collageHow many times can you take the bar exam in Texas? How many times can you take the bar exam in California? If you are one of the several million people who are taking, or have taken, this rigorous standardized test, then these are good questions. Everyone wants to find out how many times they can take the bar exam, and whether or not it is possible to retake the law bar exam over and over. The answer is that you can most definitely retake the exam multiple times, but there are some rules that you need to follow.
Whether you’re wondering if you can take an exam three times in Texas, or if you’re wondering how many times you may be able to take an exam in California, there are some restrictions on how many times you can take the bar exam that are specific to each state.
How Many Times Can You Take The Bar Exam In Texas?
You may take the Bar Exam a maximum of 5 times. If you sit for any part of an exam, it will count as one of your 5 attempts.
Required Items
You must present the following items in order to enter the Secure Area:
• Admission Ticket
• Valid, unexpired government-issued photo identification, such as
a driver’s license or a passport.
Permitted Items
In addition to the Required Items listed above, you are permitted to
bring the following items into the Secure Area:
Pencils (non-mechanical), erasers
Keys, key cards
Cash, credit cards
Sweater or jacket
Prescription medicine, in its original packaging
Prescription eyeglasses (no cases, no cleaning cloths, no dark lenses)
Contact lenses, in individual containers (no boxes)
Individually-wrapped feminine hygiene products, which may be
stored in an opaque box
pre-authorized in a written Special Arrangement for Health-Related
Condition (see item 5, below)
One clear plastic bag to hold Permitted Items
Pens, highlighters (Tuesday only. Not allowed on Wednesday.)
Authorized laptop, extension cord, external mouse, external
keyboard, cooling stand (Tuesday only.)
How many times can you take the bar exam?
How many times can you take the bar exam? Nobody wants to think about taking the bar exam multiple times. However, it is useful to know how many times you can take the bar exam before being prohibited from taking it again or before needing special permission. For example, if you can only take it two or three times in your jurisdiction, then you should not take it unless you feel as prepared as possible, especially if you are on your “last” attempt.
However, if you can take the bar exam an unlimited amount of times in your state, being super-prepared for the one you sit for isn’t as of supreme importance and other factors can weigh into a decision to take the exam (for example, some students just need a bar exam under their belt to see how it is, how they do, and get over that initial intimidation of the bar exam).
This convenient picture shows which states impose restrictions on the number of times you can take the bar exam and which states do not. You can see that the majority of states do not impose limitations and allow you to take the exam as many times as you need to! We also explain some specific state policies further below.
How many times can you take the bar exam?
States fall into three different categories in terms of their approach:
- No limits: The vast majority of states do not limit the number of times that you are able to sit for the bar exam (so in theory, you can sit for the bar as many times as you want).
- Discretionary limits: Some states impose limits (anywhere from 2 to 6) but allow you to take the exam more than that if you get special permission from the state bar.
- Hard limits: A minority of states impose hard limits on how many times you can take the bar exam (e.g., after a certain amount of times, you can no longer sit for that bar exam).
We organize these states by category below so that you can easily see what your jurisdiction does.
Note: The below information has been gathered from the NCBE Bar Admission Requirements Guide. Please see your specific jurisdiction’s requirements for specific inquiries. Note that if your jurisdiction has adopted the Uniform Bar Exam recently, they may have also changed their rules. So be especially aware of that!
For the following jurisdictions, there is no limit
on the number of times you can take the exam:
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana*, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau
*[See below to understand what the asterisk means!]
The following jurisdictions limit the amount of times
you can take the bar exam without special permission:
Arizona (3)*, District of Columbia* (4), Idaho (6) Iowa (2), Maryland (3), Montana (3), South Carolina* (3), South Dakota* (3), Texas (5), Utah (6), Virginia (5), West Virginia* (4), Puerto Rico (6), Virgin Islands (3)
The following jurisdictions limit the amount of times
you can take the exam and impose hard limits
(i.e. no special permission will be given!)
Kansas (4), Kentucky (5), New Hampshire (4), North Dakota (6), Rhode Island (5), Vermont (4),
Below are a few notes on specific states:
Arizona: We are aware of students who were able to request special permission and who have told us that permission to retake the exam is generally permitted. In fact, multiple students have been granted permission with relative ease.
District of Columbia: After taking the bar exam four times, an applicant must show “extraordinary circumstances” to take it another time.
Louisiana: Louisiana used to limit the number of times an applicant could take the bar exam without special permission to 5, but no longer does.
South Carolina: There is no limit on the number of times but additional study is required after the third failure, making it impossible to sit but 1 time each year. (Note: South Carolina recently adopted the UBE so this may be subject to change.)
South Dakota: Applicants must get Supreme Court permission to take exam after three failures in any jurisdiction or combination of jurisdictions
West Virginia: Applicants are limited to four failed exams in West Virginia or any other state before special permission from the Board is required.
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how many times can you take the bar exam in california?
There is no limit to the number of times you can take the California bar exam other than the fact that there are only two administrations per year, one in February and one in July. Test takers may take the California bar exam as many times as they choose.
how many times can you take bar exam in the philippines?
he rule limits to five the number of times a candidate may take the Bar exams. The rule disqualifies a candidate after failing in three examinations. However, he is permitted to take fourth and fifth examinations if he successfully completes a one-year refresher course for each examination.
Grading system
The eight bar subjects are separately graded. Each subject contributes to the general average in the following proportion:
| Subject | Weight’ |
|---|---|
| Civil Law | 15% |
| Labor Law and Social Legislation | 10% |
| Mercantile Law | 15% |
| Criminal Law | 10% |
| Political and International Law | 15% |
| Taxation | 10% |
| Remedial Law | 20% |
| Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises | 5% |
The passing average fixed by law is 75%, with no grade falling below 50% in any bar subject.
Passing average vs. Passing rate
The passing average is the minimum grade in the exam required to be admitted to the practice of law. The passing rate is the proportion of total number of bar passers in relation to the total number of bar examinees. It is usually computed on two levels—the national level (national bar passing rate), and the law school level (law school passing rate).
In the past, passing averages were considerably lower to admit more new lawyers (i.e. 69% in 1947, 69.45% in 1946, 70% in 1948). Since 1982, the passing average has been fixed at 75%. This has led to a dramatic decrease in the national passing rate of bar examinees, from an all-time high of 75.17% in 1954 to an all-time low of 16.59% in 1999 (all-time low should have been the single digit 5% national passing rate for the 2007 bar examination if the Supreme Court did not lower the passing average to 70% and lowered the disqualification rate in 3 subjects). In recent years, the annual national bar passing rate ranges from 20% to 30%.
Law school passing rates
The most recent ranking (December 2015) for the top ten law schools in the Philippines by the Legal Education Board is based on the cumulative performance of law schools in the 2012, 2013 and 2014 Bar Examinations. The list only included law schools which had 20 or more examinees:
- University of the Philippines (10%)
- Ateneo de Manila University (9%)
- San Beda University (8%)
- University of San Carlos (7%)
- Ateneo de Davao University (6%)
- University of Santo Tomas (5%)
- University of Cebu (4%)
- San Beda College Alabang (3%)
- Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (2%)
- Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan (1%)
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