Maryland bar exam: NextGen UBE now.
| July exam | May 1 |
| February exam | Dec. 1 |
| Fees | First-time $750; attorney $750; repeater $400; laptop $130 |
| MPRE minimum | 85 |
Dates can change. Check the board’s site before you pay.
Before filing in Maryland, check the current NCBE profile ↗.
| Rule | Md. Rule 19-219 (formerly 19-216): Special Authorization for Military Spouse Attorneys |
| Accommodation | Provisional practice without exam while associated with a Maryland-licensed attorney |
| Duration | Up to 2 years in Maryland or a contiguous state |
| Supervision | Required (associated Maryland attorney) |
| Adopted | 2015 |
Confirm current status directly with Maryland's bar admission authority ↗: this area of law shifted federally in December 2024 and states are still catching up.
A Maryland exam applicant files a Character Questionnaire first, then a Notice of Intent to Take the UBE in Maryland, which can be filed at the same time as the questionnaire but never before it. The Notice of Intent deadlines are May 1 before a July exam and December 1 before a February exam, and a later filing needs good cause relief. A first-time Maryland taker must file an official law school transcript showing the JD by July 1 before a July exam or February 1 before a February exam. Everything runs through the Board's eBar system, which asks for a Social Security number and an NCBE number.
The UBE is always scheduled for the last Wednesday of July and February and the Tuesday before it. Grades are normally released on the third Friday of October after a July exam and the third Friday of April after a February exam. Most who pass are admitted at ceremonies in December after a July exam or June after a February exam, and no ceremonies are held in July or August.
Board Rule 6 sets the qualifying MPRE score at a scaled 85, and the validity rule depends on the applicant. A lawyer currently admitted in good standing in another U.S. state or territory can use an 85 earned at any time, as long as NCBE or another state's bar officials can report it. An applicant who is not admitted anywhere needs an 85 from an administration no more than three years before the Notice of Intent.
The Maryland Law Component is a set of written outlines and an online quiz on them. The Board sends instructions about a week after the Notice of Intent, and the applicant may finish it any time after that. The Board will not act on the Character Committee's recommendation until the applicant has a qualifying UBE score, a qualifying MPRE score and the completed Law Component on file.
A qualifying score is a scaled 266 on the Legacy UBE or 616 on the NextGen UBE, earned in another UBE state within the three years before the applicant files a Notice of Intent to Transfer. Admission by transfer is governed by Maryland Rules 19-201 through 19-214, effective March 1, 2019. The applicant must have a JD from an ABA-approved school, though waivers exist for lawyers already admitted elsewhere and for foreign-trained lawyers with a U.S. LLM, and a waiver must be obtained before the Notice of Intent is created.
Scores from the October 2020 remote exam were treated as July 2020 scores and expired for Maryland use on July 31, 2023. A transfer applicant must also report the MPRE, complete the Maryland Law Component and establish good moral character and fitness.
Source: Admission by UBE Transfer ↗
Rules 19-215 and 19-216 admit an experienced lawyer who is currently in good standing in a U.S. state, territory or the District of Columbia, and who passed a bar exam or was admitted by diploma privilege after graduating from an ABA law school. The lawyer needs professional experience in three of the most recent five years or more than ten years overall, as full-time authorized practice, full-time law teaching at an ABA-approved school, full-time judging on a court of record, or a combination.
The Board can make an exception for a lawyer whose work does not fit the practice definition in Rule 19-215(c)(1), but it may not shorten the required duration. A lawyer who took the UBE in a state where the score did not pass, and was admitted in another UBE state on that same score, counts as having passed. The applicant need not be an active member of every state where admitted, only of one.
Source: Admission Without Examination ↗
The State Board of Law Examiners publishes a table for every Maryland exam back to 1994 that splits takers by how many times they have sat. In July 2024, 838 people took the exam and 527 passed, 63%. First-time takers passed at 74% (479 of 651), second-time takers at 39% (22 of 57), third-time takers at 20% (12 of 60) and those on a fourth attempt or later at 20% (14 of 70). The February exams are smaller and harder: February 2025 had 317 takers and a 38% pass rate, with first-timers at 50% (57 of 114).
The board's history also shows how much the exam pool has shrunk. July 2013 had 1,544 takers and a 78% pass rate, and July 2024 had 838, about 46 percent fewer, at 63%. First-time takers numbered 1,358 in July 2013 (83% passed) and 651 in July 2024 (74% passed). The Board notes that Maryland has given the UBE since July 2019 and the Maryland General Bar Exam before that, and that the February and July 2021 exams were administered remotely because of the pandemic.
Source: Maryland State Board of Law Examiners: Historical Statistics for the UBE in Maryland ↗
A scaled 266 on the Legacy UBE or 616 on the NextGen UBE, earned in another UBE state within the three years before you file your Notice of Intent to Transfer.
May 1 for the July exam and December 1 for the February exam. Filing later needs good cause relief, and the Character Questionnaire must be filed first or at the same time.
A scaled 85. A lawyer admitted elsewhere can use an 85 from any date, but an applicant not admitted anywhere needs one taken within three years before the Notice of Intent.
Normally on the third Friday of October after a July exam and the third Friday of April after a February exam.
A set of written outlines and an online quiz on them, required of exam and transfer applicants. The Board sends instructions about a week after your Notice of Intent, and you can finish it any time after that.
Three of the most recent five years, or more than ten years overall, of full-time practice, law teaching at an ABA-approved school, or judging on a court of record. The Board cannot waive the duration.
Most are admitted at ceremonies in December after a July exam or in June after a February exam. Others are admitted in open court in September through June, and no ceremonies are held in July or August.
In some cases, yes. Waivers may be available to applicants admitted to the bar of another U.S. jurisdiction and to foreign-trained lawyers with an LLM from an ABA-approved U.S. school, and you must obtain the waiver before you create your Notice of Intent.
63% overall (527 of 838), and 74% for first-time takers, according to the State Board of Law Examiners' historical table.
In July 2024 second-time takers passed at 39% (22 of 57), against 74% for first-timers, and third-time takers at 20%.
Compare other state bar exam guides: Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana
Source: NCBE Comprehensive Guide: Maryland ↗ · reviewed August 21, 2026.