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Bar Exam

Bar exam questions, bar exam practice tests and a bar exam prep course for the NextGen UBE

Bar prep is the one exam where buying last year's course is actively dangerous. The exam, the subjects and even the score scale are all changing between now and 2028, and most material on sale has not caught up.

  • Unlimited MBE style questions across all seven scored subjects
  • Every answer choice explained, including why the attractive wrong answer is wrong
  • Built for both the legacy UBE and the NextGen UBE foundational concepts
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The short answer

The bar exam is changing right now. The NextGen UBE was administered for the very first time on July 28 and 29, 2026, in ten jurisdictions, and the legacy UBE (the MBE, MEE and MPT) will be offered through the February 2028 administration. Which exam you sit depends entirely on your jurisdiction and your date. Aspirants.ai generates unlimited bar exam practice questions across the MBE subjects and the NextGen foundational concepts for $9 a month, explaining every answer choice. NCBE's own study aids remain the definitive source of real retired questions.

Last updated July 2026

Work the questions

Bar exam practice questions with answers and explanations

Eight MBE style questions, one from each scored subject plus an extra on evidence, written in the style of the exam. Read every rationale, including why the attractive wrong answer is attractive.

Question 1 · Torts

A homeowner keeps a large dog with no history of aggression. A delivery driver lawfully on the property is bitten. The jurisdiction follows the common law rule for domestic animals. Is the homeowner strictly liable?

  1. A. Yes, because the dog caused physical harm
  2. B. Yes, because keeping a large dog is an abnormally dangerous activity
  3. C. No, unless the homeowner knew or should have known of the dog dangerous propensity
  4. D. No, because the driver assumed the risk by entering the property
Show the answer and explanation

C. No, unless the homeowner knew or should have known of the dog dangerous propensity

At common law an owner of a domestic animal is strictly liable only for harm caused by a dangerous propensity known or knowable to the owner, the rule commonly summarized as the first bite. Option A states the outcome without the element that produces it. Option B misapplies abnormally dangerous activity, a doctrine reserved for activities that cannot be made safe with reasonable care, which keeping an ordinary dog plainly can be. Option D is the strongest distractor because assumption of risk sounds plausible for anyone approaching a house with a dog, but a lawful entrant who has no notice of danger has not knowingly encountered a known risk. Note the trap in the fact pattern: many states have replaced this rule with strict liability dog-bite statutes, which is exactly why the question specifies the common law.

Question 2 · Contracts

A merchant sends a signed written offer to sell goods, promising to hold it open for 60 days. No consideration is given. On day 20 the merchant revokes. Under the UCC, is the revocation effective?

  1. A. Yes, because no consideration supported the promise
  2. B. No, because the offer is irrevocable for the full 60 days
  3. C. No, because the offer is irrevocable for the first three months
  4. D. Yes, but only if the offeree had not begun performance
Show the answer and explanation

B. No, because the offer is irrevocable for the full 60 days

UCC section 2 to 205, the firm offer rule, makes a merchant signed written offer irrevocable for the time stated without any consideration, subject to an outer limit of three months. The stated period here is 60 days, comfortably inside that limit, so the offer holds and the revocation on day 20 is ineffective. Option A is the answer most candidates give, and it fails for the exact reason the rule exists: dispensing with consideration is the whole point of a firm offer, so the absence of consideration is not a defect. Option C swaps the stated period for the outer limit, which the rule does not do; three months is a ceiling, not a default. Option D imports promissory estoppel and reliance, which you never reach once the firm offer applies. Check three things in order on any firm offer question: merchant, signed writing, and a stated period of three months or less.

Question 3 · Criminal Law

A defendant intending to frighten a rival fires a gun at a parked car he believes is empty. A person asleep inside is killed. Under the common law, what is the most serious homicide charge supportable?

  1. A. First degree premeditated murder
  2. B. Murder based on a depraved heart
  3. C. Voluntary manslaughter
  4. D. Involuntary manslaughter
Show the answer and explanation

B. Murder based on a depraved heart

Depraved heart murder requires extreme recklessness manifesting an indifference to the value of human life, and firing a gun into a car on a street satisfies it even though the defendant did not intend to kill anyone. Option A fails because there was no intent to kill and therefore no premeditation, no matter how deliberate the act of firing was. Option C requires an intentional killing committed in the heat of passion on adequate provocation, and there is neither an intent to kill nor a provocation here. Option D is the attractive wrong answer, because ordinary criminal negligence really does look like a fit; the difference is degree, and shooting into an occupied-looking vehicle crosses from negligence into the extreme recklessness the depraved heart standard demands.

Question 4 · Evidence

In a civil suit, a party offers a statement made by the opposing party out of court and offers it for its truth. The opposing party objects on hearsay grounds. How should the court rule?

  1. A. Sustain, because it is an out of court statement offered for its truth
  2. B. Overrule, because an opposing party statement is not hearsay under the Federal Rules
  3. C. Overrule, because it is a statement against interest
  4. D. Sustain, unless the declarant is unavailable
Show the answer and explanation

B. Overrule, because an opposing party statement is not hearsay under the Federal Rules

Under Federal Rule 801(d)(2) a statement offered against an opposing party and made by that party is defined as not hearsay at all, rather than being admitted through an exception. Option A applies the general definition without checking the exclusions, which is the single most common evidence error. Option C names a real exception under Rule 804(b)(3), and it is the sharpest distractor, but that exception requires the declarant to be unavailable and requires the statement to have been against interest when made, neither of which is needed here. Option D imports that same unavailability requirement. The practical takeaway for the MBE is to check the 801(d) exclusions before reaching for the 803 and 804 exceptions.

Question 5 · Real Property

A grantor conveys land "to A for life, then to B and her heirs." A later attempts to convey a fee simple absolute to C. What interest does C receive?

  1. A. A fee simple absolute
  2. B. A life estate measured by A life
  3. C. Nothing, because A had no transferable interest
  4. D. A remainder in fee simple
Show the answer and explanation

B. A life estate measured by A life

You cannot convey more than you own. A holds a life estate, so what passes to C is an estate pur autre vie: it lasts as long as A lives and ends at A death, when B vested remainder in fee simple becomes possessory. Option A is the answer candidates give when they read the words of the second conveyance rather than the state of title, and the attempt to convey a fee does not enlarge what A had. Option C is wrong because a life estate is freely transferable during life; it is the duration that is limited, not the alienability. Option D confuses what C receives with what B already held. Fact patterns like this one reward drawing the state of title before reading the question.

Question 6 · Constitutional Law

A state law burdens interstate commerce incidentally while pursuing a legitimate local safety purpose. Congress has not legislated in the area. Which standard applies?

  1. A. Strict scrutiny, because interstate commerce is a fundamental interest
  2. B. The law is per se invalid under the dormant Commerce Clause
  3. C. The burden on interstate commerce is weighed against the local benefits
  4. D. Rational basis review only
Show the answer and explanation

C. The burden on interstate commerce is weighed against the local benefits

This is the Pike balancing test, which applies where a state law is evenhanded, pursues a legitimate local interest and affects interstate commerce only incidentally. The law is upheld unless the burden is clearly excessive relative to the local benefits. Option B describes the treatment reserved for laws that discriminate against out of state commerce on their face or in effect, which is the distinction the question is built on, and reading "incidentally" carefully is what separates the two tracks. Option A invents a fundamental right where none exists. Option D understates the review; rational basis would uphold almost anything and is not the dormant Commerce Clause standard. Note also that congressional silence is what makes the dormant analysis available in the first place.

Question 7 · Civil Procedure

A plaintiff from State A sues a defendant from State B in federal court for $60,000 in damages, asserting only state law claims. Is subject matter jurisdiction proper?

  1. A. Yes, because the parties are completely diverse
  2. B. No, because the amount in controversy does not exceed $75,000
  3. C. Yes, because federal courts have general jurisdiction over civil claims
  4. D. No, because state law claims must be brought in state court
Show the answer and explanation

B. No, because the amount in controversy does not exceed $75,000

Diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1332 requires both complete diversity and an amount in controversy exceeding $75,000, and both must be satisfied. Complete diversity is present here, which is precisely why option A is the trap: it states a true fact that is not sufficient. Option C describes a general jurisdiction federal courts do not have; they are courts of limited jurisdiction. Option D overstates matters in the other direction, since state law claims routinely reach federal court through diversity or supplemental jurisdiction. Note that the threshold is exceeding $75,000, not meeting it, so a claim pleaded at exactly $75,000 also fails.

Question 8 · Criminal Procedure

Police lawfully arrest a driver for a traffic offense, handcuff him and secure him in the patrol car, then search the passenger compartment of his vehicle without a warrant. Is the search valid as a search incident to arrest?

  1. A. Yes, because any lawful arrest permits a search of the passenger compartment
  2. B. Yes, because vehicles carry a reduced expectation of privacy
  3. C. No, unless the arrestee could access the compartment or it is reasonable to believe it holds evidence of the offense of arrest
  4. D. No, because a warrant is always required to search a vehicle
Show the answer and explanation

C. No, unless the arrestee could access the compartment or it is reasonable to believe it holds evidence of the offense of arrest

Arizona v. Gant narrowed the vehicle search incident to arrest to two situations: the arrestee is unsecured and within reaching distance of the compartment, or it is reasonable to believe evidence of the offense of arrest is inside. A handcuffed arrestee locked in a patrol car satisfies neither, and a traffic offense rarely generates vehicle evidence. Option A states the pre-Gant rule and is the answer that older outlines still produce. Option B is true as a general proposition and is the sharpest distractor, but reduced privacy expectations feed the automobile exception, which requires probable cause, not the search incident doctrine at issue here. Option D is wrong because several warrant exceptions apply to vehicles.

These eight are a sample and they test general United States common law and majority rules unless stated otherwise, which is how the MBE is written. Inside Aspirants.ai you can generate unlimited bar exam practice questions across all seven scored subjects and the NextGen foundational concepts, with the same depth of explanation on every answer choice.

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Which bar exam will you actually sit?

This is the first question to settle, and it has nothing to do with your prep and everything to do with your jurisdiction. The NextGen UBE was given for the first time on July 28 and 29, 2026 in ten jurisdictions: Connecticut, Idaho, Maryland, Missouri, Oregon and Washington, plus Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau and the Virgin Islands. A larger group joins in July 2027, more in February and July 2028. NCBE has confirmed the legacy exam stays available through the February 2028 administration. Two practical rules follow. If you are graduating in spring 2028 or later, you are almost certainly taking NextGen. If you are sitting before then, check your own jurisdiction, because a neighboring state's answer will not be yours.

  • First NextGen administration: July 28 and 29, 2026, in ten jurisdictions
  • Legacy UBE (MBE, MEE, MPT) remains available through February 2028
  • California has never used the UBE and runs its own California Bar Examination
  • Check NCBE's jurisdiction table for your state, since dates have moved before

What the NextGen UBE actually looks like

The structure is a real departure, not a rebrand. NextGen is 9 hours across three 3-hour sections over a day and a half, down from the legacy exam's 12 hours over two days. The MBE, MEE and MPT no longer exist as separate components. Each section instead mixes roughly 40 standalone multiple-choice questions, two integrated question sets and one performance task. Essays as a freestanding component are gone, absorbed into the integrated sets, and performance tasks grow from two to three and now carry 30% of your score.

  • Three 3-hour sections over 1.5 days, 9 hours total
  • 120 standalone multiple-choice questions, of which 100 are scored
  • Six integrated question sets (one is unscored) and three performance tasks
  • Weighting: multiple choice 49%, performance tasks 30%, integrated sets 21%

The subject list changed, and the nuance matters

NextGen tests eight Foundational Concepts through February 2028: business associations, civil procedure, constitutional law, contract law, criminal law, evidence, real property and torts. Family law joins as a ninth in July 2028. Conflict of laws and secured transactions, both on the legacy essay list, do not appear at all. Family law and trusts and estates are the subtlety most summaries get wrong: they are not cut. Through February 2028 they appear on every exam inside skills-focused questions, with the legal resources supplied, and NCBE states examinees "are not expected or required to develop a base of knowledge in those areas." Reading them and outlining them are very different amounts of work.

  • Eight Foundational Concepts through February 2028, nine from July 2028
  • Conflict of laws and secured transactions are not tested
  • Family law and trusts and estates appear as skills context, with resources given
  • Seven Foundational Skills, including legal research, writing, and client counseling

The score scale is different, so old cut scores tell you nothing

This is the trap that will catch the most people. Legacy UBE scores are reported on a 400-point scale, where jurisdictions set passing scores between 260 and 270. NextGen scores are reported on a 500 to 750 scale, and the two are not comparable. A number that means one thing on one exam means nothing on the other. Announced NextGen cut scores so far cluster from 610 to 620. If you see a prep page telling you that UBE cut scores run to 280, close it: no jurisdiction is above 270, and that error is a reliable signal the rest of the page is stale too.

  • Legacy UBE: 400-point scale, cut scores from 260 to 270
  • NextGen UBE: 500 to 750 scale, announced cut scores so far 610 to 620
  • Legacy weighting was MBE 50%, MEE 30%, MPT 20%
  • NextGen written answers are graded against uniform NCBE rubrics, not ranked against other examinees

How to practice, whichever exam you are sitting

The overlap between the two exams is larger than the noise suggests. Seven of the eight NextGen Foundational Concepts are the seven legacy MBE subjects, and multiple choice is still the single largest scored component on both. So the core work does not change: answer a very large number of questions, then spend longer reviewing them than you spent answering. The bar rewards recognizing which rule is in play, and that recognition only comes from seeing the same rule tested from twelve different angles. What changes is the periphery, meaning the skills questions and the performance tasks, and those reward practice under a clock rather than memorization.

  • Drill the seven MBE subjects; they carry over almost entirely
  • Review each missed question until you can name the rule you misapplied
  • Practice performance tasks timed, since they are 30% of a NextGen score
  • Do not buy a course that cannot tell you which exam it was written for

Compare the options

Legacy UBE vs NextGen UBE

The two exams side by side, based on NCBE's published blueprint. If you are sitting before July 2028, check which one your jurisdiction gives.

Legacy UBE NextGen UBE
Total time 12 hours over 2 days 9 hours over 1.5 days
Structure MBE (6h), MEE (3h), MPT (3h) as separate components Three mixed 3-hour sections
Multiple choice 200 MBE questions, 175 scored 120 standalone questions, 100 scored
Written work Six 30-minute essays, two 90-minute performance tasks Six integrated question sets, three performance tasks
Subjects 7 MBE subjects, plus more on the MEE incl. conflict of laws and secured transactions 8 Foundational Concepts (9 from July 2028), no conflict of laws or secured transactions
Score scale 400 points, cut scores 260 to 270 500 to 750, announced cut scores 610 to 620
Availability Through the February 2028 administration From July 2026, phasing in by jurisdiction

Sourced from NCBE's NextGen UBE Blueprint and published jurisdiction table, checked July 2026. Adoption dates and cut scores are still being announced, so confirm yours with NCBE and your board of bar examiners.

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Honest answers

bar exam practice questions, answered straight.

The NextGen UBE is the National Conference of Bar Examiners' replacement for the current bar exam. It runs 9 hours over a day and a half instead of 12 hours over two days, and it merges the MBE, MEE and MPT into three mixed sections combining multiple-choice questions, integrated question sets and performance tasks. Its first live administration took place on July 28 and 29, 2026, in ten jurisdictions.

Ten jurisdictions gave it first, in July 2026: Connecticut, Idaho, Maryland, Missouri, Oregon, Washington, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau and the Virgin Islands. A further group starts in July 2027 and most remaining states follow in 2028. Because dates have shifted before, confirm yours against NCBE's jurisdiction table rather than a blog.

It depends on your jurisdiction and your test date, not your school. If you sit in 2026 you take NextGen only in the ten jurisdictions that adopted it first; everywhere else still gives the legacy UBE. NCBE has confirmed the legacy exam runs through February 2028, so anyone graduating in spring 2028 or later will take NextGen.

On the legacy UBE, the MBE is 200 multiple-choice questions, of which 175 are scored, plus six essays and two performance tasks. On the NextGen UBE it is 120 standalone multiple-choice questions, of which 100 are scored, plus six integrated question sets and three performance tasks.

On the legacy UBE, scores are reported out of 400 and jurisdictions set their own cut score between 260 and 270. Nothing is higher than 270, despite what some prep sites claim. NextGen uses a completely different 500 to 750 scale, and the cut scores announced so far run from 610 to 620.

Eight Foundational Concepts through February 2028: business associations, civil procedure, constitutional law, contract law, criminal law, evidence, real property and torts. Family law becomes a ninth in July 2028. Conflict of laws and secured transactions are not tested. Family law and trusts and estates appear only as context for skills questions, with the resources provided.

It is shorter, but shorter is not easier. It tests fewer memorized subjects while weighting practical skills much more heavily, with performance tasks rising to 30% of the score. It rewards a different candidate: less pure memorization, more legal research, writing and client counseling under time pressure.

NCBE reported a 63% overall pass rate across all of 2025, on 67,442 examinees. The July 2025 administration was 69% and February 2025 was 47%, a gap that shows up every year because February draws far more repeat takers. The July 2025 national MBE mean was 142.4, the highest July mean since 2013 excluding 2020.

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