NCBE’s redesigned bar exam — first administered July 28–29, 2026 — folds the MBE, MEE, and MPT into one integrated test of doctrine and lawyering skills. Here is the whole format: timing, item types, every subject and topic mapped to the Content Scope Outline, scoring, and who takes it when.
Format
Two 3-hour sessions on day one, a third on day two, taken on your own laptop at proctored test sites. Every session follows the same anatomy:
Item types
Two formats: the classic 4-option single answer, and a new 6-option “select two” where both picks must be right for full credit. About 1.8 minutes each.
Strategy for each formatA common fact pattern plus provided materials — statutes, transcripts, emails — followed by a mix of MCQs and short written answers. Themed around counseling, drafting, and dispute resolution.
Full IQS walkthroughMPT-style closed-universe writing: a File of case documents and a Library of legal authorities, about 60 minutes to produce a memo, letter, or brief. A legal-research variant asks targeted research questions instead.
The 60-minute methodSyllabus
The 8 Foundational Concepts & Principles carry the doctrinal load. Family Law and Trusts & Estates appear through February 2028 only in skills questions where the exam provides the legal resources — nothing extra to memorize. Every topic below is mapped one-to-one against NCBE’s published Content Scope Outline; open a subject for its full topic list, free sample questions and a notes preview.
The doctrinal law NCBE tests through MCQs, question sets, and performance tasks. Family Law joins as a fully tested subject in July 2028.
Agency, partnerships, corporations and LLCs, fiduciary duties, and veil-piercing
Jurisdiction, venue, pleadings, discovery, dispositive motions, and preclusion under the FRCP
Judicial power, federalism, due process, equal protection, and the First Amendment
Formation, defenses, performance, breach, and remedies — common law with UCC Article 2 integrated
Statutory crimes, defenses, and the constitutional protections of accused persons
Relevance, character, opinion, hearsay, confrontation, and impeachment under the FRE
Estates, landlord–tenant, servitudes, real estate contracts, mortgages, and title
Intentional torts, negligence, strict and products liability, and damages
Marriage, dissolution, custody, and parentage — full subject from July 2028; provided-law practice until then
Tested through integrated question sets and performance tasks — the exam supplies the legal materials, so you practice applying them, not memorizing.
The 7 foundational skills, the 12 tested MRPC rules, and strategy for integrated sets and performance tasks
Working with provided wills and trusts law — tested with all legal resources supplied
Seven foundational skills run through every item type: issue spotting & analysis · investigation & evaluation · client counseling & advising · negotiation & dispute resolution · client relationship & management · legal research · legal writing & drafting.
Scoring
No separate MBE and written scores — the whole exam reports a single scaled number, equated across administrations and portable between NextGen jurisdictions. NCBE recommends jurisdictions set passing between 610 and 620; each state announces its own.
Written work is 51% of the score — twice the weight the legacy UBE’s written day carried relative to prep habits built for the MBE. Practice accordingly.
Which of these your state actually offers depends on its adoption wave — ten jurisdictions start in July 2026, the rest join through July 2028. Registration windows are set by each board of bar examiners. Find your state’s dates →
There are no decades of past papers. What exists: NCBE’s published Content Scope Outline, its free sample questions, and the exam-software preview. BARGO turns those into exam-format practice — both MCQ formats, playable question sets and performance tasks with self-grading rubrics, and honest per-subject availability while the bank grows.
Common questions
The NextGen UBE is NCBE’s redesigned bar exam, first administered July 28–29, 2026. It replaces the legacy UBE (MBE + MEE + MPT) with one integrated exam: 9 hours over 1.5 days, mixing standalone multiple-choice questions, integrated question sets, and performance tasks that test doctrine and lawyering skills together.
Nine hours of testing across 1.5 days: two 3-hour sessions on day one and a third 3-hour session on day two. Each session contains roughly 40 multiple-choice questions, 2 integrated question sets, and 1 performance task.
Eight Foundational Concepts & Principles: Business Associations, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contract Law, Criminal Law & Constitutional Protections of Accused Persons, Evidence, Real Property, and Torts. Family Law and Trusts & Estates appear through February 2028 only in skills questions with the legal resources provided; Family Law appears on every exam in a performance task and becomes fully tested in July 2028.
One scaled score from 500 to 750, equated across administrations and portable between NextGen jurisdictions. NCBE recommends jurisdictions set the passing score between 610 and 620 — each state announces its own.
Every February and July, starting July 28–29, 2026 in ten jurisdictions. States join in waves through July 2028; the legacy UBE runs alongside it through February 2028.
It depends on your jurisdiction and your test date. If your state’s first NextGen administration is after your date, you take the current exam (usually the legacy UBE). Check your state on our jurisdictions page for its exact switch date and passing score.
One-time payment. Pick the plan that fits your timeline. Start with the free readiness quiz.