NextGen Integrated Question Sets: A Full Walkthrough

Of the NextGen bar exam's three item types, the integrated question set is the only one with no ancestor on the legacy exam. MCQs had the MBE; performance tasks had the MPT; the IQS is new — and it's roughly 21% of your score, two sets in every session.

This walkthrough goes component by component through how a set works, using a composite example in the style of the format (not a real exam item), with the strategy notes attached where they matter.

The anatomy of a question set

Every IQS has three layers:

1. A scenario — a client situation, a few paragraphs. It stays pinned while you work; every item relates to it.
2. Provided materials — typically a handful of tabbed documents: a statute, a contract, an email thread, a deposition excerpt, a police report. Materials are usually set in Franklin or Columbia, NCBE's fictional state and federal jurisdictions — the signal that the provided law controls, not any real state's.
3. Components — a series of items about the scenario, mixing formats: 4-option MCQs, 6-option select-twos, and short written answers with model-graded points. Sets are themed around a lawyer task — client counseling, drafting, dispute resolution — and budget out to roughly 24 minutes.

The design intent is transparent: a lawyer doesn't get doctrine questions in a vacuum; they get a client, a file, and a statute they've never read. The IQS grades that exact motion.

The walkthrough

Our composite: a counseling-themed set in contracts and agency — the same shape as the free set on BARGO.

The scenario (2 minutes)

Your firm represents Riverbend Roasters, a Franklin coffee wholesaler. A regional grocery chain, Harbor Markets, placed a large standing order through its general manager, Dana. Harbor now refuses delivery, claiming Dana had no authority to place it and that no enforceable agreement exists…

Read it twice. Identify three things before touching any materials: who your client is (Riverbend), what they want (enforce the order / get paid), and what's contested (authority; contract formation). Those three anchors keep every later item oriented.

The materials (4–5 minutes, first pass)

Say the tabs are: Franklin Commercial Code excerpts · the standing-order form · an email thread between Dana and Riverbend · a Harbor Markets internal policy memo.

First pass is a map, not mastery: what each document is, one line each. Statute excerpts — note section numbers and headings. Contract — note the signature block and any authority language. Emails — note dates and who said what. Policy memo — note it's internal (a fact that will matter for apparent authority, and exactly the kind of detail the set is built around).

Strategy note: do not try to pre-solve the set from the materials. The components will tell you which provisions matter. Budget your certainty for when a specific item demands it.

Component 1 — a 4-option MCQ (2 minutes)

Under Franklin Commercial Code § 2-204 (provided), did a contract form when…?

Straight application of the provided section. The discipline: answer from the provided text, even if your memorized rule differs in detail. Provided law controls.

Component 2 — a short written answer, 2 points, two fields (4 minutes)

Identify two facts supporting Riverbend's claim that Dana had authority to bind Harbor. (Recommended: 1–2 sentences each.)

The format grades precision at stated length: each field wants a fact tied to a doctrine — "Harbor's website lists Dana as General Manager, a title that carries ordinary purchasing authority (apparent authority)" — not an essay. Two crisp sentences earn 2/2; three paragraphs earn the same 2 at triple the clock cost.

This is where practice against model answers pays: after submitting, comparing your two facts against the model's teaches you the selection logic — which facts the format considers best, not merely relevant.

Component 3 — a 6-option select-two (3 minutes)

Which two of the following, if true, would most strengthen Harbor's defense? Select two.

The select-two tactics apply in full: judge each option true/false against scenario facts, build affirmative cases for exactly two, bank the certain pick first. Inside an IQS there's a twist — options often reference the materials ("the policy memo was circulated to all vendors"), so the item is also quietly testing whether you actually read tab 4.

Components 4–6 — the written run (8–9 minutes)

Later components typically escalate toward the set's theme — here, counseling:

Draft two sentences of advice to Riverbend on the strongest theory of recovery and its main risk.

Counseling items grade a specific voice: conclusion + reason + risk, addressed to a client. "Riverbend's strongest theory is apparent authority based on Harbor's own manifestations; the main risk is § 2-201's writing requirement if the order form is found incomplete." That's the register — advice, not exam-essay.

The finish (2–3 minutes)

A jump strip shows answered/unanswered components; sweep it before submitting. Unanswered written fields score zero — even a one-sentence answer beats a blank.

Self-grading: where the learning actually happens

MCQ components score themselves. The written components are where an honest loop matters:

1. Submit the set (on BARGO, the timer's a soft count-up in practice, a hard clock in exam mode).
2. For each written component, read the model answer and grading notes side by side with yours, then score yourself 0–max.
3. Your set total = auto-scored MCQs + your self-scores — and the discipline of honest self-scoring is rubric training for the real graders' criteria.

The diff against the model is the lesson: not "was I right" but "which fact did the model pick that I didn't, and why is it better."

The five habits, compressed

1. Scenario anchors first — client, goal, dispute — before any materials
2. Map materials, don't master them; return with a specific question
3. Provided law controls — Franklin's statute beats your memorized rule
4. Match written length to stated points; two points = two sentences
5. Sweep for unanswered components before time dies

Question sets reward a rhythm you can only get from reps — scenario, materials, items, grade, diff. The first set on BARGO is free, the diagnostic mixes both MCQ formats meanwhile, and two sets per session on exam day will feel like a routine instead of a novelty.