Required examinations

31.3(1) Legacy Uniform Bar. The provisions of this subrule apply to the dates and content of the Iowa bar examination beginning with the February 2016 examination administration and ending with the February 2027 examination administration. a. Written examinations for admission to the bar will be held in Iowa, commencing with a mandatory orientation session on the Monday preceding the last Wednesday in February and on the Monday preceding the last Wednesday in July. b. The Iowa bar examination will be the Legacy Uniform Bar Examination (Legacy UBE) prepared and coordinated by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE). The Legacy UBE is given and graded according to standards agreed upon by all Legacy UBE jurisdictions and consists of three components: the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT). Applicants must take all three components in the same examination administration to earn a Legacy UBE score that is transferable to other Legacy UBE jurisdictions. The three-hour MEE component consists of six essay questions, the three-hour MPT component consists of two performance tests, and the MBE component consists of two three-hour sessions of 100 multiple-choice questions each. The schedule may vary for applicants who are granted testing accommodations. Transferred or banked MBE scores are no longer accepted. February 2026 ADMISSION TO THE BAR Ch 31, p.3 c. The MEE portion of the examination consists of questions from subjects the NCBE designates. Some MEE questions may include issues from more than one area of law. Subject matter outlines for the MEE are available on the NCBE website. d. Bar examination results require a vote of at least four members of the board of law examiners admitted to practice law in Iowa. e. Applicants must achieve a combined, scaled score of 266 or above to pass the Legacy UBE administered on or before July 1, 2026, or a combined, scaled score of 260 or above to pass the Legacy UBE administered after July 1, 2026. 31.3(2) NextGen Uniform Bar Examination. The provisions of this subrule apply to the dates and content of the Iowa bar examination beginning with the July 2027 examination administration. a. Written examinations for admission to the bar will be held in Iowa, commencing on the Tuesday preceding the last Wednesday in February and on the Tuesday preceding the last Wednesday in July. b. The Iowa bar examination will be the NextGen Uniform Bar Examination (NextGen UBE), which is the bar examination administered using NCBE’s NextGen Bar Examination materials in accordance with the UBE. c. The NextGen UBE is a computer-based examination, and all applicants are required to complete all payment, registration, and installation steps to use the examination software by the deadlines established by the board of law examiners and the NCBE. Failure of an applicant to comply with any deadline related to the examination software will result in the administrative denial of the application to take the Iowa bar examination. d. Bar examination results require a vote of at least four members of the board of law examiners admitted to practice law in Iowa. Applicants must achieve a score of 610 or above to pass the NextGen UBE. 31.3(3) Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination. a. Each applicant for admission by examination must earn a scaled score of at least 80 on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) administered by the NCBE. The board must receive the applicant’s MPRE score no later than one year after the office of professional regulation has posted a passing bar examination score for the applicant. b. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that a score report from the NCBE is on file with the board by the date indicated above, otherwise the applicant’s passage of the bar examination will be null and void for purposes of admission in Iowa. [Court Order July 2, 1975; September 17, 1984; October 23, 1985, effective November 1, 1985; January 3, 1996; June 5, 1996, effective July 1, 1996; (Prior to July 1, 1996, Court Rule 101); July 26, 1996; September 12, 1996; October 3, 1997; July 11, 2000; November 9, 2001, effective February 15, 2002; August 28, 2006; June 5, 2008, effective July 1, 2008; September 17, 2008; December 10, 2012; December 16, 2014; October 15, 2015; December 13, 2017, effective January 1, 2018; September 19, 2022, effective October 1, 2022; February 24, 2026, effective July 1, 2026]