California Bar Pass Rate Drops From 2021, Mirroring U.S. Trend

California reported a 33.9% bar exam pass rate for the February test, tracking with a dozen other states that saw declines from February 2021, the California Bar said Friday.

The first in-person exam since the start of the pandemic saw 1,056 people pass the notoriously difficult two-day exam, out of 3,113 test takers. That’s a higher attendance than the remotely administered February 2021 exam, but still a drop from previous years when 4,000 to 5,000 typically sat for the test, the California Bar said.

The pass rate compares to the July 2021 exam when 53% passed the test in which almost a third of applicants experienced technical glitches. Last summer’s pass rate likewise was down, 8% from the previous year when the test was moved to October 2020. The February 2021 pass rate was 37.2%, higher than the February 2020 pass rate of 26.8%.

“This is a day of pure joy for the 1,056 applicants who passed the General Bar Exam, and their families, as well as the 209 candidates who passed the Attorney’s Exam,” bar Executive Director Leah Wilson said in a statement. “We congratulate all those who successfully passed the exam and look forward to welcoming them to California’s legal profession very soon.”

New York, Florida, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania also saw their pass rates drop, the California Bar said.

The California Bar said first-time applicants represented 35% of those who completed the exam and had a 53% pass rate overall. The 2,023 repeat test takers accounted for 64.9% of the applicants and had a 24% pass rate.

First timers who were graduates of American Bar Association-approved schools in California had a 54% pass rate compared to 48% for out-of-state ABA-qualified schools, and 33% of California accredited schools. The pass rate for unaccredited correspondence schools was 46% and 25% for unaccredited distance-learning schools.

An exam pass list will be posted on the bar’s website on May 8 at 6:00 a.m. PT.