The Smart Guide to the MBE

A Guide to Mastering the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE)

Chapter

MBE Scoring

What You’ll Learn:

How Your MBE Score is Calculated – Raw Scores & Scaled Scores
How to Approximate Your Scaled Score
Total Weight of MBE Score in Each Jurisdiction

How Your MBE Score is Calculated – Raw Scores & Scaled Scores

There are 175 scored questions, with 25 scored questions from each subject area tested (see chart below).

Subject Area	# of Scored Questions
Civil Procedure	25 Questions
Constitutional Law	25 Questions
Contracts	25 Questions
Criminal Law & Procedure	25 Questions
Evidence	25 Questions
Real Property	25 Questions
Torts	25 Questions
Total Scored Questions	175 Questions

Each scored MBE question is worth one point, for a total of 175 points. This raw score is then converted to a scaled score between 1-200. The NCBE scales all scores nationally using a complex statistical formula to adjust for any differences in test difficulty relative to prior administrations of the MBE (to make sure a scaled score on one examination is equivalent to a score on any other examination).

You want to aim for a scaled score of at least 140-145 (which is the average score). Ideally, you should want a 150+ scaled score to have confidence to pass the exam. The national average MBE scaled score for the last few exams was: 131.1⁶ in Feb. 2023; 140.3⁷ in July 2022; 132.6⁸ in Feb. 2022; 140.4⁹ in July 2021; 134.0¹⁰ in Feb. 2021; and 132.6¹¹ in Feb. 2020. The average scores for the three July/Fall 2020 in-person exams ranged from 137.2 to 146.1, but had significantly less candidates due to Covid-19.¹² Historically, the average MBE score is lower in February than in July.

Based on our review of past exam examinee score reports, there is a high correlation to having a high MBE score and passing the exam.

How to Approximate Your Scaled MBE Score

When taking a full MBE practice exam, you can typically add 10-15 points to the number of questions correct to approximate your scaled score (see formula below).

Number of Questions Correct (out of 200 Questions)
(if taking less than 200 questions, then multiply the % correct x 200)

Estimated Scale Factor (10-15 points)

Approximate MBE scaled score

The above formula is useful to gauge how you are doing when taking practice exams. BUT, please note that this is an over simplification of the scaling process, and is not how the MBE is actually graded and scaled – it doesn’t take into account scored vs. unscored questions and the MBE scale that varies from exam-to-exam.

Don’t concern yourself too much on determining how your scaled score is calculated. For MBE preparation, your main focus should be on increasing the number of questions you answer correctly.

Total Weight of MBE Score

The MBE is worth a large chunk of the total bar exam score:

50% if your state is a UBE jurisdiction (New York, New Jersey, etc.), or
Between 40-50% in most other states.

Below is a chart of showing how much the MBE is worth in each jurisdiction.

Jurisdiction	MBE %	Notes
Alabama	50%
Alaska	50%
Arizona	50%
Arkansas	50%
California	50%
Colorado	50%
Connecticut	50%
Delaware	40%
District of Colombia	50%
Florida	50%
Georgia	50%
Hawaii	50%
Idaho	50%
Illinois	50%
Indiana	50%
Iowa	50%
Kansas	50%
Kentucky	50%
Louisiana	–	Jurisdiction does not use the MBE.
Maine	50%
Maryland	50%
Massachusetts	50%
Michigan	50%
Minnesota	50%
Mississippi	40%
Missouri	50%
Montana	50%
Nebraska	50%
Nevada	33%
New Hampshire	50%
New Jersey	50%
New Mexico	50%
New York	50%
North Carolina	50%
North Dakota	50%
Ohio	50%
Oklahoma	50%
Oregon	50%
Pennsylvania	50%
Rhode Island	50%
South Carolina	50%
South Dakota	see note	Scaled score of 135 or higher is required.
Tennessee	50%
Texas	50%
Utah	50%
Vermont	50%
Virginia	40%
Washington	50%
West Virginia	50%
Wisconsin	50%
Wyoming	50%
Guam	50%
Northern Mariana Islands	50%
Palau	see note	Scaled score of 120 or higher is required.
Puerto Rico	–	Jurisdiction does not use the MBE.
Virgin Islands	50%