The State Bar of California has announced that individuals who fail the February bar exam will be allowed to retake the test in July for free. This decision comes after a series of technical and logistical issues plagued the exam’s rollout, causing confusion and frustration among test-takers.
Brandon Stallings, Chair of the State Bar Board of Trustees, expressed deep concern over the problems, which included issues with testing locations, technical glitches, and poor communication. “These problems are deeply concerning,” Stallings stated.
The board allocated $3.1 million to cover fee waivers for those who fail or withdraw from the February exam. This move follows an earlier offer to refund applicants who withdrew from the test due to scheduling challenges and communication issues.
California’s bar exam is one of the largest in the country, with about 11,000 test-takers annually. This year, over 5,600 people registered for the February exam, which was the first to offer both remote and in-person testing without using components of the national bar exam. However, the state bar faced unexpected challenges, including a higher-than-anticipated number of registrants and technical issues with the exam software.
To address these issues, the state bar added new test sites and offered travel reimbursements to some examinees. Despite these efforts, nearly 1,000 applicants withdrew from the exam.
The new exam format was designed to save costs by eliminating the need for large event spaces. However, the rollout has been marred by technical problems and communication lapses between the state bar and the testing company, Meazure Learning.
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