23-05-2025
More California bar examinees wrongly told they failed, state bar says
May 23 (Reuters) - Nine more people who were initially told they failed California's troubled February bar exam actually passed, the State Bar of California said in an email, opens new tab sent to test takers on Thursday, which Reuters reviewed.
Those errors were in addition to the four test takers whose status changed from fail to pass last week after scoring and grading problems were identified.
The mounting number of scoring mistakes is the latest problem to arise from the February test, which was marred by widespread technical and logistical problems including computer crashes and distracting proctors.
The February exam was the debut of California's hybrid remote and in-person test without the components of the national bar exam the state has used for decades — a change that was intended to save as much as $3.8 million annually. But addressing all its problems for the July exam is now expected to add nearly $6 million in costs.
The February exam had a 56% overall pass rate — far higher than the historical average of 35% — after the California Supreme Court allowed the state bar to implement a lower raw passing score because of all the exam's problems.
But many examinees have raised concerns over how their exams were graded and scored.
The state bar has sued testing platform Meazure Learning over the many tech problems, as have at least two groups of test takers. Meazure has said the state bar is trying to "shift the blame" for the flawed rollout of the test.
State Bar Executive Director Leah Wilson has said she will step down in July, citing the botched rollout of the new exam. During a state bar board of trustees meeting on Friday, Wilson said criticism of her handling of the bar exam is "appropriate and deserved" and that she will continue to address the problems through her last day on the job.
Read more:
California bar exam-takers were told they failed. Oops, they passed.
California scraps new bar exam for July, adjusts scores on botched February test
