The rollout of the “NextGen” bar exam, scheduled for 2026, has drummed up a combination of confusion, concern, and apprehension among law students and educators. The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), the nonprofit organization responsible for the test, has yet to provide comprehensive details on various aspects of the new exam, including costs, scoring, and substantive content. This lack of clarity is exacerbating anxiety within the academic community, especially since the first cohort of students who will face this exam are already in their classes today.
The NCBE’s promise of a new and improved bar exam came after years of criticism from experts and practitioners. Critiques range from the exam’s failure to achieve its goals to empirical evidence suggesting it does not significantly protect the public. Despite the reform’s promise, legal educators are worried that the scattershot rollout could exacerbate disparate outcomes among test-takers.
Adding to these concerns, a statement from the Association of Academic Support Educators stressed that law school graduates might not be adequately prepared for the NextGen exam. They noted that fractional information has been shared about the exam, with significant changes occurring frequently. This fragmented communication makes it difficult for academic support faculty and commercial bar review providers to prepare students effectively.
Subject matter is another area shrouded in uncertainty. While the NCBE announced in May 2023 that eight subject areas would be tested, including Business Associations and Civil Procedure, only for them to release contradictory information later. For instance, family law and trusts and estates, initially excluded, were later confirmed to appear on every NextGen exam from July 2026 through February 2028.
Moreover, the NCBE has yet to finalize how legal research will be tested, although the organization’s website states that it is still “exploring options for testing legal research,” with sample questions to be available at an uncertain future date. Concern over whether the exam has been properly tested also looms large, as pilot testing conducted from August 2022 to April 2023 reported limited and mainly self-reported outcomes, all before additional subjects were added.
The academic community is vocal in its criticism, pointing out that legal reference material for some question types will neither be available nor provided uniformly. This approach undermines the goal of moving away from a generalist, doctrinal, closed-book memory test that fails to accurately reflect practical legal skills. Indeed, a more fitting assessment would focus on real-world legal research abilities.
As the NCBE wades through these unresolved issues, the pressure mounts for clearer communication and substantial support to prepare law school graduates. The overarching worry is that vague, incomplete, and mutable information will hamper academic support efforts and potentially worsen disparities in bar pass outcomes for those needing the most assistance.
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