California Bar Exam Results Improve But It's Still Bad

CALIFORNIA -- The state saw a slight increase in the number of people who passed the California Bar Exam this summer. The results, which were recently released, showed 49.6 percent of test takers passed the exam in July.

The number of people who passed the exam, 4,236, is a bit better compared to 43 percent who passed in the same month last year. In 2016, California was the second lowest in bar exam pass rates with the District of Columbia at the bottom of the list.

Still, the state is celebrating the announcement of more than 4,000 people who could be practicing law soon.

“Congratulations to over 4,000 applicants who passed the California Bar Exam," said Leah Wilson, executive director of the State Bar of California, in a statement. "We’re pleased to see an increase in the overall passage rate to 49 percent, up from a 43 percent passage rate for the July 2016 exam. We look forward to studying the factors that may have resulted in the increase."

Of the 8,545 applicants who completed the exam, 5,397 were first-time test-takers while 3,148 were repeats. The passing rate for first-time applicants was 62 percent, while the passing rate for repeat test-takers was 28 percent.

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