The North Carolina Bar Exam is a two-day exam -- Tuesday and Wednesday -- with the essay questions on Tuesday and the multiple-choice Multistate Bar Exam on Wednesday.

Test dates:

February 2012 = February 28 and 29
July 2012 = July 24 and 25

February 2013 = February 26 and 27
July 2013 = July 30 and 31


First Day (Tuesday) morning and afternoon sessions:
* Three hours each session
* Twelve essay for the entire day (6 essays each session)

Second Day (Wednesday) morning and afternoon sessions:
* Three hours each session
* 100 Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) multiple-choice questions each session

North Carolina requires that you sit for the MBE as part of the North Carolina bar exam.

North Carolina does NOT accept your score from an MBE taken in another jurisdiction.

Grading of the North Carolina Bar Exam: Your score on the MBE counts for 40% of your total North Carolina score. Your performance on the essay questions counts for 60% of your total North Carolina score. The passing score is 346.

North Carolina generally releases the results of the Summer exam in late August and the results of the Winter exam in late March.

*MPRE -- You must pass the MPRE with a scaled score of 80 on an exam taken within 24 months before, or 12 months after, sitting for the full North Carolina Bar Exam.

Admission on Motion: (i.e., without having to sit for the bar exam)

1. You must be a graduate of an ABA-accredited law school.
2. You must have scored at least a scaled 80 on the MPRE.
3. You must be admitted to the bar of another jurisdiction and must have actively practiced law for at least four of the prior six years.
4. The other jurisdiction must have a similar policy by which North Carolina attorneys can be admitted without taking that jurisdiction's bar exam.

Note: Your application must be on file with the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners for at least six months before the application can be considered.

Recent changes: The North Carolina State Bar is requiring new lawyers who have just passed the North Carolina State Bar Examination to take 12 hours of specialized CLE courses designed to teach them the fundamentals of practicing law and professionalism. For more information, please contact Debra Holland, Assistant Director of the North Carolina State Bar’s CLE Board.