First Adopted: February 01, 1972
Most Recently Effective: January 01, 2026
Rule 8 | Rules Governing The Missouri Bar and the Judiciary | Admission to the Bar
8.08 | The Bar Examination
(a) The board shall conduct examinations of applicants for admission to the bar twice each year at such times and places as this Court may direct. The examination shall cover such subjects as the board may prescribe with the approval of this Court.
(b) Applicants are expected to have knowledge of legal ethics and familiarity with the Missouri rules of professional conduct. Prior to being issued a license to practice law, each applicant for admission by examination shall attain a scaled score of not less than 80 on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination. The applicant’s certified Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination score must be received by the board no later than one year after the date of written notification to the applicant of passing the bar examination.
(c) Applicants for admission by bar examination shall be required to successfully complete the Missouri educational component test (MECT) prescribed by the board and approved by this Court. Successful completion of the MECT shall occur no earlier than the date of submission of the initial application to take the bar examination and no later than one year after the date of written notification to the applicant of passing the bar examination. Applicants who do not pass the bar examination within two years after successful completion of the MECT shall be required to successfully complete the MECT again.
(Adopted February 1, 1972, effective September 1, 1972. Amended August 31, 1982, effective January 1, 1983; amended August 9, 1993, effective August 9, 1993; amended October 16, 1995, effective March 1, 1996; amended February 25, 1997, effective March 1, 1997; amended April 22, 1998, effective April 22, 1998; amended September 3, 2003, effective October 1, 2003; March 7, 2005, effective July 1, 2005; amended January 26, 2009, effective July 1, 2009; amended April 8, 2010, effective July 1, 2010; amended August 16, 2011, effective September 1, 2011; amended September 23, 2015, effective September 23, 2015.)
Regulations of Board of Law Examiners
1. The bar examination is the NextGen Uniform Bar Examination
(NextGen UBE), prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners,
which consists of three sections. Each section contains a combination of
standalone, multiple-choice questions, integrated question sets, and
performance tasks. The bar examination administered in Missouri prior to
July 2026 is referred to as the Legacy Uniform Bar Exam (Legacy UBE).
The Legacy UBE will continue to be prepared by the National Conference
of Bar Examiners until February 2028 and consists of six Multistate
Essay Examination (MEE) questions, two Multistate Performance Test (MPT)
tasks, and the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE).
2.
The bar examination is administered on the last consecutive Tuesday and
Wednesday in February and July. For the Legacy UBE, the MEE and MPT
were administered on Tuesday and the MBE was administered on Wednesday.
3. The bar examination questions are graded according to the law of general application and not the law of any specific state.
4.
NextGen UBE scores are reported as a single number on a scale from 500
to 750. Standalone, multiple-choice questions make up 49% of the overall
exam score; integrated question sets make up 21% of the overall exam
score; and performance tasks make up 30% of the overall exam score. A
scaled total score of at least 610 is required to pass the NextGen UBE.
Raw scores earned in the MEE and MPT portions of the Legacy UBE are
combined and scaled to the MBE to calculate scaled essay scores. MBE
scores are weighted 50%, MEE scores are weighted 30%, and MPT scores are
weighted 20% in calculating scaled total scores, which are expressed on
a 400-point scale. An applicant's scaled total score is the sum of the
applicant's scaled MBE score and scaled essay score. A scaled total
score of at least 260 is required to pass the Legacy UBE.
5. The results of the bar examination will be published and disseminated at such dates and times as this Court shall set.
6.
No regrading or rescoring of any part of the essay portion of the
examination will be provided. No appeal or review of exam scores or
results is allowed.
7. Scores of an applicant on the bar examination will not be disclosed to the public, except that the board is authorized to:
(a) Make public statistical results of the examination;
(b)
Disclose to the law school from which an applicant graduated the
applicant's grades, provided the applicant has signed a release form
authorizing the board to do so;
(c) Disclose to the law school from which an applicant graduated the applicant's pass/fail status; and
(d)
Certify, upon an applicant's request, an applicant's scaled score to
other jurisdictions in which the applicant seeks admission.
9.
Enrollment ceremonies for successful applicants will be held in
Jefferson City at such locations, dates, and times as this Court shall
set.
10. Testing accommodations will be
provided for applicants demonstrating a disability to the extent such
accommodations are reasonable, consistent with the nature and purpose of
the examination, and necessitated by the applicant's disability.
Applicants needing accommodations shall file a petition for testing
accommodations in such form as prescribed by the board. A fully
completed petition for testing accommodations, including all required
supporting documentation, shall be submitted with the application for
bar examination in accordance with the filing deadlines set out in Rule
8.07 and subject to the corresponding prescribed fee.
(Amended October 11, 1965; amended September 8, 1969, effective September 8, 1969; amended May 10, 1971, effective May 10, 1971; amended June 27, 1980, effective August 1, 1980; amended January 1, 1983, effective January 1, 1983; amended March 25, 1986, effective March 25, 1986; amended September 22, 1986, effective September 22, 1986; amended December 12, 1989, effective April 1, 1990; amended January 9, 1990, effective April 1, 1991; amended August 9, 1993, effective August 9, 1993; amended October 16, 1995, effective March 1, 1996; amended February 25, 1997, effective March 1, 1997; amended August 29, 1997, effective September 1, 1997; amended October 15, 1998, effective November 1, 1998; amended June 27, 2000, effective July 1, 2000; amended July 3, 2001, effective August 1, 2001; amended September 3, 2003, effective October 1, 2003; amended January 27, 2004, effective February 1, 2004; amended March 7, 2005, effective July 1, 2005; amended January 26, 2009, effective July 1, 2009; amended April 8, 2010, effective July 1, 2010; amended August 16, 2011, effective September 1, 2011; amended November 5, 2025, effective January 1, 2026.)