Bar Exam Results 2026: Release Dates by State

Michigan released its July 2026 bar exam results on Tuesday, October 20, 2026: the Board of Law Examiners mailed result letters and posted the list of passers by seat number on its website the same day. New York has not released and has not posted a date. California releases on October 30, 2026, through the Applicant Portal no later than 4:00 p.m., with the public pass list several days later. Ohio and Oregon both released on October 16: Ohio reports 720 of 1,011 examinees passing (71%), and Oregon an 80.2% pass rate. Texas posted its July 2026 statistics on October 19: 2,259 of 3,232 examinees passed, a 69.89% overall pass rate. NCBE's jurisdiction table, updated October 20, 2026, lists 45 jurisdictions with July 2026 results. The ones still waiting, besides New York and California, are New Jersey, Alaska, the District of Columbia, Mississippi, and Rhode Island. Results are posted to your applicant portal (or, in Michigan, your mailbox) first; most boards publish a public pass list the same day or shortly after.

Still waiting? Status as of October 20, 2026

Are Michigan results out?

Yes. The Michigan Board of Law Examiners released July 2026 results on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. Per the Board's notice, results were mailed by United States Postal Service (no tracking) to the address registered with the Board, and the Board posted a list of passing applicants by seat number on its Board of Law Examiners page on courts.michigan.gov. The passing score is 268. Two details matter if your seat number is missing or your letter says "unofficial":

• The seat-number list includes applicants with holds on their file, but it leaves out anyone whose law school graduation has not yet been certified. Those applicants receive no result at all until the certification reaches the Board.
• Applicants without character and fitness clearance, a passing MPRE, or a completed Michigan Law Component receive unofficial results only.

The Board asks applicants, families, and employers not to call or email for results, and not to schedule an admission ceremony until official results arrive. If your letter has not arrived after 15 business days (November 10, 2026), you can send the Board a written request for a duplicate results packet; email requests are accepted. No July 2026 Michigan pass rate was available from the Board or from NCBE's table when we checked on October 20. Historical comparison only: Michigan's July 2025 results came out on October 17, 2025, with a 65% overall pass rate per NCBE.

New York

Not released. As of October 20, 2026, nybarexam.org has not posted a July 2026 release date (its news section was last updated September 24, 2026). Historical comparison only: July 2025 results were posted to candidate BOLE accounts on October 23, 2025, and the public pass list followed the next day. When results come, they post to your BOLE account in the Applicant Services Portal first.

California

Announced. The State Bar of California says July 2026 results will be released on October 30, 2026, through the Applicant Portal, no later than 4:00 p.m.; the exact time will be announced later. The pass list will be posted on the State Bar's Examination Pass List page several days after results are released, on a date the State Bar has not yet announced.

New Jersey

Not released, and no date posted on njbarexams.org. The Board's FAQ says it does not set a release date and that July results have historically come out in mid-November, with the list of successful candidates posted 48 to 72 hours after results reach User Home Pages. Last year ran earlier than that pattern: NCBE's table lists the July 2025 New Jersey release as October 10, 2025.

Others still pending

NCBE's table also lists no July 2026 results yet for Alaska, the District of Columbia, Mississippi, and Rhode Island, or for Palau, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Check each board's own site; NCBE adds a row only after a jurisdiction reports.

What has been released so far (as of October 20, 2026)

NCBE's bar exam pass rates by jurisdiction table (last updated October 20, 2026, 5:33 p.m. CDT) lists July 2026 results for 45 jurisdictions: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Michigan released on October 20 but was not yet in the table when we checked. The states we track in detail, per the boards' own sites and NCBE's table:

• West Virginia released August 28, 2026. The Board of Law Examiners posted an unofficial pass/fail list by seat number on courtswv.gov and mailed official score notices; NCBE lists a 62% overall pass rate.
• Arkansas released August 31, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. The pass list is on arcourts.gov; NCBE lists a 65% overall pass rate.
• Wisconsin released September 1, 2026, a day ahead of the Board's tentative September 2 date. This was Wisconsin's first Uniform Bar Examination, and NCBE lists a 53% overall pass rate against a 260 passing score.
• North Carolina released September 2, 2026, in line with the Board's five-week policy. Results were posted to applicants' secure portal accounts; NCBE lists a 76% overall pass rate.
• Oklahoma released September 10, 2026. NCBE added Oklahoma to its table that day with a 73% overall pass rate against a 260 passing score, and the Board of Bar Examiners posted a September 10 "Admission Ready" notice on okbbe.com for applicants who have completed every other requirement, with the oath ceremony set for October 8, 2026. The Board's July 2026 statistics page shows 335 examinees and 246 passing.
• Colorado released to examinees on September 17, 2026. NCBE lists a 70% overall pass rate and 79% for first-time takers. The Office of Attorney Regulation sends answer packets to unsuccessful examinees on October 1, and the swearing-in ceremony is October 19.
• Georgia released September 18, 2026, the date the Board had planned, per its September 18 news post on gabaradmissions.org. NCBE lists a 64% overall pass rate and 75% for first-time takers.
• Florida released September 18, 2026, the Board's scheduled date. NCBE lists a 64% overall pass rate and 75% for first-time takers.
• Illinois released October 1, 2026. NCBE lists a 71% overall pass rate, 80% for first-time takers, and 2,259 examinees.
• Minnesota released October 2, 2026, as announced. NCBE lists a 77% overall pass rate, 84% for first-time takers, and 650 examinees.
• Missouri released October 2, 2026, as announced on mble.org. NCBE lists a 77% overall pass rate, 85% for first-time takers, and 653 examinees; the enrollment ceremony is October 16.
• Texas released October 6, 2026, and posted statistics on October 19. See the Texas section below.
• Washington released October 9, 2026, for both the July exam and the September 1-2 make-up exam, and the new-admittee process starts the same day. WSBA's October 9 statistics release reports 208 of 280 candidates passing, a 74.29% overall pass rate, 85.87% for first-time takers, and 52.08% for repeaters, with an average NextGen UBE score of 642 against a 610 passing score.
• Virginia released October 9, 2026, the date the Board had announced. The Board's statistics page on barexam.virginia.gov lists a 72.48% overall pass rate and 78.50% for first-time takers for July 2026; NCBE lists 558 examinees.
• Pennsylvania released October 9, 2026, in line with the Board's "mid-October" guidance. The Board's press release reports 1,473 applicants tested and 1,077 passing, a 73.12% overall pass rate; its statistics report gives an 80.60% pass rate for first-attempt takers.
• Maryland posted official results to applicants' eBar My Status pages on October 9, 2026, at 4:30 p.m., for the July 2026 NextGen UBE in Maryland. NCBE lists a 69% overall pass rate, 85% for first-time takers, and 811 examinees.
• Connecticut released October 9, 2026, per NCBE's table, which lists no July 2026 pass rate for Connecticut yet.
• Massachusetts released October 13, 2026. NCBE lists a 73% overall pass rate, 81% for first-time takers, and 1,541 examinees.
• South Carolina released October 14, 2026. NCBE lists a 78% overall pass rate, 82% for first-time takers, and 435 examinees.
• Ohio released October 16, 2026. Per Court News Ohio, 720 of 1,011 examinees passed (71%), and 676 of 828 first-time takers passed (82%). The pass list is on supremecourt.ohio.gov, and new attorneys will be sworn in on Monday, November 16, at the Palace Theatre in Columbus, with ceremonies at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.
• Oregon notified applicants through their ILG admissions pages on October 14-15 and posted the pass list and overall pass rate on October 16, 2026, as the Oregon State Bar had scheduled. On its first NextGen bar exam, 344 of 429 applicants passed, an 80.2% pass rate: 90% for first-time takers (304 of 338) and 44% for repeaters (40 of 91), against a 615 passing score.
• Michigan released October 20, 2026. See the Michigan section above.

Texas bar exam results: July 2026

Texas released the July 2026 pass list and delivered individual result letters on October 6, 2026, and posted its July 2026 examination statistics on October 19, 2026. Per the Board of Law Examiners' statistics report on ble.texas.gov, 2,259 of 3,232 examinees passed, a 69.89% overall pass rate. First-time takers passed at 79.21% (2,134 of 2,694) and repeaters at 23.23% (125 of 538). Graduates of the ten Texas law schools taking the exam for the first time passed at 86.35%. Thirty further examinees sat under courtesy seating to earn a UBE score for another jurisdiction and are not counted in those rates. The pass list is at ble.texas.gov/pass-list and is also posted on the Texas Supreme Court and State Bar of Texas sites. The New Lawyers Induction Ceremony is October 26, 2026, at Bass Concert Hall in Austin.

The table below covers the largest jurisdictions plus every other state whose board had posted a July 2026 date when we last checked, in order of release. Where a board has published an official date, it is marked as announced; where results are out, the row says so. Where a board has not announced, the row gives last year's date as a historical comparison and the site to watch, because no board guarantees a date until it posts one.

July 2026 bar exam results by state

Jurisdiction	July 2026 release	Status	Where results appear
Wisconsin	Released September 1, 2026	Released; 53% overall pass rate per NCBE's jurisdiction table	Email notice, then the electronic application account (wicourts.gov)
North Carolina	Released September 2, 2026	Released; 76% overall pass rate per NCBE's jurisdiction table	Applicant secure portal (ncble.org)
South Dakota	Released September 4, 2026 (per NCBE)	Released; 73% overall pass rate, 82% first-time, 71 examinees per NCBE's jurisdiction table	State board site
Oklahoma	Released September 10, 2026	Released; 73% overall pass rate per NCBE's jurisdiction table	Results statistics and admission notices on okbbe.com
Maine	Released September 11, 2026 (per NCBE)	Released; 64% overall pass rate, 68% first-time, 143 examinees per NCBE's jurisdiction table	State board site
Utah	Released September 11, 2026 (per NCBE)	Released; 89% overall pass rate per NCBE's jurisdiction table	State board site
Wyoming	Released September 11, 2026 (per NCBE)	Released; 69% overall pass rate per NCBE's jurisdiction table	State board site
Vermont	Released September 15, 2026 (per NCBE)	Released; 63% overall pass rate per NCBE's jurisdiction table	State board site
Arizona	Released September 16, 2026 (per NCBE)	Released; 64% overall pass rate per NCBE's jurisdiction table	State board site
Indiana	Released September 16, 2026 (per NCBE)	Released; 65% overall pass rate per NCBE's jurisdiction table	State board site
Colorado	Released September 17, 2026 (to examinees)	Released; 70% overall pass rate per NCBE's jurisdiction table; answer packets for unsuccessful examinees October 1, swearing-in October 19	Examinee notification first, then the public pass list (coloradolegalregulation.com)
Florida	Released September 18, 2026	Released; 64% overall pass rate per NCBE's jurisdiction table	Applicant portal; Supreme Court of Florida posts results for 30 days
Georgia	Released September 18, 2026	Released; 64% overall pass rate per NCBE's jurisdiction table	Email, then results on your homepage; full pass list on gabaradmissions.org
Hawaii	Released September 18, 2026 (per NCBE)	Released; 73% overall pass rate per NCBE's jurisdiction table	State board site
Alabama	Released September 25, 2026	Released; 52% overall pass rate, 77% first-time, 548 examinees per NCBE's jurisdiction table	State board site
Kentucky	Released September 30, 2026	Released; 76% overall pass rate, 83% first-time, 332 examinees per NCBE's jurisdiction table	State board site
Illinois	Released October 1, 2026	Released; 71% overall pass rate, 80% first-time, 2,259 examinees per NCBE's jurisdiction table	ilbaradmissions.org
Delaware	Released October 1, 2026	Released; 66% overall pass rate, 201 examinees per NCBE's jurisdiction table	State board site
Louisiana	Released October 2, 2026	Released; 70% overall pass rate, 78% first-time, 520 examinees per NCBE's jurisdiction table	State board site
Minnesota	Released October 2, 2026	Released; 77% overall pass rate, 84% first-time, 650 examinees per NCBE's jurisdiction table	Minnesota State Board of Law Examiners, ble.mn.gov
Missouri	Released October 2, 2026	Released; 77% overall pass rate, 85% first-time, 653 examinees per NCBE's jurisdiction table; enrollment ceremony October 16	Applicant user homepage, then the Announcements section on mble.org
Nevada	Released October 2, 2026	Released; 50% overall pass rate, 56% first-time, 305 examinees per NCBE's jurisdiction table	State board site
Idaho	Released October 6, 2026	Released; 80% overall pass rate, 87% first-time, 177 examinees per NCBE's jurisdiction table	State board site
Tennessee	Released October 6, 2026 (per NCBE)	Released; 72% overall pass rate, 80% first-time, 719 examinees per NCBE's jurisdiction table	State board site
Texas	Released October 6, 2026; statistics posted October 19	Released; 2,259 of 3,232 passed, 69.89% overall, 79.21% first-time, per the Board's October 19 statistics report; induction ceremony October 26 in Austin	Secure link emailed to your ATLAS account; pass list at ble.texas.gov/pass-list, also on the Texas Supreme Court and State Bar of Texas sites
Virginia	Released October 9, 2026	Released on the announced date; 72.48% overall pass rate, 78.50% first-time, per the Board's statistics page	Applicant portal notification; passing names posted on barexam.virginia.gov
Washington	Released October 9, 2026, for both the July exam and the September 1-2 make-up exam	Released; 208 of 280 passed, 74.29% overall, 85.87% first-time, per WSBA's October 9 statistics release. Network problems at the Yakima test site led WSBA to cancel the July exam; a make-up exam was held September 1-2 at UW Tacoma, and applicants who could not complete the July exam and had no prior bar exam failures were offered a waiver of the exam requirement by court order	Applicant user home page; new-admittee process also starts October 9
Pennsylvania	Released October 9, 2026	Released; 1,473 tested, 1,077 passed, 73.12% overall pass rate, 80.60% first-attempt, per the Board's press release and statistics report	Press-release pass list on pabarexam.org, then detailed results in the Online Bar Application account
Maryland	Released October 9, 2026, at 4:30 p.m.	Released; 69% overall pass rate, 85% first-time, 811 examinees per NCBE's jurisdiction table	eBar My Status page (official results are not mailed); unofficial seat-number list on the Maryland Judiciary site (courts.state.md.us)
Connecticut	Released October 9, 2026 (per NCBE)	Released; no July 2026 pass rate in NCBE's table yet	Connecticut Bar Examining Committee site
Massachusetts	Released October 13, 2026 (per NCBE)	Released; 73% overall pass rate, 81% first-time, 1,541 examinees per NCBE's jurisdiction table	Board of Bar Examiners results page on mass.gov
South Carolina	Released October 14, 2026 (per NCBE)	Released; 78% overall pass rate, 82% first-time, 435 examinees per NCBE's jurisdiction table	South Carolina bar admissions site
Ohio	Released October 16, 2026	Released; 720 of 1,011 passed (71%), 676 of 828 first-time takers (82%), per Court News Ohio; Bar Admissions ceremony November 16 at the Palace Theatre in Columbus	Pass list on supremecourt.ohio.gov; result letter and score report in your Bar Admissions Portal account
Oregon	Released October 16, 2026 (applicants notified October 14-15)	Released; 344 of 429 passed, 80.2% overall, 90% first-time, 44% repeat, per the Oregon State Bar; swearing-in ceremony October 22 in Salem	Secure ILG admissions page, then the pass list on osbar.org
Michigan	Released October 20, 2026	Released; letters mailed and passers posted by seat number October 20; pass rate not yet published when we checked. Historical comparison: July 2025 results came out October 17, 2025	Mailed letter (USPS, no tracking); passing seat numbers on the Board of Law Examiners page on courts.michigan.gov
New York	No date posted	Not released as of October 20 and no date on nybarexam.org. Historical comparison: July 2025 results posted October 23, 2025	Candidate BOLE account in the Applicant Services Portal; public pass list the next day
California	October 30, 2026, no later than 4:00 p.m.	Announced (calbar.ca.gov); exact time and pass-list date to be announced	Applicant Portal; pass list posted several days later on the Examination Pass List page
New Jersey	No date posted	Not released as of October 20. The Board's FAQ says it sets no date and July results have historically come in mid-November; July 2025 results came October 10, 2025, per NCBE	User Home Page on njbarexams.org; list of successful candidates 48 to 72 hours later

Two cautions. "Announced" dates can still move; Wisconsin released a day before its tentative date. And historical patterns are only patterns: the exam fell on July 28-29 this year, a day earlier than 2025, so last year's weekday may shift.

How results are actually released

Almost every board follows the same sequence.

1. Your portal updates first. New York posts to your BOLE account, California to the Applicant Portal, Ohio to your Bar Admissions account, Virginia under the Admission Documents tab. Texas emails a secure link tied to your ATLAS account. Michigan is the outlier among the large states and still mails a paper letter, posting results by seat number online the same day the letters go out.
2. The public pass list follows. New York published its July 2025 list the morning after candidate results; California posts its list several days after portal release; Georgia and Ohio post the list at a stated hour on release day. Pass lists show names of passers only, so an absent name is not the same as a fail: applicants with pending character and fitness, MPRE, or law school certification issues are often withheld from the list even if they passed.
3. Score reports and statistics come last. Component breakdowns sit in the portal with your result; jurisdiction-wide pass rates usually follow in a press release within a week.

No board gives results by phone, and Virginia and Michigan explicitly ask examinees, families, and employers not to call. Make sure the address and email on file are current now.

UBE score transfers after results

If you sat the Uniform Bar Examination, your score is portable to the other UBE jurisdictions. A few rules matter for anyone planning to transfer:

• Your score only exists once your testing jurisdiction releases it. NCBE will not place a score on a transcript until the testing jurisdiction has announced results and authorized release. You cannot pre-order a transfer to get an early look.
• Transcripts cost $30 each through NCBE Score Services, payable online, and requests are ordinarily processed the next business day after payment. Refunds are not given for any reason.
• The receiving jurisdiction's passing score controls. A UBE jurisdiction accepts a transferred score that meets its own cut score, whether or not it met the standard where you sat. The reverse is also true: a pass in a 266 state does not transfer into a 270 state.
• Score age is set per jurisdiction. Each UBE state decides how old a transferred score may be, so check the receiving board's rule before assuming a score earned this July stays usable for a later move.
• Character and fitness does not transfer. You go through it again in every jurisdiction where you seek admission.

One transition note: July 2026 was the first administration in which some jurisdictions gave the NextGen UBE while most, including New York and Illinois, still gave the legacy UBE. New York has said it will not accept NextGen transfer scores from administrations before July 2028. If you are transferring between a legacy and a NextGen state, confirm the receiving board's policy before paying for a transcript. NCBE has published national figures for both exams: the July 2026 MBE national mean scaled score was 140.7 (announced September 1, 2026), and on September 25, 2026, NCBE released results for the inaugural July 2026 NextGen UBE, reporting a national mean score of 640.6 across 2,630 examinees in 10 jurisdictions, with an overall pass rate of 72.7 percent, 85.2 percent for first-time examinees and 41.0 percent for repeaters.

If you did not pass

A failing result leaves a tight but workable runway. Under NCBE's schedule, the February 2027 UBE is scheduled for February 23-24, 2027, roughly fifteen to twenty-two weeks after most large states release. Three practical points:

• Application deadlines arrive fast. Several boards open February registration before July results are out, and late-filing windows close in autumn with escalating fees. Check your board's deadline page the day you get results, not the following week.
• Read the score report before changing anything. Most portals give a component breakdown. A candidate a few points short with a strong written score and a weak MBE needs a very different plan than the reverse. Decide what to fix from the numbers, not from how the exam felt in July.
• Check whether your jurisdiction is switching to NextGen in February 2027. Between July 2026 and July 2028 most jurisdictions move from the legacy UBE to the NextGen UBE. If yours switches next administration, your outline and practice materials change with it. NCBE's NextGen decisions page lists each jurisdiction's first NextGen date.

The retake is usually a shorter, more targeted block than the first attempt, because you already have complete outlines. Working professionals rarely can repeat a full-time summer program in winter, so compress: load your own outlines, essay feedback, and subject notes into a workspace where you can generate practice exams on the subjects your score report flagged, and use the study schedule generator to fit the plan around a job. The guide to studying for the bar exam with AI walks through how to set that up from source materials rather than starting from a blank outline.

How to use the waiting period

Most July takers have a job, a clerkship, or a start date, and the weeks before results are easy to waste on forum refreshing. A few things are worth doing now, whichever way the result goes:

• Finish the non-exam admission requirements. If your MPRE score, character and fitness application, or state-specific component (Michigan's Law Component, for example) is still outstanding, you will receive only an unofficial result and stay off the pass list until it is resolved. North Carolina issues licenses about four weeks after results to applicants who have everything else complete; clearing the paperwork now is the difference between being sworn in this autumn and waiting into the new year.
• Confirm how your employer handles both outcomes. Many firms and agencies have written policies on retake leave and conditional start dates; know them before release day.
• Keep your materials organized, not active. Do not study, but keep your outlines, practice essays, and score-tracking sheet where you can find them. If you pass, some will be useful in practice; if you do not, you want a day-one starting point. Turning those files into notes and summaries preserves the work without touching it until you need it.

If the result means a February retake, our comparison of the best AI tools for certification exam prep is a good place to choose a study setup. Tracking a different licensure exam? Our guide to how long FE and PE results take covers the NCEES timeline.

The bottom line

If you sat in July 2026, your result lands between late August and November: 45 jurisdictions, including Texas, Ohio, Oregon, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Florida, and Georgia, are out per NCBE's table, and Michigan released on October 20. California follows on October 30, while New York and New Jersey have not posted dates. Results hit your portal (or Michigan's mailed letter) first, the pass list second. Use the wait to clear every non-exam admission requirement, so whichever letter you get, the next step is already obvious.