When are the results of the Bar Examination released?
On the results page of this website you will find the date when we expect to be able to release the results of the most recent Bar Examination. A list of passing applicants will be posted on that page in alphabetical order at the same time formal notice is mailed to each person who has taken the examination. Please note that the expected release date may be delayed if persons telephone the Secretary's office to inquire about the release date, thus interrupting the processing and checking of examination scores.
How is the essay portion of the exam graded?
Immediately following the exam each examiner reads and assigns preliminary scores to a sample of the essay answers. The examiners then meet with professors from the approved Virginia law schools to discuss the essay questions and the answers proposed by the examiners. The law school representatives often suggest alternative approaches to answering some of the questions, which the examiners consider and adopt if appropriate. Following the meeting with the professors, the examiners reach a consensus on grading guidelines for each question. They then return to their respective offices where they and the graders working under their supervision assign raw scores to the exam answers in accordance with the grading guidelines. The raw scores are then submitted by applicant number to the Secretary's office, where the staff records them.
How is the multistate portion (MBE) of the Virginia exam scored?
Immediately following the exam the multistate answer sheets are sent to American College Testing, contractor for the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which scores the answer sheets in accordance with an answer key developed by the testing committees of the National Conference of Bar Examiners. The exam is then equated with a standard exam to attempt to ensure that an MBE given in one year is of the same degree of difficulty as one given in another. This results in a scaled score which is returned by applicant number to the Secretary's office. Virginia uses these scaled scores in combination with the scores on the essay/short answer portion of the exam to determine which applicants should be admitted to the Virginia bar.
Does Virginia have a minimum passing score on either portion of the exam?
No. Virginia combines your scores on both portions of the exam to determine whether you pass. Your MBE scaled score counts for 40% of your combined score and your essay/short answer scaled score counts for 60%. A total scaled score of 140 is considered the minimum passing score. You may score above 140 on one portion and below 140 on the other, but if the total scaled score is 140 or above, you will pass.
How are the scores on the essay and multistate portions of the exam combined to determine my score?
MBE Score
The MBE has 200 multiple choice questions, and an applicant's raw score is the number of questions answered correctly. Because questions asked at one administration of the MBE may prove to be, on the average, more difficult than those asked on some other administration, MBE raw scores are equated and converted to scaled scores to adjust for such differences. This procedure is designed so that it will be no harder or easier to earn a given MBE scaled score on one administration of the MBE than on any other administration of this part of the bar exam.
Essay Score
Each essay answer is graded on a 10-point scale, and each of the ten short answers is graded right or wrong. Each correct short answer is worth 1 point. Thus, the maximum essay raw score is 100 points: (10 points x 9 essay questions) + (1 point times 10 short answer questions).
As a group, the essay and short answer questions asked on one administration of the Virginia Bar Examination could be harder or easier than those asked at another time. To adjust for these differences, the essay raw scores are converted to the same scale of measurement as that used to report the MBE scaled scores. As a result of this step, the average essay scaled score in Virginia will be equal to the average MBE scaled score. This method is designed to permit the passing standard to remain as constant as possible from one exam to the next, so that an applicant is neither rewarded nor penalized for having taken one exam or another.
Minimum Passing Total Scaled Score
In the course of grading the essay questions over a number of past examinations, the Examiners have reached a consensus on the level of performance necessary for an applicant to demonstrate his or her minimum competency to practice law in Virginia. On the basis of this evaluation, the Board has determined that it is necessary for an applicant to achieve a total scaled score of 140 in order to pass the Virginia Bar Examination.
Total Scaled Score
The Board of Bar Examiners has determined that the essay scaled score should carry 60% of the weight of the examination and the multistate scaled score should be allocated 40%. Accordingly, the formula is:
Total Scaled Score = (.40 x MBE scaled score) + (.60 x essay scaled score).
If I pass the exam, why doesn't the Board tell me my exact score instead of just notifying me that I passed?
Since the exam is designed to measure minimum competency, it is not intended to rank the applicants who achieve higher than the minimum passing score. A high score on a minimum competency exam can be misleading and has no meaningful value. If you fail the exam, the Board will disclose your scores so that you can use the information in your efforts to prepare better for a future Virginia exam.
Can I have my exam answers re-graded if my score is close to passing?
This is done automatically. At the conclusion of the initial grading and combining of essay and MBE scores, the Board meets to regrade the essay and short answer papers of those applicants whose initial total scaled score is near but below the minimum passing score. Usually the Board rereads the papers of approximately ten percent of those persons taking the exam whose initial scores are below the minimum passing score. The examiners look to see if an answer might be worth another point or two, or if the overall quality of an applicant's answers may adequately demonstrate minimum competence. As a result of the re-reading, some grades go up, some go down, and some remain unchanged. After the regrading, all scores are final and not appealable. All grading is done anonymously.
I failed the exam. Can I talk with an examiner?
Many applicants, for one reason or another, may fail the exam on a first attempt but pass comfortably on the second. Frequently success requires only more serious study and preparation, and the Board members are unable to meet with applicants who have failed only once. However, after an applicant has failed on two or more occasions, the Secretary of the Board will, upon request, review the applicant's essay answers from the past exams and talk with the applicant in person to attempt to identify weaknesses which may become apparent from the previous answers. The Secretary will not review individual answers with an applicant or discuss or debate scores on those answers. Rather the interview is an attempt to help an applicant identify, from a grader's perspective, areas needing improvement.
Only one conference with the Board per applicant is permitted. Please note that essay answers are only retained for one year from the date the examination was taken. Accordingly, for those who have failed a July exam and a previous exam, requests for a conference must be received by November 15th; for those who have failed a February exam and a previous exam, requests for a conference must be received by May 10th.
When making a request for a conference, please include your name, address, daytime telephone number, and an email address. Include which exams you have been unsuccessful for. You may mail your request, or you may fax it to 804-367-0416. All conferences will be held in Richmond, Virginia. No telephone conferences will be allowed.