Bar exam pass rate: first-time vs repeat takers
The national bar exam pass rate in 2025 was 63% across 67,442 takers, according to NCBE. First-time takers passed at 76% and repeat takers at 34%. July is the easier sitting at 69% overall, February the harder at 47%, mostly because repeat takers fill the February exam.
In more detail
These are NCBE's 2025 figures, built from the results that bar jurisdictions report. The overall rate blends two very different groups: first-time takers passed at 76%, repeat takers at 34%. First-time status is counted within the reporting state only, so someone who failed in another state can show up as a first-timer.
Most of the February dip comes from who sits it. About 61 percent of February takers were repeaters, against 19 percent in July. First-timers also did worse in February (60%) than in July (79%). Graduates of non-ABA-approved law schools (4 percent of takers) passed at 32%, and graduates of law schools outside the US (15 percent) at 35%.
Pass rates differ a lot by state. In 2025 first-time takers passed at 69% in California, 76% in Florida, 75% in New York, 80% in Texas and 80% in Illinois, while repeaters passed at 42%, 26%, 29%, 37% and 33%. Passing scores differ too, so use your own state's first-timer rate when you plan. The ABA reports a higher figure for first-time takers from ABA-approved schools, covered under how hard the bar exam is.
Bar exam pass rates in 2025 (NCBE, jurisdiction reports)
| Group | Takers | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| All takers | 67,442 | 63% |
| February, all takers | 19,645 | 47% |
| July, all takers | 47,797 | 69% |
| First-time takers, February | 7,714 | 60% |
| Repeat takers, February | 11,931 | 39% |
| First-time takers, July | 38,642 | 79% |
| Repeat takers, July | 9,155 | 28% |
| All first-time takers | 46,356 | 76% |
| All repeat takers | 21,086 | 34% |
Step by step
- 1
Look up your state's first-time pass rate on its bar admissions site or in NCBE's jurisdiction data, not the all-takers rate.
- 2
If you are a first-time taker, use the first-timer rate as your baseline: nationally about three in four passed.
- 3
If you are retaking, change the plan. Repeaters pass at about one in three, so add timed practice, graded essays and a diagnosis of your weak subjects.
- 4
Choose your sitting with these numbers in mind, then block your study weeks. See how long the bar exam is for the schedule.
How StudyPDF helps
StudyPDF turns your outlines, lecture slides and casebook notes into flashcards for rules and elements, plus practice quizzes with each answer linked to the page it came from. Your mastery per concept shows which subjects are still weak, so your practice goes there first.
See also
Do it on your own course
Upload your lectures and ask Bo. Cited answers, plus flashcards, exams, and more built from your material.
More questions
What is the bar exam pass rate for first-time takers?
76% nationally in 2025, from NCBE's totals of jurisdiction reports. The ABA reports a higher 84.1% for first-time takers from ABA-approved law schools, because that group leaves out other graduates.
Is the bar exam pass rate higher in July or February?
July. The overall rate in 2025 was 69% in July and 47% in February, since the February exam has far more repeat takers.