The Texas Bar Exam is the licensing examination administered by the Texas Board of Law Examiners for individuals seeking to practice law in Texas. Texas currently administers the Uniform Bar Exam. Here are some basic details:
Format: The Texas Bar Exam is currently a two-day examination.
Day One: The three-hour morning session includes the Multistate Performance Test (MPT), which evaluates practical legal skills by requiring candidates to complete two tasks-- such as drafting a memo or brief-- using provided materials. The three-hour Multistate Essay Exam (MEE); which consists of six subject-matter essay questions covering a selection of MBE topics, as well as several additional subjects including family law, business associations, secured transactions, wills & trusts, and conflicts of laws; is administered in the afternoon.
Day Two: On the second day, candidates take the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), a standardized 200-question multiple-choice test covering various legal topics. The MBE is divided into three-hour, 100-question morning and afternoon sessions.
Passing Score: To pass the Texas Bar Exam, candidates must achieve a score of 270 or higher on a 400-point scale.
The Office of Academic Success Programs is here to help you prepare for the bar exam. To learn more about bar prep at Texas Tech Law, view our Bar Prep for Students & Graduates page or check out our bar prep videos. Please also feel free to reach out to any member of our bar prep team:
Advanced Legal Analysis and Strategies for Bar Preparation
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Darrow-Kleinhaus's the Bar Exam in a Nutshell, 4th
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If I Don't Pass the Bar I'll Die
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The Zen of Passing the Bar Exam
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In addition to the bar prep study aids linked above, West Academic offers audio and video study aids that can be viewed online. Online bar prep lessons, podcasts, and more are also available via CALI. Simply search "bar exam" or "bar prep" to find relevant resources on either site.
Past MPT and MEE questions and their selected answers are available here. (Note that the UBE questions and selected answers are included in the top chart. The bottom chart includes exam questions used before Texas transitioned to the UBE.)
The TTU Law Library offers many additional bar prep resources, including flash cards and even a board game! To view some of the additional resources available to you, visit us at the Law Library's Research & Information Desk at the front entrance of the Law Library.
The Multistate Performance Test (MPT) seeks to assess a candidate's practical lawyering skills by presenting a simulated real-world legal task, such as drafting a memo or a brief, within a timed setting. Candidates receive a set of materials related to a legal issue and must analyze, organize, and create a written work product demonstrating their ability to apply legal principles to solve the problem effectively. Candidates are assigned two MPT tasks to complete and are allotted 90 minutes per task. The MPT comprises 20% of your total score.
Bar Exam MPT Preparation and Experiential Learning for Law Students
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The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) consists of 200 multiple-choice questions covering seven areas of law, including Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Real Property, Torts, and Civil Procedure. The MBE is a six-hour exam split into three-hour morning and afternoon sessions. The MBE comprises 50% of your total score.
The Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) involves six essay questions covering various legal subjects, including Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Constitutional Law, Evidence, Real Property, Torts, and more. Candidates are allotted 30 minutes per essay question. The MEE comprises 30% of your total score.
A Short and Happy Guide to the Bar Exam's Multistate Essay Examination (MEE)
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The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) will begin administering a new version of the bar exam-- called the NextGen Bar-- in July 2026. The NextGen Bar will aim to ensure that bar exam assessments align more closely with the demands and expectations of modern legal practice through assessing not only "foundational concepts & principles" but also "foundational skills."
The eight foundational concepts & principles areas will include:
(A ninth area-- Family Law-- will be added beginning with the July 2028 NextGen bar exam.)
The seven foundational skills areas will include:
Texas has not yet announced if and/or when it intends to administer the NextGen Bar. To learn more about the new version of the exam, view the NCBE's NextGen Bar Exam website.
