How many questions are on the bar exam?
The Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) has 200 multiple-choice questions (the MBE), 6 essay questions (the MEE) and 2 performance tasks (the MPT). Only 175 of the 200 multiple-choice questions are scored. The new NextGen UBE is shorter: about 120 multiple-choice questions, 6 integrated question sets and 3 performance tasks. Which one you sit depends on your state and test date.
In more detail
On the legacy UBE, the MBE is 200 questions in two three-hour sessions of 100, and 25 of them are unscored pretest questions mixed in with the rest. The MEE is six 30-minute essays and the MPT is two 90-minute tasks. Your score is on a 400-point scale: the MBE counts 50 percent, the MEE 30 and the MPT 20.
The NextGen UBE has three three-hour sessions, each with about 40 standalone multiple-choice questions, two integrated question sets and one performance task. That adds up to about 120 multiple-choice questions, 6 sets and 3 tasks over one and a half days, taken on your own laptop. Scores run from 500 to 750. Ten jurisdictions gave it for the first time in July 2026, most others follow between July 2027 and July 2028, and the legacy exam stays available through February 2028.
Not every state uses the UBE, and not every state stops there. California runs its own exam, and some UBE states add a state-law test, such as the New York Law Exam, a 50-question online test. Check with your state's bar admissions office for the exact parts before you plan.
Bar exam parts and question counts (NCBE, checked October 2026)
| Part | Questions or tasks | Time | Share of the UBE score |
|---|---|---|---|
| MBE (multiple choice) | 200 (175 scored) | 6 hours | 50% |
| MEE (essays) | 6 | 3 hours (30 minutes each) | 30% |
| MPT (performance tests) | 2 | 3 hours (90 minutes each) | 20% |
| NextGen UBE in total | about 120 multiple-choice, 6 integrated question sets, 3 performance tasks | 9 hours over 1.5 days | One score, 500 to 750 |
Step by step
- 1
Ask your state's bar admissions office whether you sit the legacy UBE, the NextGen UBE or a state exam.
- 2
For the MBE, plan on 100 questions in 3 hours, about 1 minute 48 seconds each, and answer all 200, since you cannot tell which 25 are unscored.
- 3
Before test day, write at least a few essays at 30 minutes each and performance tasks at 90 minutes each.
- 4
For NextGen, practice mixed 3-hour sessions on your laptop: 40 multiple-choice questions, 2 integrated question sets and 1 performance task.
- 5
Take one full simulated exam two to three weeks out and compare your timing per question type with the numbers above.
How StudyPDF helps
Upload your outlines, class notes or bar prep handouts, and StudyPDF builds flashcards for rules and elements, quizzes and a timed practice exam in sections from your own material, with no feedback until you submit. It tracks which subjects you keep missing, and the Plan tab spreads sessions up to your exam date, weak areas first. It does not include licensed MBE questions.
See also
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More questions
How many MBE questions are scored?
175 of the 200. The other 25 are unscored pretest questions that look like the rest, so answer every question.
How many questions are on the NextGen bar exam?
About 120 standalone multiple-choice questions, 6 integrated question sets and 3 performance tasks, spread over three three-hour sessions (NCBE examinees' guide).