Yes, Pennsylvania is a UBE state. The Commonwealth adopted the Uniform Bar Examination beginning with the July 2022 administration, and a scaled score of 270 out of 400 earns a passing result.1Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. UBE FAQs One change is already on the calendar: Pennsylvania will switch to the NextGen UBE starting with the July 2028 administration, so anyone sitting for the exam before then will take the current format.2National Conference of Bar Examiners. Pennsylvania Adopts NextGen UBE First Administration Set for July 2028
What Taking the UBE in Pennsylvania Involves
The Uniform Bar Examination is a standardized two-day test developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners and administered in Pennsylvania each February and July. Day one is written; day two is multiple-choice. Pennsylvania does not add a state-specific test or course on top of it.
The exam has three components:
- The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) is 200 multiple-choice questions over six hours, covering contracts, constitutional law, criminal law and procedure, evidence, real property, torts, and civil procedure. It counts for 50% of the total score.
- The Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) is six 30-minute essays. It tests the MBE subjects plus business associations, conflict of laws, family law, secured transactions, and trusts and estates, and counts for 30%.
- The Multistate Performance Test (MPT) is two 90-minute tasks built around a simulated case file, testing practical lawyering skills. It counts for the remaining 20%.
These components and their subject coverage are the same in every UBE jurisdiction.3National Conference of Bar Examiners. Understanding the Uniform Bar Examination
Passing Score and Score Portability
Pennsylvania’s minimum passing score is 270 on the 0–400 scale, and that threshold applies to exams taken from February 2024 onward.1Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. UBE FAQs
The main practical benefit of a UBE state is score portability. If you earn a qualifying score here, you can transfer it to another UBE jurisdiction for admission without sitting the exam again. Each jurisdiction sets its own cutoff, so a 270 that passes in Pennsylvania will not necessarily meet another state’s threshold. The reverse works too: Pennsylvania will accept a qualifying UBE score earned in another jurisdiction, provided no more than 30 months have passed since the first day of that exam administration. There is no exception or appeal for scores outside that window.1Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. UBE FAQs
Who Can Sit for the Pennsylvania Bar
To sit for the exam, you need a Juris Doctor from a law school that was ABA-accredited at the time you enrolled or graduated, along with an undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university (or the equivalent in the Board’s judgment). An alternative path exists for attorneys licensed in a reciprocal state who graduated from an unaccredited U.S. law school; they must have practiced for five of the last seven years and provide a certificate of good standing from their current jurisdiction.4Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. Rule 203
Passing the UBE is not the last step. You also need a scaled score of at least 75 on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination before the Board will grant admission, and you must clear a character and fitness investigation. Graduates of foreign law schools face a separate set of requirements under Rule 205 that are not covered here.
What Changes with NextGen in July 2028
The National Conference of Bar Examiners is phasing in a replacement test called the NextGen UBE. A limited group of jurisdictions begins administering it in July 2026, but Pennsylvania is not among that early group. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has set Pennsylvania’s first NextGen administration for July 2028, meaning every exam through February 2028 will still follow the current UBE format.2National Conference of Bar Examiners. Pennsylvania Adopts NextGen UBE First Administration Set for July 2028
Several things change when the switch happens:
- The exam shrinks to three sections of three hours each, administered over a day and a half rather than two full days.
- The question mix becomes 120 standalone multiple-choice questions, six integrated question sets, and three performance tasks.
- Core doctrinal subjects remain (contracts, constitutional law, criminal law, evidence, real property, torts, civil procedure, and business associations). Family law and trusts and estates appear only in skills-focused questions, and examinees receive legal resources for those, which reduces the memorization load for peripheral areas.
- The test explicitly measures legal research, legal writing, client counseling, negotiation, and investigation alongside doctrine.
- Scoring moves to a 500–750 scale, and Pennsylvania has set its NextGen passing score at 620.
5National Conference of Bar Examiners. NextGen UBE Blueprint July 2026 – February 20276National Conference of Bar Examiners. NextGen UBE Decisions by Jurisdiction
Score portability carries over. In most jurisdictions, qualifying scores from both the legacy UBE and the NextGen UBE will be accepted for transfer during the transition period.7National Conference of Bar Examiners. NextGen UBE Scores and Score Portability If your timeline puts you anywhere near July 2028, build your prep plan around the version of the exam you will actually sit for.