Virginia Bar Exam Information

Dates, Cost & Location

Since the founding of the United States, Virginia has produced some of America’s greatest legal minds from James Madison to John Marshall. If you’re a Virginian who’s excited to practice law, we’re here to help you pass the bar exam. The exam takes place in February and July. The February exam will be administered from February 24 to 25, 2026, while the July exam will be administered from July 28 to 29, 2026. Both versions of the exam will be spread across two days. You must apply by December 15, 2025, to register for the February 2026 exam, while the deadline for the July exam is May 10, 2026. The application fee is $575.

Unlike most states, Virginia doesn’t use the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE). On the first day of the Virginia Bar Exam, you’ll take nine essay questions as well as ten multiple-choice questions on Virginia law. Day one of the exam is split into a morning session and an afternoon session. The morning session will have five essay questions. After a lunch break, you’ll take four more essay questions in addition to the multiple-choice questions. The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) is administered on the second day of the exam. For the MBE, test takers will spend six hours answering 200 multiple-choice questions.

Virginia will keep using its current version of the bar exam until July 2028, when it will shift to a new version called NextGen. The NextGen bar exam will have more questions that emphasize the importance of practical lawyering skills, such as dispute resolution and attorney-client privilege. NextGen will drop four subjects from the bar exam: Conflict of Laws, Family Law, Secured Transactions, and Trusts & Estates. To be clear, Virginia won’t be adopting the UBE.
Instead, Virginia will have a state-specific version of NextGen that will still incorporate questions about state law. After taking the NextGen version of the MBE for six hours on day one of the exam, you’ll return to answer a series of questions on Virginia law for no more than three hours on the afternoon of the second day of the exam.

What subjects will you be tested on?

On day one of the exam, the essays and multiple choice questions will test the following subjects: Articles 2 and 9A of the Uniform Commercial Code, Contracts, Creditor’s Rights, Criminal Law, Domestic Relations, Evidence, Local Government Law, Professional Responsibility, Real Property, Torts, Virginia Civil Procedure, Virginia Criminal Procedure, and Wills, Trusts, and Estates.

On day two of the exam, the MBE will test Constitutional Law, Contracts and Sales, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Federal Civil Procedure, Real Property, and Torts.

What’s the minimum score for the MPRE?

To pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) in Virginia, you must receive a scaled score of at least 85.

How is the exam scored?

To pass, you must achieve a combined scaled score of 140 out of 200. The essays and multiple-choice questions on Virginia law account for 60% of the total score, while the MBE accounts for 40%.


When are the results released?

Test takers should expect to receive their results within five weeks after the exam administration, but there is no guaranteed date for when the scores will be released.

Can I transfer my MBE scores from another jurisdiction?

Yes.

What about reciprocity across states?

Lawyers from other states may apply for reciprocity in Virginia if they’ve practiced law for at least three of the past five years, are in good standing in all other jurisdictions where they’re licensed, have graduated from an ABA-accredited law school, and meet Virginia’s character and fitness requirements.