The New York Law Exam is a 50-question, open-book online test on New York-specific law that every candidate for admission to the New York bar must pass, including those transferring a Uniform Bar Examination score from another state. You need at least 30 correct answers out of 50 to pass, and a passing score stays valid for three years from the date you earned it.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 22 CRR-NY 6000.3 – Examinations and Other Requirements
Where the NYLE Fits in Bar Admission
Admission by examination in New York has four components: the UBE, the NYLE, the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, and 50 hours of qualifying pro bono service. The MPRE requires a minimum scaled score of 85 and remains valid for four years from the date you sat for it.2New York State Board of Law Examiners. Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) If any of these pieces expires before the Board of Law Examiners certifies you to the Appellate Division, you redo whatever lapsed.3New York State Board of Law Examiners. Admission
If you took the UBE in another jurisdiction and are transferring the score to New York, you still have to take and pass the NYLE here. The NYLE score itself does not transfer anywhere else; it exists only for New York admission.4New York State Board of Law Examiners. Application by Transferred UBE Score
You Have to Finish the New York Law Course First
Before registering for the NYLE, you must complete the New York Law Course, a self-paced online program of roughly 17 hours of video lectures on the Board’s course site. Questions appear on screen as you watch. Answer wrong, and the system rewinds you to the segment covering that topic and makes you watch it again before the question returns.5New York State Board of Law Examiners. Welcome to the New York Law Course
The course doubles as your study material. The Board publishes the written materials in a standard digital version (locked so you cannot search it electronically) and a large-print version. These are the only references you may use during the exam, so learning where topics live in the document while you watch the lectures is time well spent.
One consequence catches people off guard: if you fail the NYLE, you must repeat the entire NYLC before sitting again. There is no cap on retakes, but every attempt begins with another full run through the lectures.6New York State Board of Law Examiners. Rules of the State Board of Law Examiners
When the Exam Is Offered and How to Register
The Board administers the NYLE at least three times a year.6New York State Board of Law Examiners. Rules of the State Board of Law Examiners The 2026 dates and registration cutoffs are:
- April 16, 2026 at noon ET, with registration closing March 17, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET
- September 24, 2026 at noon ET, with registration closing August 25, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET
- December 17, 2026 at noon ET, with registration closing November 17, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET
Each deadline falls exactly 30 days before the exam.7New York State Board of Law Examiners. NYS Bar Exam Dates Registration goes through your existing Board account and costs $27. Miss a deadline and the next window is months away, which can push your entire admission timeline back.
What the Exam Covers
The NYLE tests 13 subject areas of New York law: the New York court system, administrative law, business relationships, civil practice and procedure, conflict of laws, contracts, criminal law and procedure, evidence, matrimonial and family law, professional responsibility, real property, torts and tort damages, and trusts, wills, and estates.8New York State Board of Law Examiners. Course Materials for the New York Law Course and New York Law Examination
Questions apply New York rules to short fact patterns rather than asking for abstract doctrine. Expect scenarios that turn on how New York’s rule differs from the common-law or federal approach you studied for the UBE. Civil practice and evidence tend to carry weight because New York’s procedural rules diverge sharply from the federal rules most law students learn.
How the Exam Is Taken
The NYLE is administered online through Examplify, the secure testing application from ExamSoft.9ExamSoft. New York State Laptop Program for Uniform Bar Examination You download and install it on your own computer ahead of time, then enter an access code released at the scheduled start.
Examplify does not run on Chromebooks, Android devices, or Linux, and touchscreen input is not supported. Virtual environments like Parallels and VMware are prohibited. Check the current Windows and macOS version requirements on ExamSoft’s site well before exam day, because a laptop that cannot launch Examplify the morning of the test is not an accepted excuse.10ExamSoft. Minimum System Requirements
Open-Book, With Limits
Open-book here is narrower than it sounds. You may consult the official NYLC course materials during the exam. The digital version is locked in a non-searchable format, so Ctrl+F and other search functions will not work.11New York State Board of Law Examiners. NYLC / NYLE Course Access and Materials Using a searchable copy of the materials, accessing the internet, or getting outside help all violate Board Rule 6000.13. The large-print version of the materials is also permitted.12New York State Board of Law Examiners. Large Print Version of NYLC/NYLE Course Materials
The Board warns that two hours is not enough time to research every answer from scratch. Candidates who treat open-book as a substitute for studying regularly fail. Knowing where to find a rule in the materials matters more than having the materials open in front of you.
Scoring, Results, and the Three-Year Clock
Passing is 30 out of 50 correct.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 22 CRR-NY 6000.3 – Examinations and Other Requirements Results post to your Board account in about two weeks; the December 2025 results came out 13 days later, on December 31, 2025.13New York State Board of Law Examiners. BOLE Official Page New York State Bar Examination
A passing NYLE score is valid for three years from the date you received it. If the Board has not certified you to the Appellate Division within that window, the score expires and you have to repeat both the course and the exam. Candidates who take the UBE elsewhere and later decide to transfer into New York sometimes discover their NYLE clock has been running the whole time.
What Counts as Misconduct, and What It Costs
The Board enforces a zero-tolerance policy on prohibited items at the exam. Cell phones, electronic devices, and outside notes are not allowed past the security checkpoint, and claiming a device was off or stowed in a pocket is not a defense.14New York State Board of Law Examiners. Exam Day References and Security Policy
If the Board issues a Notice of Charges under Rule 6000.13, possible penalties include nullifying your score or registration, barring you from the NYLC, NYLE, or bar exam for up to six years, invalidating individual answers or reducing your score, and forfeiting your fees. The Board also sends a written report of the finding to the Appellate Division handling your admission and to the bar authorities of any other state where you apply.15Cornell Law. 22 NYCRR 6000.13 – Fraud, Dishonesty That last piece has the longest tail: a misconduct finding becomes a character-and-fitness issue in every jurisdiction you later apply to.
Testing Accommodations
Candidates who need non-standard accommodations apply separately through the Board’s Applicant Services Portal or by mail, using the form that matches the type of request. All supporting documentation must be submitted with the application by the deadlines posted on the Board’s exam dates page, and you should not submit both a mailed and a digital version of the same request. The Test Accommodations Handbook sets out the documentation standards for each type of disability and is worth reading before you prepare the submission.16New York State Board of Law Examiners. Test Accommodations for the New York Bar Exam and the New York Law Exam