The Texas Bar Exam takes place over over 2 and a half days and covers 14 topics. On average, over 4,000 people each year take the Texas Bar Exam, with just over 3,060 passing.
The Bar Exam is made up of the following exam segments:
- Multistate performance test (90 minutes)
- 40 short answer questions covering Texas and Federal procedure and evidence
- 200 multiple choice questions (the MBE), taking place the Wednesday of the exam. Click here for a complete study guide.
- 12 Texas essay questions
The Texas Bar publishes a grading guide, along with sample answers for many of the essays, which can be found here: https://www.ble.state.tx.us/ExaminationInfoPage/Grading%20Explanation%20as%20of%201-11-08_pdf.pdf
Recent Bar Pass Rates and Content Trends
On average over 4009 people take the Texas bar exam each year with a 76.3% average pass rate. The majority of people take the Bar exam in July, having just graduated from law school. Those that do not pass the July bar will often retake in February.
The following charts show pass rates by year, and the number of students taking in both February and July.
February Bar Exam Pass Rates:
On average, the February bar has a lower number of students taking (as it is made up of primarily of people who graduated during December, or people who are retaking the bar. The February exam has averaged a 67% pass rate over the last 7 years.
July Bar Exam Pass Rates:
The July bar exam, while having a higher number of students taking the bar exam has a higher pass rate percentage than the February bar at 77%.
Topics Covered by the Texas Bar Exam
The Texas Bar breaks down the exam into multistate subjects, and Texas specific subjects.
Multistate Subjects
1. Civil Procedure; 2. Constitutional Law; 3. Contracts; 4. Criminal Law and Procedure; 5. Evidence; 6. Real Property; and 7. Torts
Texas Essay Subjects Subjects
1. Business Associations; 2. Trusts and Guardianship; 3. Wills and Administration; 4. Family Law; 5. Uniform Commercial Code; 6. Consumer Rights; 7. Real Property
Texas Essay Subjects Subjects
1. Business Associations; 2. Trusts and Guardianship; 3. Wills and Administration; 4. Family Law; 5. Uniform Commercial Code; 6. Consumer Rights; 7. Real Property
Cross-Over Topics & Procedure and Evidence Subjects
The Texas Bar includes crossover topics that should be included in additional essay questions. These topics include: 1. Income, estate and gift tax issues; and 2. Bankruptcy; 3. Texas Civil Procedure and Evidence; 4. Federal and Texas Criminal Procedure and Evidence
This information and more is published by the Texas bar, which provides a content outline, weights for grading, etc. for free: https://www.ble.state.tx.us/Rules/NewRules/CurrentRuleBook.pdf
How have Various Types of Schools performed on the Texas bar?
Each year, the American Bar Association releases passing rate statistics for individual schools. Below is a listing of the schools that have participated in each of the bar exam sessions over the years. Mouse-over the individual years to see what the exam information was for eachof the periods.
