california bar exam essay grading scale

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One-timers’ ca bar exam score calculator.

ARE YOU WAITING FOR RESULTS? WANT TO KNOW IF YOU PASSED THE CALIFORNIA BAR EXAM?

Enter your essay, PT and MBE scores in the Exam Score column to calculate your approximate scaled written and scaled total score. Our calculator is calibrated after the results and scaling are officially released for each administration of the bar exam. Updating our algorithm with the newest data sets; which utilizes a systematic computational analysis of all past exams.

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Guideline of the Grades You May Receive

40  – While this score is possible, it is extremely unlikely. This score is only given if the student barely wrote anything.

45  – Extremely poor answer, almost missed what subject the examiners were testing. The student did not demonstrate an understanding of the essay or the subject matter. It is also pretty tough to get this score.

50  – Very poor.

55  – Needs much improvement, but hit some issues.

60  – Not quite passing, but not too bad. Some improvement is needed.

65  – The student demonstrated a sufficient understanding of the essay and discussed the facts and the law well enough to pass.  A passing answer.

70  – Very good answer. Well organized and nicely discussed.

75  – Close to flawless. The answer contained creative arguments, hit the main issues hard, and discussed everything very well.

80  – While reading it the grader was in awe, it was that good.

100  – The top 2 answers selected to be on the California State Bar’s website.

MBE Scores: Raw vs. Scaled

• The percentage needed for a passing MBE score in California is 69.5% (1390/2000 or 139/200) is the scaled score. Being that 25 random questions are dropped; a raw score of 1220/1750 or 122/175 is needed.
• For a more accurate determination of your score, take advantage of One-Timers’ MBE Test Simulator. (The average score of your last two MBE timed exams given to you by One-Timers should be a pretty fair indicator of how you scored on the actual MBE.)

Scaling Information

• The Committee of Bar Examiners utilizes a scoring procedure designed to ensure the level of difficulty of the exam remains unchanged from previous administrations of the exam. The statistical technique, called scaling, converts scores on the written section (essay questions and PT) to the MBE scale measurement. Converting the total written raw scores to the same scale of measurement as the MBE adjusts for possible differences in average question difficulty and grading across different administrations of the exam.
• On the written section of the exam, applicants were initially graded on a basis of 700 maximum possible points. An applicant could earn up to 100 raw points on each of the five essay questions and up to 100 raw points on the PT. The grade on the PT is doubled in the calculation of the total raw written points. The scores obtained on the written section of the exam are then translated to the 2000-point MBE scale. An applicant’s total score is the scaled MBE score multiplied by .50 plus the converted score on the written section multiplied by .50.
• The committee of bar examiners utilizes a grading procedure designed to ensure the level of difficulty remains “unchanged” from one administration of the exam to another. As such, California can only publish its scaling method after the results are released. Thus, there is no way for the calculator to be 100% accurate.  

Attorney Applicants

• Enter a score of 1390 in the MBE section of the calculator

• Jan 22, 2023

Passing the Essay Portion of the California Bar Exam: Insider Tips and Strategies

Understand the format of the exam: The essay portion of the California bar exam consists of five essay questions that are based on the subjects tested on the exam. These questions are designed to test your ability to analyze legal issues, apply the law to given facts, and communicate your analysis effectively .

Study the relevant law : The essay portion of the California bar exam is based on the law that is tested on the exam. Therefore, it is essential that you have a thorough understanding of the relevant law before you take the exam. Unfortunately, memorization alone will not suffice in passing the essay portion of the California bar exam. It's important that you understand how the rule applies. This includes studying past essay exams to see how a certain legal rule was used with a unique set of facts. You have to understand how one legal rule can be used in multiple ways.

Practice writing essays: One of the best ways to prepare for the essay portion of the California bar exam is to practice writing essays. This will help you develop your writing skills and become more comfortable with the format of the exam. You can find sample essay questions and model answers on the California State Bar website. Pro tip: there is a 99% chance that PR is going to be tested so it's wise to study and take a look at most, if not all, past PR exams that were administered. Scoring high enough on PR will offset other lower scoring essays.

Use IRAC/CREAC method: IRAC is an acronym for Issue, Rule, Analysis, and Conclusion. CREAC is an acronym for Conclusion, Rule, Explanation, Application, Conclusion. Using this method can help you organize your thoughts and present a clear and logical analysis of the legal issues in the essay question.

Time management: The essay portion of the California bar exam is timed, so it is essential that you manage your time effectively. Make sure to read through all of the essay questions before you begin writing, and plan out how much time you will spend on each portion of the essay. We recommend not spending more than one allotted hour per essay subject. You should have a pre-planned approach for each essay. Here is what you should be thinking about: how much time do I spend outlining? How much time should I spend writing? How many times should I read the fact pattern? The more practice essay exams you do, the better prepared you will be on exam day!

Proofreading : Always proofreading your essay before submitting, it could be a game changer in terms of points. Make sure to take the time to proofread your essays and correct any errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling (if you have the time)!

Get feedback : If possible, have a mentor, attorney, professor or someone who has taken the bar exam before to review your essays. Getting feedback on your writing can help you improve your skills and identify areas where you need to focus your study efforts.

These tips should help you to prepare effectively for the essay portion of the California bar exam. Remember to study the relevant law, practice writing essays, use the IRAC/CREAC method, manage your time well, proofread your work and get feedback from an expert.

Understanding the Internal Scoring System: A breakdown of how essays are graded on the California Bar Exam:

See below for a guide to the components and percentage weight assigned for each component on the California Bar Exam. You will be graded on the following components: Organization/format; issue spotting; rule statements; analysis; and conclusion.

Analysis: 40%

Issue Spotting: 25%

Rule Statements: 20%

Organization/format: 10%

Conclusion: 5%

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The Testing Column: Scaling, Revisited

This article originally appeared in The Bar Examiner print edition, Fall 2020 (Vol. 89, No. 1), pp. 68–75.

This section begins with two reprinted Bar Examiner articles on scaling written by Susan M. Case, PhD, NCBE’s Director of Testing from 2001 to 2013. In the first article, Dr. Case answers frequently asked questions about scaling; in the second article, she explains the scaling process with an illustrative example.

The accompanying sidebars below provide additional explanations of equating and scaling and dispel a frequent myth about scaling.

Frequently Asked Questions about Scaling Written Test Scores to the MBE

By Susan M. Case, PhD Reprinted from 75(4) The Bar Examiner (November 2006) 42–44

Scaling is a topic that often arises at NCBE seminars and other meetings and has been addressed in the Bar Examiner ; yet it still seems to be a mysterious topic to many. This column addresses the most frequently asked questions about scaling in an attempt to clarify some of the issues.

What Is Scaling?

In the bar examination setting, scaling is a statistical procedure that puts essay or performance test scores on the same score scale as the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE). Despite the change in scale, the rank-ordering of individuals remains the same as it was on the original scale.

What Is the Outcome for Bar Examiners Who Do Not Scale their Written Test Scores to the MBE?

To understand the effect of not scaling written scores to the MBE but keeping them on separate scales, one must consider the equating process that adjusts MBE “raw” scores to MBE “scaled” scores. As you know, equating ensures that MBE scores retain the same meaning over time, regardless of the difficulty of the test form that a particular examinee took and regardless of the relative proficiency of the pool of candidates in which a particular examinee tested. The equating process requires that a mini-test comprised of items that have appeared on earlier versions of the test be embedded in the larger exam. The mini-test mirrors the full exam in terms of content and statistical properties of the items. The repeated items provide a direct link between the current form of the exam and previous forms. They make it possible to compare the performance of this administration’s candidates with the performance of a previous group on exactly the same set of items. Even though different forms of the MBE are designed to be as similar as possible, slight variations in difficulty are unavoidable. Similarly, candidate groups differ in proficiency from one administration to the next, and from one year to the next. Equating methods are used to adjust MBE scores to account for these differences, so that a scaled score of 135 on the MBE in July 2004 represents the same level of proficiency as a scaled score of 135 on the MBE in February 2007 or on any other test.

Equating is not possible for written tests because written questions are not reused. As a consequence, essay scores will fluctuate in meaning from administration to administration because it is impossible for graders to account for differences in the difficulty of the questions or for differences in the average proficiency of candidates over time. This phenomenon is demonstrated by the fact that average essay scores in February tend to be the same as average essay scores in July, even though we know that February candidates are consistently less proficient (as a group) than July candidates. It has also been shown that an essay of average proficiency will be graded lower if it appears in a pool of excellent essays than if it appears in a pool of poor essays. Context matters.

So what is the outcome of such fluctuation in the meaning of written test scores? An individual of average proficiency may have the misfortune of sitting for the bar with a particularly bright candidate pool. This average individual’s essay scores will be lower than they would have been in a different sitting. The same individual’s MBE score will reflect his genuine proficiency level (despite sitting with a group of particularly bright candidates), but without scaling, his essay scores may drag him down. An unscaled essay score may be affected by factors such as item difficulty or the average proficiency of the candidate pool that do not reflect the individual candidate’s performance.

What Is the Outcome for Bar Examiners Who Scale Their Written Test Scores to the MBE?

The preferred approach is to scale written test scores to the MBE—this process transforms each raw written score into a scaled written score. A scaled written test score reflects a type of secondary equating that adjusts the “raw” written test score after taking into account the average proficiency of the candidate pool identified by the equating of the MBE. Once the average proficiency of a group of candidates is determined, scaling will adjust not only for an upswing or downswing in proficiency from past years, but also for any change in the difficulty of written test questions or any change in the harshness of the graders from past years.

In our example of the individual of average proficiency who sits for the bar with a particularly bright candidate pool, this individual’s raw written scores will remain lower than they would have been in previous sittings with less able peers. But the equating of the MBE will take into account that this is a particularly bright candidate pool and that the individual in question is in fact of average ability. The individual’s written test scores will then be scaled to account for the difference in the candidate pool, and his written test scores will be brought into alignment with his demonstrated level of ability. Scaled essay scores lead to total bar examination scores that eliminate contextual issues and that accurately reflect individual proficiency.

Doesn’t This Process Disadvantage People Who Do Poorly on the MBE?

No. It is important to note that an individual might have one of the best MBE scores and one of the worst essay scores, or vice versa. Scaling written scores to the MBE does not change the rank-­ordering of examinees on either test. A person who had the 83rd best MBE score and the 23rd best essay score will still have the 83rd best MBE score and the 23rd best essay score after scaling.

One analogy that might help relates to temperature. Suppose the garages on your street have thermometers that measure their temperatures in Celsius and the houses on your street have thermometers that measure their temperatures in Fahrenheit. The house temperatures range from 66° F to 74° F and the garages range from 19° C to 23° C. Suppose that you have the coldest garage and the warmest house. If the garage thermometers are all changed to the Fahrenheit scale, the temperature readings for all the garages will change, but your garage will still measure the coldest and your house will still measure the warmest. In Celsius terms, your garage temperature was 19° C; in Fahrenheit terms your garage temperature is 66° F. Either way, it is shown to be the coldest garage. (Note that this example demonstrates only the move to a different scale and the maintenance of identical rank order; it does not demonstrate the adjustments that take place during the equating of exam scores.)

In the example of the individual of average proficiency who sits with an unusually bright candidate pool, scaling the average individual’s written test scores to the MBE would not change his rank within the candidate group with which he took the examination. He would still be ranked below where he would have ranked in a less-­capable candidate pool. However, his unusually low rank would no longer affect his total bar examination score. The total scores for the entire pool of candidates would reflect what was in fact the case: that it was a particularly bright pool of individuals (i.e., the total scaled scores would be higher than they were for previous administrations).

What Does the Process of Scaling Written Scores to the MBE Entail?

Scaling the written tests can be done either on an individual essay score (or MPT item score), or on the total written test score. NCBE will scale the scores for individual jurisdictions, if they wish, or will provide the jurisdictions with software to do the scaling themselves. Essentially the process results in generating new scaled essay scores that look like MBE scores. The distribution of written scores will be the same as the distribution of MBE scores—with a very similar average, a very similar minimum and maximum, and a very similar distribution of scores.

The process is described in the Testing Column that appears in the May 2005 Bar Examiner (Volume 74, No. 2). Conceptually, the result is similar to listing MBE scores in order from best to worst, and then listing written scores in order from best to worse to generate a rank-ordering of MBE scores and essay scores. The worst essay score assumes the value of the worst MBE score; the second worst is set to the second worst, etc.

Demystifying Scaling to the MBE: How’d You Do That?

By Susan M. Case, PhD Reprinted from 74(2) The Bar Examiner (May 2005) 45–46 . There seems to be a mystery about how to scale the essay scores to the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), and the Testing Column of the statistics issue seems to be an appropriate place to run through the process.

Here are the steps in a nutshell:

Step 1. Determine the mean and standard deviation (SD) of MBE scores in your jurisdiction.

Step 2 . Determine the mean and SD of the essay scores in the jurisdiction (you can do this for the total essay score, the average essay score, or each essay individually).

Step 3 . Rescale the essay scores so that they have a mean and SD that is the same as the MBE for the same group of examinees.

Now for an example. Let’s assume you tested 15 examinees. In Table 1 , the data for each examinee are shown. The first column shows the examinee ID number. Column 2 shows the total raw essay score that each examinee received. These data were obtained from a mock essay exam where each of the 10 essays is graded on a one to six scale, but the calculations apply equally well for any number of essays and any type of grading scale. The bottom of the column shows the average score (40) and standard deviation of the scores (5.2). These are typically shown in your data output and would not usually be calculated by hand.

Table 1. Sample Essay Data Shown for Each Examinee

Your calculations begin with column 3. For each examinee, subtract the group mean essay score (40 in this example) from the total essay score that the examinee received; then divide this value by the group SD (5.2 in this example). The result is the total essay score in standard deviation units. For example, the first examinee has a total raw essay score of 29; the mean essay score is 40 and the SD is 5.2; thus, the examinee’s score in SD units is -2.1 or 2.1 standard deviations below the mean (see the Testing Column in May 2003 for a discussion of scores in SD units).

Regardless of the score range, scores in standard deviation units typically range from -3 to +3 (zero is the average score). An examinee with a score of -2.1 SDs has a very low score; an examinee with a score of zero SDs has a score at the mean of the group; and an examinee with a score of 2.3 SDs has a high score. Overall, the scores in SD units have a mean of zero and a standard deviation of one; this will always be true if the scores have a normal (bell-curve) distribution ( see Figure 1 ).

Figure 1. Sample Essay Data Shown in SD Units, as Scaled Scores, and as Raw Scores

Column 4 shows the calculations to turn this standard deviation score into a score that is scaled to the MBE. Multiply the examinee’s score in SD units by 15 (the SD of the MBE for this group); add this result to 140 (the mean of the MBE for this group). The mean and SD for the essay scores scaled to the MBE will have the same mean and SD as the MBE scores. Column 5 shows the actual MBE scores achieved by each examinee.

Note that the examinees who performed relatively poorly on the essay have a scaled essay score that is also relatively low, regardless of their actual performance on the MBE. Examinee 1 performed poorly on both the essay and the MBE. Examinees 3, 4, and 5 performed poorly on the essay but much better on the MBE; note that this comparison can be made easily by comparing the results in columns 4 and 5. Examinee 6 did much better on the essay than on the MBE. Converting the essay scores to the MBE scale did not change the rank-ordering of examinees on the essay scale; it simply made their scores easier to compare. The correlation between the raw essay score and MBE is exactly the same as between the scaled essay score and the MBE.

Scaling the essays to the MBE is an essential step in ensuring that scores have a consistent meaning over time. When essay scores are not scaled to the MBE, they tend to remain about the same: for example, it is common for the average raw July essay score to be similar to the average February score even if the July examinees are known to be more knowledgeable on average than the February examinees. Using raw essay scores rather than scaled essay scores tends to provide an unintended advantage to some examinees and an unintended disadvantage to others.

The following sidebar is an excerpt from NCBE Testing and Research Department, “ The Testing Column: Q&A: NCBE Testing and Research Department Staff Members Answer Your Questions ,” 86(4) The Bar Examiner (Winter 2017–2018) 34–39.

What is equating? Why do it? How does it work?

Equating is a statistical procedure used for most large-scale standardized tests to adjust examinee scores to compensate for differences in difficulty among test forms so that scores on the forms have the same meaning and are directly comparable. (The term test form refers to a particular set of test items, or questions, administered at a given time. The February 2017 Multistate Bar Examination [MBE] test form, for example, contains a unique set of items, and the July 2017 test form contains a different set of items.) With equating, a reported scaled score has a consistent interpretation across test forms.

Equating is necessary because using exactly the same set of items on each test form could compromise the meaning of scores and lead to unfairness for some examinees. For example, there would be no guarantee that items were not shared among examinees over time, which would degrade the meaning of scores. Not only would the scores obtained by some examinees be corrupted by the examinees’ advance knowledge of test items, but, if undetected, these inflated scores would advantage the clued-in examinees over other examinees. To avoid this problem, the collection of items on test forms for most large-scale standardized tests changes with every test administration.

Despite test developers’ best efforts to build new forms that conform to the same content and statistical specifications over time, it is nearly impossible to ensure that statistical characteristics like difficulty will be identical across the forms. Equating adjusts scores for such differences in difficulty among test forms so that no examinee is unfairly advantaged by being assigned an easier form or is unfairly disadvantaged by being assigned a more difficult form.

While there are many methods available to conduct equating, a commonly used approach for equating large-scale standardized tests—and the approach that is used for the MBE—is to embed a subset of previously administered items that serve as a “mini-test,” with the items chosen to represent as closely as possible the content and statistical characteristics of the overall examination. The items that compose this mini-test are referred to as equators. The statistical characteristics of the equators from previous administrations are used to adjust scores for differences in difficulty between the current test form and previous forms after accounting for differences between current and previous examinee performance on the equator items. 1 Conceptually, if current examinees perform better on the equators compared to previous examinees, we know that current examinee proficiency is higher than that of previous examinees and that current examinees’ MBE scaled scores should be higher (as a group) than those of previous examinees (and vice versa if performance on the equators is worse for current examinees). The equators are used as a link to previous MBE administrations and, ultimately, to MBE scaled scores.

• For more detailed descriptions and examples of equating, see Mark A. Albanese, PhD, “ The Testing Column: Equating the MBE ,” 84(3) The Bar Examiner (September 2015) 29–36; Deborah J. Harris, “ Equating the Multistate Bar Examination ,” 72(3) The Bar Examiner (August 2003) 12–18; Michael T. Kane, PhD & Andrew Mroch, “ Equating the MBE ,” 74(3) The Bar Examiner (August 2005) 22–27; Michael J. Kolen & Robert L. Brennan, Test Equating, Scaling, and Linking: Methods and Practices (Springer 3rd ed. 2014); Lee Schroeder, PhD, “ Scoring Examinations: Equating and Scaling ,” 69(1) The Bar Examiner (February 2000) 6–9. (Go back)

Can we equate essay or performance tests? (Or, what is essay scaling?)

As with MBE items, the written components of the bar exam (essay questions and performance test items) change with every administration. The difficulty of the questions/items, the proficiency of the group of examinees taking the exam, and the graders (and the stringency with which they grade) may also change. All three of these variables can affect the grades assigned by graders to examinees’ responses to these written components of the exam and can have the potential to cause variation in the level of performance the grades represent across administrations. Unlike the MBE, the answers to the written questions/items of the bar examination cannot be equated, because previously used questions/items can’t be reused or embedded in a current exam—there are too few written questions/items on the exam and they are too memorable. If essay questions or performance test items were reused, any examinee who had seen them on a previous administration would be very likely to have an unfair advantage over examinees who had not seen them previously.

Because directly equating the written components is not possible, most jurisdictions use an indirect process referred to as scaling the written component to the MBE. This process has graders assign grades to each question/item using the grading scale employed in their particular jurisdiction (e.g., 1 to 6). The individual grades on each written question/item are typically combined into a raw written score for each examinee. These raw written scores are then statistically adjusted so that collectively they have the same mean and standard deviation as do the scaled scores on the MBE in the jurisdiction. ( Standard deviation is the measure of the spread of scores—that is, the average deviation of scores from the mean. The term scaled score refers to the score as it has been applied to the scale used for the test—in the case of the MBE, the 200-point MBE scale.)

Conceptually, this process is similar to listing MBE scaled scores in order from best to worst and then listing raw written scores in order from best to worst to generate a rank-ordering of MBE scores and written scores. The best written score assumes the value of the best MBE score; the second-best written score is set to the second-best MBE score, and so on. Functionally, the process yields a distribution of scaled written scores that is the same as the jurisdiction’s distribution of the equated MBE scaled scores. Another way to think about the process is that the raw written scores are used to measure how far each examinee’s written performance is from the group’s average written performance, and then the information from the distribution of the group’s MBE scores is used to determine what “scaled” values should be associated with those distances from the average.

This conversion process leaves intact the important rank-­ordering decisions made by graders, and it adjusts them so that they align with the MBE scaled score distribution. Because the MBE scaled scores have been equated, converting the written scores to the MBE scale takes advantage of the MBE equating process to indirectly equate the written scores. The justification for scaling the written scores to the MBE has been anchored on the facts that the content and concepts assessed on the MBE and written components are aligned and performance on the MBE and the written components is strongly correlated. The added benefit of having scores of both the MBE and the written component on the same score scale is that it simplifies combining the two when calculating the total bar examination score. In the end, the result of scaling (like equating) is that the scores represent the same level of performance regardless of the administration in which they were earned.

Aren’t scaling and equating the same as grading on a curve?

By NCBE Testing and Research Department staff members Mark A. Albanese, PhD; Joanne Kane, PhD; and Douglas R. Ripkey, MS

No. Grading on a curve will create a specified percentage of people who pass, no matter their proficiency. Relative grading, scaling, and equating, however, eliminates the concept of a fixed percentage; every single taker could pass (or fail) within an administration and based upon their own merits. We will do our best to illustrate the differences here, but we recommend that readers familiarize themselves with the component parts and the scoring system as a whole in order to best understand the bigger picture; having a poor understanding of any of the three integral parts of the system will result in a poor understanding of scoring and make it challenging to adequately compare and contrast the scoring system NCBE uses with alternative grading methods.

Relative Grading of the Written Component Versus Grading on a Curve

In comparison to grading on a curve, the most similar piece of NCBE’s scoring approach is the initial relative grading NCBE recommends for the written component of the exam (the Multistate Essay Examination and the Multistate Performance Test). Relative grading is similar to grading on a curve in that graders are looking to spread out the scores across a grading scale (e.g., 1 to 6—or whatever grading scale is used in their particular jurisdiction). Whereas grading on a curve usually involves quotas on what percentage of examinees receive each grade, NCBE recommends only that graders spread out scores across the grading scale as much as possible and appropriate. But the additional and truly key difference is that grading on a curve is usually a process unto itself, whereas relative grading is just one step in a larger scoring process that involves equating the MBE and then scaling the written component score to the MBE.

Equating the MBE Versus Grading on a Curve

The only thing that equating and grading on a curve have in common is that they both involve taking raw scores on a test and translating them into a different scale (such as letter grades) to obtain final information about a test taker’s performance. The rationale for each approach, the mechanisms by which the scores are translated or transformed, and the interpretations of the scores from these two paths are each very different.

With grading on a curve, the extra processing is focused on determining relative performance. That is, the final performance is interpreted relative to other people who have taken the same evaluation. It’s akin to the adage that if you are being chased by a bear, you don’t have to be the fastest person, just faster than the person next to you. When a curve is used to grade, there typically is some sort of quota set. For example, a jurisdiction (fictional) might specify that only examinees with MBE raw scores in the top 40% will be admitted. When grading on a curve, an examinee’s actual score is less important than how many examinees had lower scores, since a specified percentage of examinees will pass regardless of the knowledge level of the group and the difficulty of the materials.

Note that with a system of grading on a curve, it is not possible to track changes in the quality of examinee performances as a group over time. If a strict quota system is followed, the average grade within the class will always be the same. If a student happens to be part of a weaker cohort, they will receive a higher grade than they would have if they had belonged to a stronger cohort. On the other hand, scaling and equating would result in an examinee receiving a score that was not dependent on who else was in their cohort.

With scaling and equating, extra processing is implemented to determine performance in a more absolute sense. The final performance is interpreted as an established level of demonstrated proficiency (e.g., examinees with MBE scaled scores at or above 135 will be admitted). When raw scores are scaled and equated to final values, the difficulty of the test materials is a key component in the process. The examinee’s actual level of knowledge is more important in determining status than how their knowledge level compares to other people. The knowledge levels of examinees determine the percentage of examinees who pass. The result is that everyone could pass (or fail) if their knowledge level was sufficiently high (or low).

Further Reading

Mark A. Albanese, PhD, “ The Testing Column: Scaling: It’s Not Just for Fish or Mountains ,” 83(4) The Bar Examiner (December 2014) 50–56. Mark A. Albanese, PhD, “ The Testing Column: Equating the MBE ,” 84(3) The Bar Examiner (September 2015) 29–36. Mark A. Albanese, PhD, “ The Testing Column: Essay and MPT Grading: Does Spread Really Matter? ,” 85(4) The Bar Examiner (December 2016) 29–35. Judith A. Gundersen, “ It’s All Relative­—MEE and MPT Grading, That Is ,” 85(2) The Bar Examiner (June 2016) 37–45. Lee Schroeder, PhD, “ Scoring Examinations: Equating and Scaling ,” 69(1) The Bar Examiner (February 2000) 6–9.

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How Do Grading and Scoring Work for the California Bar Exam?

“How do you calculate your score on the California Bar Exam? How does grading work? i WeNt tO lAw ScHoOL bEcAusE i SuCk aT mAth LOL”

I can feel a blood vessel dilating in my head and an urge to throw my keyboard out the window every time I hear someone say this. Just leave this planet now before things get more embarrassing for both of us.

While it isn’t politically incorrect for Americans to brag about deficiencies in their math skills, I won’t have that around here.

First of all, stop using this self-deprecatory language. You took the SAT and a shitload of math classes until you were old enough to drive. You can do basic math. Or “maths” if you’re British and like to make words unnecessarily complicated (Worcestershire sauce anyone?)

You are capable—of doing math, doing Pereira and Van Camp calculations, and passing the bar exam.

Second of all, why are we still confused about how grading works for the California Bar Exam? Should I blame the State Bar for its lack of transparency? Are my optimism and faith in you people misplaced?

But if you’re frustrated and confused by the numbers, I’m happy to put a rest to this once and for all.

Grading process and what the points mean for the California Bar Exam

Grading the essays, grading the performance test (pt), grading the mbe, myths around what is a passing score for the essay or the mbe, scaling the points for the california bar exam, how your raw and scaled scores determine whether you pass the california bar exam, summary and takeaways about how grading works for the california bar exam, so how does knowing the grading procedure help you with preparing for the california bar exam.

Knowing how your bar exam works is one of the foundations in your quest to pass the exam. Study not just the law—but also the rules if you want to win the game.

Indeed, it’s the very first step of preparation that I recommend in Passer’s Playbook 2.0 :

Let’s look at three aspects, step by step:

• Grading: how graders give you points
• Scaling: how the State Bar adjusts the points
• Scoring: how your overall score is derived and the ultimate importance of the 1390 threshold

And then a summary and takeaways on how knowing the grading procedure can help you prepare for the CA Bar Exam.

These discussions will diverge a bit depending on whether you’re taking the two-day General Bar Exam or the one-day Attorneys’ Exam.

Before the graders go off and skim your essays while sitting on the toilet or at a stoplight, they convene three times to go through a calibration process, to “ ensure they are still grading to the same standards .”

Each of the five essays is given raw points ranging from 0 to 100. Realistically, you’ll likely get around 55-70 for each of your essays, at least 40-45 points just for writing down a good-faith answer.

A second grader will reread your essays and PT only if your overall scaled score was close to passing, between 1350 and 1390 . This is “designed to correct false negatives by re-evaluating borderline papers that may have been, incorrectly, assessed below the cut line.”

The PT is also given 0-100 points. These raw points are doubled. Hence, the PT is worth twice as much as an essay.

The raw score for the written portion is out of 700 points: 500 points from the five essays, 200 points from the PT.

If you’re taking the Attorneys’ Exam, this is the entire basis for your overall scaled score.

If you’re taking the general exam, the written portion counts for half of your overall score. The other half comes from the MBE.

The MBE also has raw scores (number of questions correct) that are converted to scaled scores.

But you only see the scaled score on your score report. The “percent below” numbers are percentiles. This number means you did better than that percentage of test takers. The higher the number, the better.

While those percentiles give you a sense of which subjects to emphasize when studying for the MBE again, they are not representative of your scores.

⚠ You do not “pass” an essay or a PT by scoring a certain amount. You only pass or do not pass the exam itself based on your overall scaled score. ⚠

Technically speaking, an essay that scores a 65 does not mean you “pass” the essay. It’s just a score. Rather, it historically put you on track to pass , assuming all else is similar.

Under the new cut score of 1390, an average raw written score of approximately 61 would typically get you to a scaled written score of 1390. You do not “pass” or “fail” the written portion. You do not “pass” or “fail” the MBE portion. You do not need to “pass” both sections to pass the exam. You could get all 60s on the essays and PT and still pass the exam. You could get all 70s on the essays and PT and still fail the exam. A high MBE score is not an “auto-pass,” but it will reduce the score you need on the written side. In that sense, high-scoring essays and PT are also an “auto-pass.”

If you say “passing essay” as a shorthand for the above, fine. But please try not to spread misinformation that you can “pass” or “fail” a given essay or PT, or that you can “pass” or “fail” the MBE. Rant over.

Your raw written score out of 700 is converted to a 2000-point scaled score using a formula unique to that exam. The California State Bar will publish the formula after each result.

Your raw MBE score (how many you got correct) is also converted to a 2000-point scaled score using a formula unique to that exam. This conversion is determined by the NCBE and is no longer published. Here’s one example from many years ago.

Here are example score reports that show you how raw written scores translate into scaled scores. If you’re wondering how many MBE questions you got right, you can see some examples of combinations of MBE percentiles here to see what it would look like as a scaled score.

There is no linear conversion for either the essays or the MBE. Scoring 1350 out of 2000 doesn’t mean you got 67.5% correct. Leave the exact formulation of the conversion to the statisticians, and stop trying to extrapolate with “quick maths.”

See the page explaining scaling by the CA State Bar and the 2017 Bar Exam Report . An excerpt from the latter:

Based on the above, here’s my understanding of the scaling:

Converting the MBE raw scores to scaled scores adjusts for difficulty of the exam and makes a given scaled score equivalent to the same scaled score in any other exam; this is done using “ a set of questions that have been used before and whose difficulty is known .” This scaling is done to ensure consistency across administrations.

Yes, you can estimate roughly, but it’s not as simple as 1 raw point = x scaled points. Each administration has a unique formula based on various statistics obtained from that very exam. By definition, there is no universal formula that you can use, only historical data you can try to estimate with.

Honestly, you don’t need to know the fine details.

Just know that a 65 raw on an essay or 125 correct on the MBE will get you different results each time you take the exam. Those are nice benchmarks, but they mean slightly different things every time—another reason they are technically not “passing” scores. This is on purpose, to make each exam and grading process theoretically equivalent to one another. Whether the scaling does its job correctly is a separate matter.

In other words, a given raw score one year is not the same (or at least doesn’t produce the same outcome) as the same raw score another year. But a given scaled score is supposed to be equivalent to the same scaled score another year. That’s how they can make meaningful comparisons across exams and say that 1390 is a passing score.

You doing OK? Here’s the story so far:

• Graders give you raw scores (e.g., 60 on an essay, 125 on the MBE).
• The State Bar converts raw scores to standardized scaled scores out of 2000 (for example, 1370 for written portion, 1410 for MBE portion).

Now, the scaled written score and the scaled MBE score are averaged together to arrive at the overall scaled score, also out of 2000. Since each portion is weighted equally at 50%, we can simply average the two together. Put simply, this overall scaled score will be the midpoint between the scaled written and MBE scores.

This overall scaled score is what matters. You pass the exam if you meet or exceed the prescribed threshold—1390 starting in 2020 October. 1440 for 2020 February and prior.

If you’re taking the Attorneys’ Exam, only the written scaled score matters.

Examples: You have a scaled written score of 1380 and a scaled MBE score of 1400. Your overall scaled score is 1390. You will pass with these two scores in October if you’re taking the General Bar Exam. You will not pass with this written score in October if you’re taking the Attorneys’ Exam.

Here’s a quick rundown of what we just talked about:

• Graders give you raw scores. These raw scores don’t indicate whether you pass a particular essay or PT, or the MBE
• The raw scores are converted to scaled scores based on a statistical study unique to that exam. These scaled scores don’t indicate whether you pass the written portion or the MBE portion
• The scaled scores averaged together determine whether you pass or fail the exam (or possibly a reread if you were close)

Now with arrows and symbols:

• Raw written score –> scaled written score
• Raw MBE score –> scaled MBE score
• (Scaled written score + scaled MBE score) / 2 = overall scaled score
• Overall scaled score meets or exceeds 1390 –> pass
• Overall scaled score is lower than 1390 but higher than 1350 –> second read
• Overall scaled score is lower than 1350 –> fail

Hopefully this cleared up the black-box mystery that is the grading process for the California bar. Don’t let me catch you being confused about this again.

This means you can attack the exam more strategically, especially if you’re a repeater.

If you see that you’re getting 60 on your essays and think you’re “failing” all your essays, but don’t notice that you were actually very close to a 1440 or 1390 on the written side, then you might waste time focusing too much on essays. Now you know that you actually did pretty well.

Or you see that your scaled score was rather low but you don’t notice that you got a 55 on the PT. You might then neglect to work on your PT in favor of essays, a common pitfall. Your average raw score goes up by 10/7 or about 1.43 points for every 5 points on the PT.

Knowing your score breakdown, you could instead aim for the low-hanging fruit, get 10 more points on the PT, and add 20 more raw written points (almost as good as +5 points on all essays).

And btw, every 5-point increment on the California Bar Exam is critical .

The MBE results are sometimes deceptive. The numbers may seem pretty good. Maybe you did 20% on some subjects but did better than most on the others. You can use the relative percentiles to surgically treat your weak subjects, but you should also look at the scaled score to see how far you actually are from the “passing” score of 1390.

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The California Bar Exam Grading Process

Law School - Bar Exam |

The Bar Exam is just a few short weeks away, and I wanted to put together a post explaining the how the essays are actually graded, along with scaling information.

The California bar is made up of three sections, 2 performance tests, 6 essays, and 200 multiple choice questions from the MBE (The only multistate portion of the exam). The MBE portion is worth 35%, while the written portion is worth 65%

Essays and Performance Tests:

Essays and Performance Tests are initially given a raw score between 40-100 points, in 5 point increments. Essays are worth 100 total points, while Performance Tests are worth 200. In order to provide for accurate scaling, these points are then doubled and multiplied by .65 (coming up with a scaled number valued at 65% of the total exam).

The MBE portion has a raw score of 2,000 possible total points, which are then multiplied by .35. Each portion is broken down as follows after scaling:

• Essays – 780 maximum scaled score
• MBE – 700 maximum scaled score
• Performance Tests – 520 maximum scaled score

Each applicant must end with a scaled score above 1,440 to be on the pass list.

The Process for Grading an Essay or Performance Test

A California bar examiner comes from a pool of approximately 150 experienced attorneys. They are one of 88 experienced graders or one of 24 apprentice graders. Many graders have graded exams for at least 5 if not 10 years.

. I’ve outlined each step of the calibration process below. At the end of this process, the group will have read and come to agreement on 60 essays.

Bar Calibration Process: ( here )

•  112 experienced attorneys selected from a pool of 150 attorneys
• Group is broken down into 8 groups of 11 (8 experienced graders, 3 apprentice)
• Each grader is given the same set of 15 sample answers  to reader
• Calibration 1: Graders discuss the set of sample answers, afterwards graders receive a new set of 15 copies of answers
• Individuals assign grades to each answer, then discuss in their groups until they arrive at a consensus on a grade for each answer.
• Individuals are then given a new set of 20 answers to grade, which after grading submit grades for review at the second calibration session
• Calibration 2: Graders discuss the results of the first meeting and resolve any differences seen. The group reads an additional 10 books to read and discuss. Afterwards, attorneys are given their first grading assignments
• Calibration 3:  The group once again meets to ensure that each grader is grading to the same set of standards they agreed on during Calibrations 1 & 2.

After this process is completed, each grader completes the reading, the scores are tallied up. Individuals who have a scaled score above 1,440 are automatically placed on the pass list. Individuals who fall between 1,390 and 1,440 are selected for a re-read. As long as there are no grading discrepancies (more than 10 points on any one question) between the first and second read, if the person has not met the minimum threshold of 1,440, then they fail the bar.

Applicants who have discrepancies have their questions referred to the team member supervisor. If the person then meets this threshold, they are placed on the pass list.

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Copyright © 2015 by James Mullen, J.D., Published at  barexamstats.com . James Mullen is the author of “ How to Write a Bar Exam Essay in 60 Minutes .”

Rights to Reproduce: You may reproduce this post, as long as you leave it unchanged, you don’t charge for it, and you include the entire copyright statement. Please let us know you have used it by sending a website link or an electronic copy to JRMullen1 at gmail dot com. [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

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How to Interpret Your Bar Exam Score Report

Here, we tell you how to interpret your bar exam score report and how to avoid some of the common mistakes that students make when they attempt to interpret their bar exam score reports! If you passed the bar exam, you may be curious about how well you did. If you failed the bar exam, figuring out what your score means is the first step to making sure you pass the next exam!

A bar exam score report will typically have a few things you will want to pay attention to your overall score, your MBE scaled score, and your written score. States give a varying level of detail. Some states (like Illinois) won’t tell you your score at all if you pass. Others will only tell you your overall MBE and essay score. Some (like New York and Washington) break down exactly how you did on each essay, each MPT, and each subject on the MBE! We will try to give you a general idea of how to figure out what your score report means, assuming your state provides you with some detail!

Note: if you are in New York, please check out this post on how to dissect your New York Bar Exam score report . 

Your overall score

The first thing you will probably look at is your overall score, as this will tell you if you passed or failed the bar exam. (Your bar exam score report should indicate this pretty clearly.)

Uniform Bar Exam states require a score between 260 and 280 to pass the Uniform Bar Exam . So, if your score was above 280, you technically received a score that is considered passing in every Uniform Bar Exam state. Congratulations if that is the case.

One thing you may wonder about when examining your overall score is what percentile you scored in (that is, how did you score in relation to other test takers?). If you read this post on UBE percentiles, you can figure out your approximate percentile . A few numbers to guide you if you are in a Uniform Bar Exam jurisdiction (note: these numbers change every administration, but not significantly; we have updated the below numbers to reflect the February 2019 bar exam. You can also see these in the chart below.)

• A 330 is the top percentile (99th percentile for the February 2019 Uniform Bar Exam)
• A 300 is approximately the 90th percentile
• A 280 is approximately the 72nd percentile
• A 270 is approximately the 58th percentile
• A 260 is approximately the 44th percentile
• A 250 is approximately the 26th percentile
• A 240 is approximately the 16th percentile
• A 230 is approximately the 8th percentile
• A 220 is approximately 4th percentile
• A 210 is approximately the 2nd percentile

Your percentile tells you the number of people you scored higher than. So, if you are in the 40th percentile, you scored higher than 40% of examinees (and lower than about 60% of examinees). If you failed the bar exam, your percentile can tell you how much work you need to do to pass! For example, if you are in the 2nd percentile, you have a lot more work to do compared to someone who is in the 44th percentile.

If you are not in a Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) jurisdiction, see if your state bar releases any information about percentiles. Many states do not. If that is the case, look at your MBE scaled score because you can figure out your percentile on your own for at least the MBE portion!

Your MBE scaled score

You will not get your MBE “raw” score (i.e., the exact amount of questions you answered correctly). Rather, you will get a scaled or “converted” score. The scaled score is converted from the raw score but the National Conference of Bar Examiners does not reveal the formula it uses to do this. So you will not know the exact percentage of questions you answered correctly.

It is very important to dissect your MBE scaled score to see how well you did. For example, review this chart below from the February 2019 bar exam. (This was promulgated by Illinois.) On the very left side, find the column titled “Scale Score” then see “MBE Percentile” right next to it. Compare your scaled score to your MBE percentile.  This will tell you about how you did even if you did not take the Illinois bar exam. 

If you scored a 105 on the MBE, you are in the bottom 2 percentile, meaning you have a lot of work to do. If you scored a 140, however, you are in the 73rd percentile! So, that is quite good. (Note: percentiles change from administration to administration, but this is a decent guide as to where you stand.)

The MBE is curved, so just because you scored “close” to passing doesn’t mean you are as close as you think. For example, a 125 is the 32nd percentile, and a 135 is in the 57th percentile. That is only a 10-point difference in score, but is a 25-point difference in percentile! So, if you are in the 120’s on the MBE, you may still have a lot of work to do to move your score up.

In most states, you want to aim for a score between 130 and 140 to “pass” the MBE. If you are not sure what score you should aim for, and you are in a Uniform Bar Exam state, just take the overall score needed and divide it by two. So, for example, in New York, you need a 266 to pass the bar exam. If you divide 266 by two, that is 133. So you should aim for at least a 133 on the MBE. (You also can check out this post on passing MBE scores by state if you don’t want to do the math!)

Note: Some jurisdictions also tell you how you scored in each MBE subject. This is worth paying attention to as it can reveal where your weaknesses are! If your jurisdiction tells you that you scored in the 70th percentile in Evidence and in only the 5th percentile in Torts—that’s a sign you likely need to work on Torts!

Your written score

In a Uniform Bar Exam score report, you may also see six scores for your Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) answers, and two scores for your Multistate Performance Test (MPT) answers. Not all states release this information, but most do. The vast majority of states grade on a 1–6 scale. (Some states grade on a 1–10 scale, and other states, like New York, do their own thing, which you can read about here .) Your score report may look something like this:

So, the first six scores generally are your MEE scores. And, the last two scores are your MPT scores. Remember that these are not weighted equally! The six MEE essays are worth 60% of your written score. The two MPTs are worth 40% of your written score! So, the MPTs are worth more.

In most states that grade on a 1–6 scale, a 4 is considered a passing score. Here is the exact number a passing score for each essay:

• A 3.9 is considered passing in Uniform Bar Exam jurisdictions that require a 260 to pass.
• A 4.0 is considered passing in Uniform Bar Exam jurisdictions that require a 266 to pass.
• A 4.1 is considered passing in Uniform Bar Exam jurisdictions that require a 273 to pass.
• A 4.2 is considered passing in Uniform Bar Exam jurisdictions that require a score of 280 to pass.

Most students make the mistake of just assuming they passed the MPT and MEE portion of the exam when in reality, they have work to do! Make sure to carefully examine your score report to see if you actually passed either portion of the exam!

If you are not in a Uniform Bar Exam state, please consult with your jurisdiction for its grading scale and what a passing score is.

Final thoughts

If you did not pass the bar exam, we recommend you read this detailed post on what to do if you failed the bar exam . The last thing you want to do is make the same mistakes and fail it again!  We tell you how to avoid that and how to study better!

New: We have an excellent On Demand course available for those looking for a fresh new approach on the bar exam. Check out the advantages of our course here . It is on sale for a limited time!

If you have questions about how to interpret your bar exam score report, feel free to post in the comments below or contact us .

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How hard is it to get 65 on California essays (Barbri is confusing)? Forum

How hard is it to get 65 on California essays (Barbri is confusing)?

• Anonymous reply with quote

Post by tbird » Wed Jul 06, 2016 10:28 pm

Re: How hard is it to get 65 on California essays (Barbri is confusing)?

Post by rcharter1978 » Thu Jul 07, 2016 5:20 am

Post by MsAvocadoPit » Thu Jul 07, 2016 1:35 pm

Post by thegrayman » Thu Jul 07, 2016 6:09 pm

Post by james11 » Thu Jul 07, 2016 6:13 pm

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Post by barjamie8 » Fri Jul 08, 2016 3:11 am

tbird wrote: Long story short, Barbri has graded four of my writing assignments, and I got a 60 on all of them. They gave comments saying "good," "great rule statement," "good analysis." But then I missed maybe one or two minor tangential issues that barely even seemed to be part of the interrogatory. And they still gave me a 60 saying to state the minority position in one rule, and that my analysis could have been stronger in a couple of my sections. It seems like they expect perfection to award a passing score. Do the real bar graders really read this closely? Is Barbri just full of crap trying to scare people into continuing to study hard? When I self grade, I usually have more than enough points to get a passing grade according to their rubrics, but now Barbri is hurting my confidence, and I don't really know what is expected on the real thing. If anyone can answer these questions who really knows: 1. Do my rule statements need to be word for word to get credit? I am now consistently seeing all or most of the issues, and generally know what the rule or test is that applies, although not always word for word. Is that enough? 2. If my analysis is good following an imperfect rule, do I still get points for analyzing according to my rule statement? 3. Is it really this hard to be minimally competent? I am very surprised that on a scale that goes up to 100 it is this difficult to get a 65. 4. I have read places that the graders only devote 1-3 minutes per question to grading. Am I wrong to think that they likely look at what headings are there to make sure you got the issues, glance at the rule and make sure it is generally right, and then make sure the key facts have been applied to that rule and section? And if that is all there then you are passing? I am having a hard time buying into what appears to be Barbri's approach that I need to match their "model answer" in order to pass the bar. There is no way I could write everything that they write within the recommended hour.

Post by storge » Fri Jul 08, 2016 3:02 pm

Post by tbird » Fri Jul 08, 2016 3:27 pm

Post by dtruong23 » Fri Jul 08, 2016 10:03 pm

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Post by tbird » Fri Jul 08, 2016 11:16 pm

Post by El Pollito » Sat Jul 09, 2016 12:11 am

Post by lacrossebrother » Sat Jul 09, 2016 12:32 am

MsAvocadoPit wrote: I had the same concerns! I did the graded torts question for barbri last week, I felt like I KILLED IT. Only missed IIED and contributory negligence, which I thought were very very small issues. They noted those missing issues and gave me a 60 but said everything else was great. I was so sure I would've got 70 or higher on that based on my own scoring. If this is a barbri scare tactic, and not real grading, I don't think it's productive. We should be studying broadly, and not for the smallest details, right? Ugh! I may, bite the bullet and maybe pay for a grader. My school gives us a free baressays.com account, and I noticed that they sell grading packages. The smallest is for 2 essays, but that's $99, ouch!

Post by El Pollito » Sat Jul 09, 2016 12:34 am

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Post by james11 » Sat Jul 09, 2016 2:08 pm

El Pollito wrote: i didn't learn much state law. i made up most or all of the law for the non-PT essays and just applied made up law. you can get a lot of points for doing that.

Post by lacrossebrother » Sat Jul 09, 2016 4:51 pm

james11 wrote: El Pollito wrote: i didn't learn much state law. i made up most or all of the law for the non-PT essays and just applied made up law. you can get a lot of points for doing that.

Post by El Pollito » Sat Jul 09, 2016 5:00 pm

Post by james11 » Sat Jul 09, 2016 5:42 pm

lacrossebrother wrote: james11 wrote: El Pollito wrote: i didn't learn much state law. i made up most or all of the law for the non-PT essays and just applied made up law. you can get a lot of points for doing that.

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Post by LurkerTurnedMember » Sat Jul 09, 2016 6:41 pm

james11 wrote: lacrossebrother wrote: james11 wrote: El Pollito wrote: i didn't learn much state law. i made up most or all of the law for the non-PT essays and just applied made up law. you can get a lot of points for doing that.

Post by lacrossebrother » Sat Jul 09, 2016 6:47 pm

Post by james11 » Sat Jul 09, 2016 6:48 pm

LurkerTurnedMember wrote: james11 wrote: lacrossebrother wrote: james11 wrote: El Pollito wrote: i didn't learn much state law. i made up most or all of the law for the non-PT essays and just applied made up law. you can get a lot of points for doing that.

Post by lacrossebrother » Sat Jul 09, 2016 6:50 pm

james11 wrote: LurkerTurnedMember wrote: james11 wrote: lacrossebrother wrote: james11 wrote: El Pollito wrote: i didn't learn much state law. i made up most or all of the law for the non-PT essays and just applied made up law. you can get a lot of points for doing that.

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Post by james11 » Sat Jul 09, 2016 6:52 pm

lacrossebrother wrote: james11 wrote: LurkerTurnedMember wrote: james11 wrote: lacrossebrother wrote: james11 wrote: El Pollito wrote: i didn't learn much state law. i made up most or all of the law for the non-PT essays and just applied made up law. you can get a lot of points for doing that.

Post by lacrossebrother » Sat Jul 09, 2016 7:01 pm

Post by james11 » Sat Jul 09, 2016 7:05 pm

lacrossebrother wrote: You seem like a moron. Did you fail this exam before? Nobody is denying that knowing more rules gets you more points on a single subject essay. But aiming for 85s is a bad strategy. Especially on non-mbe subjects.

Post by lacrossebrother » Sat Jul 09, 2016 7:08 pm

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

Now there's a charge. Just kidding ... it's still FREE !

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