal organizations need to address the challenges created by the pandemic and ensure that future generations of lawyers are adequately prepared for their roles.
