Iowa Bar Examination (UBE)

Bar Exam Information

NOTE: Bar exam information is subject to change without notice. Please verify with Iowa bar examiner’s office.

BAR EXAM DATES AND FORMAT

2024: February 27-28, July 30-31

The Iowa Bar Exam is a 2-day Uniform Bar Exam (UBE).

Day 1:

  • Two 90-minute Multistate Performance Test questions (MPT in the AM).
  • Six 30-minute Multistate Essay Exam questions (MEE in the PM).

Day 2:
Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), a 200-question, multiple-choice exam (100 questions in the AM, 100 questions in the PM).

Iowa Board of Law Examiners

Office of Professional Regulation
Judicial Branch Building, Second Floor
1111 East Court Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50319

Phone: (515) 725-8029

Fax: (515) 725-8032

Email: Bar.Admissions@iowacourts.gov

Subjects Tested

Multistate Bar Exam (MBE)

  • Constitutional Law
  • Contracts/Sales
  • Criminal Law/Procedure
  • Evidence
  • Federal Civil Procedure
  • Real Property
  • Torts

Multistate Essay Exam (MEE)

  • Business Associations (Agency, Partnerships, Corporations, Limited Liability Companies)
  • Conflicts of Law
  • Family Law
  • Trusts and Estates (Decedents' Estates; Trusts and Future Interests)
  • Secured Transactions (Article 9 of Uniform Commercial Code)
  • Plus, all MBE Subjects

Multistate Performance Test (MPT)

Multistate Performance Test “Closed universe” practical questions using instructions, factual data, cases, statutes and other reference material supplied by examiners.

Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam

A scaled score of 80 must be on file before the applicant is allowed to sit for the bar exam (by April 1 for the July exam and November 1 for the February exam). Scores will be accepted for three years after the date the MPRE is taken.

Scoring

The MEE and MPT scores are scaled to the MBE with the MBE weighted 50%, the MEE weighted 40% and the MPT weighted 10%. 

A total scaled score of 266 is required to pass.

Additional Information

Applicants may take exam prior to graduation if degree was received within 45 days after the first day of the exam.

Reciprocity

Acceptance of MBE Score

Iowa does not accept an MBE score from an exam taken in another jurisdiction.

Admission on Motion

May be admitted on motion if applicant has engaged in active practice of law for five of seven years preceding application.

For complete details contact the Iowa Board of Law Examiners.

Admission by UBE Score Transfer

Applicants who have obtained a scaled score of at least 266 on a Uniform Bar Exam taken in another jurisdiction within two years may apply for admission based on that score.

Passing UBE scores earned more than two years, but less than five years prior may qualify if the applicant has been actively engaged in the practice of law for at least two of the three years immediately preceding the application. Additional requirements apply.

For complete details contact the Iowa Board of Law Examiners.

Need extra help passing the Uniform Bar Exam?

Individual private tutoring for the UBE

Everyone can benefit from having a personal bar exam coach. Whether you are a first-time test taker or repeating the exam, having a personal bar exam coach to walk you through the process will ensure that you do not waste valuable time and energy.

Other bar review courses offer private tutoring with a “licensed attorney”. But simply being a “licensed attorney” does not qualify someone to help you pass the bar exam. What you really need is someone with decades of experience coaching students for success on the bar exam. Marc Rossen is a bar exam expert with over 25 years of experience helping students pass the bar exam.

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Supreme Bar Review Director
Experienced Bar Exam Tutor

Download printable PDF

Booklet includes info on every U.S. jurisdiction.

Download BAR EXAM DIRECTORY

Printable PDF booklet
includes info on every
U.S. jurisdiction.

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