Unlike the bar examination, many law students prepare for and pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) during their law school study. The MPRE tests your knowledge of the professional conduct standards applicable to attorneys and judges. It is a two-hour test and contains 60 multiple choice questions.
Do you have to take it? The MPRE is required for bar admission in forty-nine states (all except for Wisconsin) and in D.C. Note that New Jersey and Connecticut will also accept a passing grade in your law school professional responsibility course in lieu of the exam. Unless you fall into one of these exceptions, chances are you will have to clear this hurdle. What does it take to pass?
Though the MPRE is administered by a national testing body, the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), jurisdictions select the required minimum score. Scores on the MPRE range from 50 to 150 points, and jurisdictions vary in their required minimum score.
Alabama, D.C. and New Jersey, for example, permit scores as low as 75. Alaska, Connecticut, and New Mexico permit scores as low as 80. Arizona, Colorado, and Idaho permit scores as low as 85. And one state, Utah, requires an 86. The NCBE website is a good source of information on testing requirements, and can lead you to complete jurisdiction-specific information.
Score is not the only consideration in clearing this hurdle, though. Some jurisdictions require that you earn a passing score within a certain time period of your bar passage. My home state, Idaho, is an example. To be admitted in Idaho, an applicant must pass the MPRE prior to bar exam passage or within two administrations after successful completion of the bar exam. So, in other words, if the applicant cannot achieve a passing MPRE score within a certain time after the bar, the application would have to retake the bar exam! Who would want that nightmare? Check the requirements in your jurisdiction carefully so that you avoid hardships.
How to Get Your MPRE Score
MPRE scores are typically released to examinees within five weeks from the date of the examination. Scores will be posted to your NCBE Account File Cabinet.
Scores remain available in your NCBE Account File Cabinet only until the next test administration. For example, if you took the exam in March, you will be able to access the score in your NCBE Account until the August test administration. It is your responsibility to access and save your score during the time it is available in your NCBE Account.
To obtain your MPRE score after it is no longer available in your NCBE Account File Cabinet, you must request an MPRE Unofficial Score Transcript via MPRE Score Services.
How is the MPRE scored? The MPRE is composed of 60 multiple-choice questions, 50 of which are scored and 10 of which are “test” questions (or unscored). Each jurisdiction is able to set their own passing score, but the range is from 75 to 86. The MPRE is scored differently each administration. Therefore, the raw number of questions you need to get correct to pass changes based upon the exam’s difficulty. However, based upon the data of how the MPRE is scored, the overall numbers do not change much from administration to administration. So, how is the MPRE scored?
The score range for the MPRE is 50–150. Based upon data from the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ (NCBE) website, for year 2016, the average range of MPRE scores was 92–93.5.
However, if you are consistently scoring on the low end of the range, we recommend dedicating more time to the study process to ensure that you pass. We encourage you to strive to hit the top end of the range. This is so that, regardless of the particular administration’s difficulty, or how the MPRE is scored, you will pass.
So, when you practice, you should try to land in the range of getting 30–35 correct. More specifically, about 32/50 questions correct or about 64% should get you a passing MPRE score in most jurisdictions. If you are consistently scoring within this range you will likely get enough questions right to pass the MPRE. If you are taking a 60 question practice exam, strive to get 39 or 40 correct to ensure that you are obtaining that passing score.
Do you have to take it? The MPRE is required for bar admission in forty-nine states (all except for Wisconsin) and in D.C. Note that New Jersey and Connecticut will also accept a passing grade in your law school professional responsibility course in lieu of the exam. Unless you fall into one of these exceptions, chances are you will have to clear this hurdle. What does it take to pass?
Score is not the only consideration in clearing this hurdle, though. Some jurisdictions require that you earn a passing score within a certain time period of your bar passage. My home state, Idaho, is an example. To be admitted in Idaho, an applicant must pass the MPRE prior to bar exam passage or within two administrations after successful completion of the bar exam. So, in other words, if the applicant cannot achieve a passing MPRE score within a certain time after the bar, the application would have to retake the bar exam! Who would want that nightmare? Check the requirements in your jurisdiction carefully so that you avoid hardships.
The straight answer is that we do not know precisely. NCBE makes clear that it subjects the raw scores to a process known as equating, where scores are adjusted to account for differences in difficulty from one MPRE administration to the next. Equating makes the testing experience fair even if there are variations in test difficulty over the years. But equating means there is not a predictable relationship between raw scores and final scores. In other words, you will not know definitively how many questions you need to answer correctly prior to taking the test. Frustrating, right?
Even though the equating process makes it impossible to predict exactly how many questions you need to answer correctly, there are some generally accepted guidelines that can shed a little light on whether your practice sessions are on target. NCBE published a piece in 2011 which gives some approximate scoring bands:
A few questions can make the difference in whether you pass or fail. Let’s say you need an 85 to pass. Notice how the difference between 35 questions and 36 questions could make or break it for you. Thirty-five questions would net you a score of roughly 80, shy of your jurisdiction’s requirement. You need that thirty-sixth question in order to pass!
FAQ
How hard is it to get an 85 on MPRE?
Is a 100 on the MPRE good?
How many questions do you have to get right on the MPRE?
How many questions is 85 on MPRE?
