Illinois Bar Exam Statistics


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Illinois Bar Exam Statistics 2025: Facts about Bar Exam in Illinois reflect the current socio-economic condition of the state.

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LLCBuddy editorial team did hours of research, collected all important statistics on Illinois Bar Exam, and shared those on this page. Our editorial team proofread these to make the data as accurate as possible. We believe you don’t need to check any other resources on the web for the same. You should get everything here only 🙂

Are you planning to start an Illinois LLC business in 2025? Maybe for educational purposes, business research, or personal curiosity, whatever it is – it’s always a good idea to gather more information.

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Top Illinois Bar Exam Statistics 2025

☰ Use “CTRL+F” to quickly find statistics. There are total 21 Illinois Bar Exam Statistics on this page 🙂

Illinois Bar Exam “Latest” Statistics

  • Illinois test takers passed the July bar test at an 80.9% rate, down 4.3 percentage-points from the prior year.[1]
  • According to Superior Court Rule 304(f), each candidate must pass the written bar examination with a minimum combined score of 70% or higher on the MBE and essay sections, and a minimum scaled score of 75 on the MPRE in order to pass.[2]
  • The Illinois bar exam pass rates for total takers falls between 69% – 89%. First-time takers have the higher pass rates of 81% – 93%. Repeat takers have lower pass rates of 30% – 58%.[2]
  • Illinois had a remote bar in October 2020 with 75% pass rate, Nancy Vincent, administrative director of the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar, wrote in a February 2021 web post.[4]
  • Statistics jurisdictions stated that 68,305 people took the bar exam in 2019, with a 58% pass percentage as a whole.[5]
  • In the Illinois bar exam last February 2019, the pass rate was 52% while in July 2019, the pass rate increased to 71%.[5]
  • In the July 2022 Illinois bar exam, the overall pass rate was 68% with first time pass rate of 77% and repeater pass rate of 20%. The results were released last September 30, 2022.[4]
  • Illinois requires bar exam applicants to pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (“MPRE”). You must score 80 or higher on the MPRE in order to pass in Illinois.[4]
  • In order to pass the Illinois bar exam, an examinee must score at least 266. This is equal to 133, based on the MBE’s 200-point scale.[4]

Illinois Bar Exam “Exam” Statistics

  • 21,935 people took the test in February 2019, and jurisdictions reported that 46% of them passed. The overall pass rate for the 46,370 July 2019 exam takers reported by jurisdictions was 64% .[5]

Illinois Bar Exam “Test” Statistics

  • The passing percentage for the New York Bar test, which serves as a decent middle ground standard, is 61% while Illinois has a passing rate of 68.80%[3]
  • The Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar announced in August that results would be delayed, because candidates experienced technical issues during the test. Results were released Oct. 7, and the pass rate was 67%, according to the NCBE website.[4]
  • 162 out of 378 Maryland test takers in February 2021 had a total pass percentage of 42.9% while Illinois had an overall passing rate of 42%.[2]
  • The Board of Bar Examiners automatically analyzes and regrades the top 15% of the failed applicants’ essay responses after the tests have been assessed but before the dissemination of the grading results.[2]
  • According to Hale, several students who took the July 2021 remote test had technical difficulties, such as displays turning black for a brief period of time during the essay component.[4]

Illinois Bar Exam “Other” Statistics

  • The Illinois State Bar Association was created in 1877. The voluntary organization has about 28,000 members. There are about 65,000 lawyers living in Illinois. About 38% of lawyers in Illinois are female.[4]
  • The National Conference of Bar Examiners recently published statistics showing that the national mean scaled score for the July 2021 Multistate Bar Exam was 140.4.[4]
  • According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in the legal industry is expected to increase by 10% between 2012 and 2022, which is a typical growth rate when compared to other employment sectors.[6]
  • Illinois gives equal weight to the essay and multiple choice portions of the Multistate Bar Examination.[1]
  • The Nationwide Conference of Bar Examiners reported that the national MBE score decreased to 141.5, a 28 point decrease from 2013, a decrease that is regarded as substantial.[1]
  • First time applicants to the Illinois Bar Exam from the College of Law passed with an 89% passing percentage during the July 2021 administration.[7]

Also Read

How Useful is Illinois Bar Exam

One of the main arguments in favor of the Illinois Bar Exam is that it serves as a regulatory mechanism to ensure that only qualified individuals are granted a license to practice law in the state. The exam covers a wide range of legal topics, testing candidates on their understanding of key principles in areas such as constitutional law, contracts, and civil procedure. By passing the exam, candidates demonstrate that they possess the foundational knowledge necessary to provide competent legal services to clients.

Furthermore, the exam also tests a candidate’s ability to think critically and analytically when presented with complex legal scenarios. This is a key skill for attorneys, who must be able to make sound decisions and offer reasoned arguments on behalf of their clients. By requiring candidates to demonstrate these skills, the Illinois Bar Exam helps to ensure that only individuals who are capable of providing high-quality legal representation are admitted to the bar.

Additionally, the Illinois Bar Exam helps to standardize the qualifications of attorneys practicing in the state. By establishing a uniform set of criteria that all candidates must meet in order to be licensed, the exam helps to maintain consistency and quality within the legal profession. This can be reassuring for clients, who can trust that their attorney has met a certain standard of knowledge and skill.

However, it is also important to consider the limitations of the Illinois Bar Exam. Some critics argue that the exam places too much emphasis on rote memorization of legal rules, rather than on practical skills that are more relevant to the practice of law. For example, the ability to communicate effectively with clients, negotiate settlements, or conduct legal research may not be adequately assessed by a written exam.

Furthermore, the Illinois Bar Exam can be a significant barrier to entry for individuals from underrepresented backgrounds who may not have had access to the same resources and opportunities as their more privileged counterparts. This can contribute to a lack of diversity within the legal profession, as individuals from marginalized communities may face additional challenges in preparing for and passing the exam.

In conclusion, while the Illinois Bar Exam serves an important regulatory function in ensuring the competence and standardization of attorneys practicing in the state, it is important to consider the limitations of this exam. By acknowledging these limitations and working towards a more inclusive and equitable licensing process, we can help to create a legal profession that is truly representative of the diverse communities it serves.

Reference

  1. chicagolawbulletin – https://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/archives/2014/11/12/illinois-bar-exam-scores-11-12.aspx
  2. jdadvising – https://jdadvising.com/february-2022-bar-exam-results-release-dates-by-state/
  3. lawschooli – https://lawschooli.com/bar-exam-pass-rate-by-state/
  4. abajournal – https://www.abajournal.com/web/article/remote-learning-and-burnout-could-be-reason-for-declining-bar-pass-rates
  5. ncbex – https://thebarexaminer.ncbex.org/article/fall-2020/2019-statistics/
  6. wbaillinois – https://wbaillinois.org/bar-passage-score-increase/
  7. illinois – https://law.illinois.edu/admissions/profiles-statistics/
  8. ameribar – https://ameribar.com/illinois-bar-exam/
  9. adaptibar – https://blog.adaptibar.com/february-2020-bar-exam-results/
  10. crushendo – https://crushendo.com/illinois-bar-exam-prep/
  11. ibarexam – https://ibarexam.com/illinois-bar-exam/
  12. ncbex – https://www.ncbex.org/statistics-and-research/bar-exam-results/
  13. quimbee – https://www.quimbee.com/resources/bar-exam-pass-rates-by-state-for-2020

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