Ohio bar exam: Legacy or current exam until July 2028; NextGen afterward.
| July exam | Apr. 1, late filing May 10 |
| February exam | Nov. 1, late filing Dec. 10 |
| Fees | First-time $462 / $562 (on time / late); attorney $750 UBE score transfer + C&F; repeater $462 / $562 (on time / late); laptop $121 |
| MPRE minimum | 85 |
Dates can change. Check the board’s site before you pay.
Before filing in Ohio, check the current NCBE profile ↗.
| Rule | Ohio Gov. Bar R. I, §18 |
| Accommodation | Temporary admission without exam for the spouse of an active-duty service member assigned to an Ohio installation, filed through the NCBE Bar Admissions Portal |
| Duration | Provisional pending NCBE and Character & Fitness review |
| Supervision | Not required |
| Adopted | 2017 (approved June 5, 2017) |
Confirm current status directly with Ohio's bar admission authority ↗: this area of law shifted federally in December 2024 and states are still catching up.
An Ohio exam applicant first files an Application to Register as a Candidate, and only an applicant whose registration is active under Gov. Bar Rule I, Section 2(G) can then apply to take the exam. Registration is due November 15 of the second year of law school, and a late registration costs $275 instead of $75.
The exam application is due November 1 for the February exam and April 1 for the July exam, with the late deadlines on December 10 and May 10. When a deadline falls on a weekend, filing is timely on the following Monday. The February 2027 exam is February 23-24, and results for the February and July exams have been released in late April and late October: April 24 and October 23 in 2026.
Source: Important Dates ↗
Registering as a candidate costs $75, or $275 if filed late. The application to take the bar exam costs $462, or $562 if filed late, and the application for re-examination costs the same $462 and $562. A UBE transfer application is $750, and an application for admission without examination is $1,500. A foreign education evaluation is $150, a temporary certification is $300, and a legal intern certificate is $25. The Court also charges $15 to certify MBE scores and $10 for a copy of a filed application.
The fee schedule tells U.S. veterans with GI benefits to check the GI Bill website, because they may qualify for reimbursement of the exam fee.
Source: Admissions Fee Schedule ↗
Ohio adopted the UBE for the July 2020 exam. Under Rule I, Section 7, an applicant must also take and pass the Ohio Law Component, an open-book test taken on the applicant's own device through ExamSoft, with the course outlines available throughout the test. It is a pre-admission requirement, so no one may be sworn in before passing it. An exam applicant is notified by the Bar Admissions Section the Friday after the exam, and a UBE transfer applicant may take it once the application has been accepted.
A UBE score transfers to Ohio if it meets or exceeds the Board's minimum of 270 and was earned in an administration within five years of the application date. Everything is filed through the Bar Admissions Portal, with no paper applications, and notarized documents must have been notarized within the last 60 days. Certificates of good standing from every jurisdiction of admission must be dated within 60 days of filing.
All Ohio applications are filed through the Bar Admissions Portal; the Bar Admissions Section takes no paper applications, and any notarized document must have been notarized within the last 60 days. A UBE transfer file needs certificates of good standing from every jurisdiction of admission dated no earlier than 60 days before filing, a certified transcript showing the bachelor's degree (from the degree-granting school only), a certified law school transcript or letter showing an ABA-approved J.D., the Affidavit of Applicant, the NCBE character questionnaire with its NCBE and barcode numbers, and the 7A Authorization and Release form. A foreign course-by-course evaluation from WES or ECE (fee $150) and a $30 waiver petition are added only where they apply.
The score requirements are a UBE of 270 or more earned within five years of the application date, an MPRE of 85 or higher, and an Ohio Law Component result of 80% or higher. Both scores are sent through the applicant's NCBE account, and the OLC instructions arrive by email within 7 to 10 business days after the application is considered complete. Someone who registered as a candidate less than four years earlier does not resubmit the undergraduate transcript, but after more than four years a new character questionnaire is required.
After a complete file arrives, NCBE runs the background investigation, and the application and NCBE report go to a local bar association for a personal interview. Its admissions committee recommends to the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness, and an applicant may appeal an adverse recommendation to that Board. The applicant must report any change in writing, or amend on the portal or by email to baradmissions@sc.ohio.gov, until admitted.
Beyond the fees set by court rule, the Court lists a $15 MBE score certification, $10 for a copy of a filed application (certified copy $15), $10 each for the bar exam question booklet with selected answers, the subject outline booklet and copies of the applicant's own answers, a $30 waiver petition and a $30 replacement wall certificate. A legal intern certificate is $25, temporary certification $300, foreign legal consultant certification $550 with a $200 annual renewal. Supreme Court fees are non-refundable and non-transferable, and NCBE fees are paid to NCBE separately.
A lawyer admitted and in good standing elsewhere may apply for practice pending admission on the portal after filing the UBE transfer application. The Court has announced its intention to administer the NextGen Bar Exam starting in July 2028.
The Court's 2026 calendar puts the February exam on February 24-25 and the July exam on July 28-29, with the late candidate-registration deadlines on January 15 (for July) and August 15 (for February 2027). Admissions ceremonies for successful examinees who have met every requirement fell on May 18 and November 16 at the Palace Theatre, with the July group split into two sessions by law school.
Source: Ohio Admissions Fee Schedule ↗
A 12-member NextGen Advisory Committee chaired by Justice R. Patrick DeWine reported to the Chief Justice and Justices on February 13, 2025. It weighed three options: build an Ohio bar exam, adopt NextGen with the current Ohio Law Component, or adopt NextGen with a more substantive Ohio component. It recommended the third: adopt NextGen starting with the July 2028 exam, and replace the current open-book Ohio Law Component with one that tests Ohio law the NextGen exam does not, such as Wills and Trusts, Ohio Constitutional Law and the structure of the Ohio court system. It left the format of that component to the Board of Bar Examiners.
The report is frank about its doubts. The committee was uneasy that NextGen was not fully developed and not yet used by any jurisdiction, worried about what it saw as reduced rigor because the exam has no essays, and objected that Trusts and Estates is not a foundational concept on it. It went ahead because the current UBE ends after February 2028, because over half of testing jurisdictions had committed to NextGen, and because it appeared the only tool in development that would keep scores portable. It noted that a unique Ohio exam would likely lose reciprocity with frequent transfer states such as Indiana and Kentucky, which the report says had adopted or planned NextGen.
On transfers, the report says that if the five-year rule in Gov. Bar R. I, Sec. 11(A)(2) stays unchanged, Ohio could accept UBE transfer scores until February 2033, since no new UBE scores will exist after February 2028. It describes the existing Ohio Law Component as 25 multiple-choice questions written by the Board, taken online through ExamSoft, open-note with a Court-produced outline, at any time, as many times as needed with a 24-hour wait after a failed attempt. The Court has a $0 contract with the vendor, so each applicant pays the vendor per test.
Source: Report & Recommendations of the NextGen Advisory Committee (Supreme Court of Ohio) ↗
270 is the minimum the Board of Bar Examiners requires, and the UBE must have been taken within five years of your Ohio application. Ohio adopted the UBE with the July 2020 exam.
$462 if filed on time and $562 if filed late. You also need to have registered as a candidate first, which costs $75, or $275 if it was filed late.
By November 15 of your second year of law school. A late registration costs $275 instead of $75.
November 1, 2026, with a late deadline of December 10, 2026 and a late fee of $100. Your candidate registration must already be active.
Yes. You take it on your own device through ExamSoft, and the course outlines are available during the test, though the find function is not. You must pass it before you can take the oath.
$750 for a UBE transfer application and $1,500 for admission without examination. Both are filed through the Bar Admissions Portal.
In 2026 the February results came out April 24 and the July results October 23. Newly admitted attorneys are then honored at bar admissions ceremonies, held in May and November.
Possibly. The Court's fee schedule tells U.S. veterans with GI benefits that they may qualify for reimbursement of the fee paid to take the Ohio bar exam, and points to the GI Bill website's Education Benefit Programs page to check eligibility.
85 or higher, alongside a UBE score of 270 or more earned within five years of your application and an Ohio Law Component result of 80% or higher.
A local bar association's admissions committee, after NCBE finishes its investigation. It recommends to the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness, and you can appeal an adverse recommendation to that Board.
No. Every application goes through the Bar Admissions Portal, and notarized documents must be notarized within the last 60 days.
The Supreme Court of Ohio has announced its intention to administer NextGen starting in July 2028.
The Advisory Committee's report says yes for a time: with the five-year rule unchanged, Ohio could accept UBE transfers until February 2033, since no new UBE scores exist after February 2028.
The Committee recommended a substantive component testing Ohio law that NextGen does not, such as Wills and Trusts, Ohio Constitutional Law and the Ohio court structure, with its format left to the Board of Bar Examiners.
Compare other state bar exam guides: Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota
Source: NCBE Comprehensive Guide: Ohio ↗ · reviewed August 21, 2026.