The published numbers, administration by administration
NCBE's own releases give a consistent recent picture. July administrations: 140.5 (July 2023), 141.8 (July 2024), 142.4 (July 2025), 140.7 (July 2026). February administrations: 131.1 (February 2023), 131.8 (February 2024), 130.8 (February 2025), 131.2 (February 2026).
July means run consistently higher than February means, a longstanding pattern tied to who sits for each administration — July draws a larger share of first-time test takers straight out of law school, while February skews toward repeat candidates and a different mix of jurisdictions.
- July 2023: 140.5
- July 2024: 141.8
- July 2025: 142.4
- July 2026: 140.7
- February 2023: 131.1
- February 2024: 131.8
- February 2025: 130.8
- February 2026: 131.2
What actually moved July 2024 and July 2026
NCBE's own Testing Column attributed the July 2024 increase to a stronger-than-usual test-taker cohort rather than an easier exam — mean scores reflect the tested population's performance, not a change in difficulty NCBE controls for through scaling. July 2026's roughly 1.7-point drop reversed the upward run NCBE had tracked since 2022, and NCBE's own commentary again points to test-taker population shifts as the more likely driver than the test itself.
Scaling is specifically designed to make scores from different administrations comparable despite small difficulty differences between forms — a moving national mean reflects who took the test, not a change in what score a given level of ability would produce.
Why the national mean isn't your target score
A national mean is an aggregate across every jurisdiction and every candidate type sitting that administration. Your own required score is whatever your specific jurisdiction has set as its passing standard on the combined UBE or MBE scale, a number that doesn't move with the national mean and that you should confirm directly from your jurisdiction's own published requirement.
Use the national mean as context for reading pass-rate news, not as a study target: aim for your jurisdiction's actual passing score with real margin, not for 'above average' on a number your admission doesn't depend on.
NCBE's ten-year mean-score table
NCBE's 2025 statistics table lists national mean scaled scores from 2016 through 2025. February means were 135.0, 134.1, 132.8, 134.0, 132.6, 134.0, 132.6, 131.1, 131.8 and 130.8. July means were 140.3, 141.7, 139.5, 141.1, 140.4, 140.3, 140.5, 141.8 and 142.4, with 2020 reported separately because of pandemic-era administrations.
NCBE reports 2025 summary statistics as well. July had 46,959 examinees, a mean of 142.4, a median of 143.3 and a standard deviation of 17.9. February had 15,350 examinees, a mean and median of 130.8 and a standard deviation of 15.6. Yearly examinee totals ranged from 61,209 in 2022 to 69,842 in 2016, outside 2020, which NCBE reports separately.
Common questions
What was the lowest February MBE mean from 2016 to 2025?+
130.8, in 2025, according to NCBE's ten-year table of national mean scaled scores.
What was the highest July MBE mean in that table?+
142.4 in July 2025, excluding July 2020, which NCBE reports separately because of the pandemic.
How many people took the July 2025 MBE?+
46,959, with a mean scaled score of 142.4 and a median of 143.3, according to NCBE.
What was the spread of July 2025 MBE scores?+
A standard deviation of 17.9, with a maximum of 188.7 and a minimum of 46.3, according to NCBE's 2025 summary statistics.
Why are raw MBE scores not compared across years?+
NCBE says raw scores are not comparable, primarily because question difficulty varies from one administration to the next, and it equates the exam.
How does NCBE make scores comparable?+
By equating, a statistical process that adjusts for variations in question difficulty, so scaled scores represent the same level of performance across administrations.
How many people took the MBE in 2022?+
61,209 across February and July, the lowest yearly total from 2016 to 2023 outside 2020, which NCBE reports separately, according to NCBE's table.
Is a national mean my target score?+
No. Each jurisdiction sets its own passing standard, and NCBE says each jurisdiction determines the weight it gives the MBE, so check your jurisdiction's number.
What to do next
- 1
Confirm your own jurisdiction's actual passing score directly, not a national average.
- 2
Read a reported national-mean change as population movement first, difficulty second.
- 3
Compare your practice scaled-score estimates against your jurisdiction's real threshold with margin.
- 4
Treat July-versus-February mean differences as a test-taker-mix pattern, not a signal about which administration is 'easier.'