Following up on Sunday's post, California Bar Recommends Provisional Licensure For All Who Failed And Withdrew From The February Bar Exam:  ABA Journal, State Bar of California Considers Provisional Licenses for February Bar Exam Takers:

The State Bar of California’s Committee of Bar Examiners has placed the option of provisional licenses for candidates who fail or withdrew from the February California bar exam on the table. …

[T]he ongoing outcry by February bar candidates concerning a variety of issues—including delayed start times, technical glitches, grammatical and factual errors in the questions, rampant cheating, proctors arguing and fellow test-takers screaming out of frustration—has forced the state bar to consider remedies.

Reuters, California Bar Says No Quick Fix for Botched Exam:

There will be no swift resolution to California’s bar exam mess, it seems. The State Bar of California cannot make decisions about how to deal with the test scores on its disastrous February exam for at least nine weeks, the time it takes to grade the exams, bar staff and standardized test experts said on Friday.

California State Bar Email (Mar. 14, 2025):

Dear Person,

Today, the State Bar’s Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE) met to discuss the February 2025 bar exam and possible remediation efforts. Below are the key updates from today’s meeting:

Remediation Efforts

• Provisional Licensure Recommendation: The committee resolved to recommend "to the Board of Trustees that the Supreme Court expand the Provisional Licensure Program to include test takers who took the February 2025 bar exam or who withdrew from the February 2025 bar exam.” A specially set meeting of the Board of Trustees will be scheduled to consider the recommendation.
• Score Adjustments: The committee also took action to make it possible for it to recommend score adjustments to the Supreme Court as soon as possible, resolving “that if the timing for making a recommendation on any scoring adjustment for the February 2025 Bar Exam does not align with a regularly scheduled meeting of the committee, and a meeting of the committee cannot be timely scheduled, the committee delegates authority to make a recommendation on scoring adjustments to the Chair and Vice Chair.” The resolution also states that “any such action shall be guided by the mission of public protection.” The State Bar’s psychometricians presented to the committee possible adjustments that address the issues faced during the exam. Additional time is needed to complete analyses to determine what may be most appropriate.

The committee also discussed:

• Score Imputation for Incomplete Exams: For test takers with missing responses, imputation methods may be used to estimate scores based on completed exam sections. This approach was successfully used after the July 2021 Bar Exam when technical disruptions occurred. This remedy may be unsatisfactory for many, as post-exam data shows that the vast majority of test takers were able to submit all six written components (98 percent of exam takers) and at least 195 MCQ responses (98 percent).
• Full or Partial Exam Retakes: 87 test takers have been offered exam retakes based on certain eligibility criteria indicating insufficient responses to impute a score, including those who were unable to launch the bar exam, who had fewer than four successfully submitted written responses, or who completed fewer than three of the four sections of multiple-choice questions. The retake exam will be held on March 18-19.
• Multiple-Choice Question Performance: An important factor in determining the quality and validity of the multiple-choice questions is analyzing their statistical performance on exam day. While additional analysis is needed, the State Bar’s psychometrician presented initial data that suggests positive performance. The multiple-choice questions were assessed for item difficulty, item discrimination (how well the item indicates who knows the material and who doesn’t), option analysis (how well the distractor answer options functioned), and overall reliability. With a reliability goal of 0.80+, actual reliability for the 175 scored items was 0.90.
• In-Depth Analysis of Exam Data: The State Bar understands there is a disconnect between initial data, which indicates a high exam completion rate, and reports from applicants on their challenges during the exam. To better understand the impact of those challenges, we are conducting a comprehensive review that includes analyzing a random sample of exam responses, examining detailed exam session data, and evaluating technical issues by individual, testing modality, and test site. Also, we thank those who responded to the post-exam survey; we received thousands of responses, and we are analyzing them as part of our efforts. We are looking forward to sharing more about the survey findings in the coming weeks.
• Other Recommendations: Test takers and other stakeholders have shared a variety of recommendations including reducing the cut score, reciprocity for those licensed in other jurisdictions, and admission to the bar for all test takers. While the State Bar lacks the authority to unilaterally institute these proposals, it welcomes a robust discussion about possible remedies.

We recognize that this process may feel slow and that the solutions presented so far may not meet all of your expectations. We appreciate your patience as we work toward meaningful resolutions through the appropriate processes. In the meantime, the Board of Trustees has called for an independent investigation into the February 2025 bar exam administration and a member of the state Legislature has done so as well.

Next Steps: July 2025 Bar Exam

The State Bar is transitioning back to fully in-person testing for July 2025. Below are updates regarding the upcoming exam:

• Application Timeline: The launch of the July exam application was delayed to allow time for staff to identify sites and confirm details of exam delivery. The application is expected to open the week of March 24, 2025. As in the past, applicants will access the application in the Applicant Portal, and our website will be updated. The Board of Trustees approved eliminating the initial late filing fee due to the delay.
• Testing Locations: Staff is holding space at larger testing sites in Los Angeles, Oakland, and Sacramento, and is close to confirming a location in San Diego. Additional locations are being explored. The State Bar is working to confirm final locations as soon as possible.
• Application Fee Waiver: Applicants who withdrew ahead of the February 2025 exam or who are unsuccessful on the February exam will receive a full fee waiver for the July 2025 bar exam application. Additionally, the processing of full refunds (excluding bank fees) for those who withdrew from the February 2025 exam after February 13 is nearly complete.

We will continue to provide updates as decisions are made. Thank you for your patience and for sharing your experiences with us.

Sincerely, 

Office of Admissions 

State Bar of California

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• California Bar Exam Suffers Catastrophic Meltdown: ‘I’ve Never Had This Much Despair And Hopelessness’ (Feb. 27, 2025)
• The California Bar Exam Fiasco: Is Provisional Licensure The Appropriate Remedy? (Mar. 1, 2025)
• New York Times: California Bar Exam Fiasco Enrages Test Takers And Clouds Their Futures; Chemerinsky Calls For Provisional Licensure (Mar. 3, 2025)
• 17 Deans Ask California High Court To Provisionally License Grads Who Fail February Exam And Scrap New Kaplan-Written Questions And Revert Back To In-Person Exams In July (Mar. 4, 2025)
• California Supreme Court Reverts Back To In-Person Bar Exam In July (Mar. 5, 2025)
• Law Profs: California State Bar Must Be Held Accountable For Its Catastrophic Failures (Mar. 6, 2025) 
• California Bar Orders Investigation Of February Exam Disaster As Beleaguered Test-Takers Fume (Mar. 9, 2025)
• California Bar Blocked Law School Deans And Professors From Vetting Troubled Bar Exam (Mar. 15, 2025)
• California Bar Recommends Provisional Licensure For All Who Failed And Withdrew From The February Bar Exam (Mar. 16, 2025)

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