Georgia bar exam: dates, fees and scores

Georgia's two-step process: fitness first, then the exam

Georgia splits admission into two applications with separate deadlines and fees. An applicant first files an Application for Certification of Fitness, and after the Fitness Board certifies the applicant as fit, files a Bar Exam Application for a particular exam. Two boards are involved, the Board to Determine Fitness of Bar Applicants and the Board of Bar Examiners, and both must certify the applicant to the Supreme Court. A Certification of Fitness stays valid for five years unless suspended, and a renewal application is due at least three months before it expires.

For the February 23-24, 2027 exam, the regular fitness filing period ran March 25 to July 1, 2026, and the final period, with a $500 late fee, runs July 1 to October 7, 2026. For July 27-28, 2027, the regular period is October 21 to December 2, 2026 and the final period is December 2, 2026 to March 3, 2027. All periods close at 4 p.m. Eastern, and a fitness application is not filed until the fee arrives. The Office advises filing near the start of the period and before fingerprinting, and documents can be uploaded only after the application is filed.

Source: Deadlines and Fees for Fitness Application and Bar Exam Application ↗

Georgia bar exam application windows and fees

An applicant may apply to sit once holding a valid Certification of Fitness, but must first file an eligibility request that the Office reviews before it sends instructions to complete the application and pay. For the February 2027 exam the regular filing period runs September 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027 and the final period runs January 1 to January 15, 2027, with accommodations due November 1, 2026. For July 2027 the regular period is March 1 to June 1, 2027, the final period June 1 to June 15, and accommodations are due April 1, 2027. A final-period filing adds $500.

The fitness application costs $450 if filed before the first law degree is awarded and $750 after, $1,200 for the one-day Attorneys' Exam, $1,000 for a foreign-educated petition, and $2,500 for a petition for admission on motion. The two-day bar exam application costs the Board $400 from a current law student or $550 from a graduate, plus $107 to NCBE; the one-day Attorneys' Exam is $550 plus $35 to NCBE. Handwriting the exam carries a $105 fee, the same as ExamSoft's laptop price. Credit cards, Visa or Mastercard only, add a $17 fee on fitness applications and $7 on bar exam applications.

Georgia's passing score, essay subjects and scoring

A scaled score of 270 is required to pass the Georgia exam. The essays draw on Business Organizations, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Family Law, Federal Practice and Procedure, Georgia Practice and Procedure, Non-Monetary Remedies, Professional Ethics, Property, Torts, Trusts, Wills and Estates, and UCC Articles 2 and 3. Secured Transactions is no longer a tested essay subject.

The scaled MBE score is 50% of the total. Each of the two MPT items is weighted 1.5, or 50% more than each of the four essays, and every MPT and essay is graded whatever the MBE score. Written scores are scaled to the same mean and standard deviation as the MBE scaled scores. Scores for February 2026 came out on the third Friday of April and July 2026 on the third Friday of September, earlier than the last Friday of May and October used before 2023.

Source: Georgia bar admissions FAQ ↗

Georgia's one-day Attorneys' Exam, MPRE and NextGen date

Georgia does not accept transferred MBE scores. A lawyer admitted elsewhere may be eligible for the one-day Attorneys' Exam, which is the two MPT items and four essays without the MBE, and a fitness application for the two-day exam can be converted to the Attorneys' Exam if the applicant is admitted elsewhere and meets the deadline. An ABA-approved law degree is required.

The MPRE requirement is a score of 75 or higher for the Certificate of Eligibility, with no expiration on scores, so a score earned for another state's admission still counts. An applicant may sit for the exam without it, but gets no Certificate of Eligibility until it arrives. The Supreme Court of Georgia has announced that applicants will begin taking the NextGen exam in July 2028, with no cut score or portability decision yet.

Georgia's own results, July 2024 to July 2026: first-timers against repeat takers

The Office of Bar Admissions publishes a statistics sheet for each exam, and it gives counts, not just percentages, for first-time takers, repeat takers and everyone together. The five sheets from July 2024 to July 2026 show the same shape every time: first-timers pass at 66.0% to 82.3%, and repeat takers at 16.7% to 37.7%.

July 2026 is the widest gap in the set. First-timers passed 704 of 941 (74.8%), while repeat takers passed 36 of 216 (16.7%). In February 2026 repeat takers were the larger group, at 265 of the 479 applicants, and they passed at 37.7% against 72.4% for the 214 first-timers. The Office's sheets cover the whole Georgia exam, including the one-day Attorneys' Examination and foreign-educated lawyers, so these totals are broader than a school-only rate.

Source: Georgia Office of Bar Admissions: July 2026 Georgia Bar Examination Statistics ↗

Georgia's ABA schools and applicant groups, July 2026 and July 2025

The sheet splits July 2026 applicants by where they studied. Graduates of ABA-approved Georgia schools passed 505 of 685 (73.7%), graduates of ABA-approved schools outside Georgia 176 of 347 (50.7%), and the 75 who took the one-day Attorneys' Examination 53 (70.7%). Foreign-educated lawyers passed 6 of 45 (13.3%). Applicants from the older Board-approved schools, who graduated before 1998, were 5 repeat takers and none passed.

Among the Georgia schools the University of Georgia had the highest first-time rate in July 2026 at 90.3% (121 of 134), then Emory at 89.5% (94 of 105). Atlanta's John Marshall had 90 first-timers, 72.2% of whom passed, and 41 repeat takers, of whom 9.8% (4) passed; none of its 10 applicants on a second attempt passed. The sheet also gives each school's average MBE score: 149.6 at Georgia and 134.0 at John Marshall, with the Georgia-school average at 142.3.