California is set to return to a fully in-person bar exam format after a series of technical failures disrupted its hybrid model during the exam’s debut last week. On Friday, staff at the State Bar of California recommended a return to in-person testing for the July exam, following severe issues with the remote testing rollout in February.
Initially, the state bar had introduced a hybrid format, combining in-person and remote testing, to save costs, as the state previously rented large spaces such as convention centers for the exam. However, the new test format encountered significant problems, including login failures, delays, lax exam security, distracting proctors, and malfunctioning features like the copy-and-paste function. Around 4,600 candidates registered for the exam, though approximately 1,000 withdrew beforehand.
State bar officials have acknowledged these issues and plan to discuss the return to in-person testing in a board meeting on Wednesday. While the hybrid exam was initially projected to save $3.8 million annually, in-person testing would cost an additional $1 million beyond the allocated $3.9 million budget, according to a memo from the bar.
California stands alone in creating its own bar exam, diverging from the national exam developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE). While the majority of states are transitioning to the NCBE’s NextGen Bar Exam, set to debut in 2026, California’s new exam questions are developed by Kaplan North America, which declined to comment on the issues. The testing company, Meazure Learning, was also sued by test-takers in a proposed class action, accusing the company of failing to provide a functional platform despite ample warnings.
California’s 17 ABA-accredited law schools have backed the move to an in-person exam in a letter to the California Supreme Court. They have also suggested using multiple-choice questions from the NCBE rather than the Kaplan-designed questions and offered their campuses as testing sites. They argued that there is insufficient time to address all the problems before the July exam.
State bar staff noted the difficulty of finding appropriate testing spaces on short notice. Additionally, Tom Umberg, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, expressed deep dissatisfaction with the February exam and announced plans for an investigation, requesting a state audit to examine what went wrong. Brandon Stallings, chair of the state bar board, said the board will also conduct a fact-finding investigation during its meeting on Wednesday.
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