West Virginia bar exam: Legacy or current exam until July 2027; NextGen afterward.
| July exam | Apr. 1, late filing May 1 |
| February exam | Nov. 1, late filing Dec. 1 |
| Fees | First-time $500 + C&F; attorney $800 + C&F; repeater $500 / $800 + applicable C&F; laptop $125 |
| MPRE minimum | 80 |
Dates can change. Check the board’s site before you pay.
Before filing in West Virginia, check the current NCBE profile ↗.
| Rule | West Virginia Rule 4.7 |
| Accommodation | Temporary admission without exam for a military spouse attorney; MPRE scaled score of 80 required within 25 months of application |
| Duration | Tied to spouse's West Virginia orders (temporary admission); specific expiration mechanics not published in the sources located |
| Supervision | Not stated in the sources located |
| Adopted | 2016 |
Confirm current status directly with West Virginia's bar admission authority ↗: this area of law shifted federally in December 2024 and states are still catching up.
After a recommendation from the Board of Law Examiners and the West Virginia University College of Law, the Supreme Court of Appeals revised its earlier July 2027 date. West Virginia will keep giving the current UBE through February 2028 and will move to the NextGen UBE with the July 2028 exam.
For score portability the Court approved NCBE's conversion chart: a NextGen score of 620 counts as equivalent to 270 on the current UBE. During the national transition West Virginia accepts transferred scores of 270 or higher on the Legacy UBE or 620 or higher on the NextGen UBE. Its rules also allow admission by examination (Rule 3.0), without examination (Rule 4.0), by UBE transfer (Rule 3.5), as resident professors of law (Rule 4.6), and temporarily for military spouse attorneys (Rule 4.7) and military legal assistance (Rule 4.8).
Source: West Virginia Bar Admissions ↗
The exam is given in Charleston on the last Tuesday and Wednesday of February and July. For the February exam, November 1 is the priority postmark deadline, applications postmarked November 2 through December 1 owe an extra $200 late processing fee, and anything postmarked after December 1 is not accepted. For July the dates are April 1, April 2 through May 1, and after May 1.
The Board says items must be postmarked by the deadline or the application is rejected, with no grace period to fix a missing item. There are no waivers of the rules or instructions, and neither the Board nor its office can give advisory opinions. Supporting papers must be recent: the NCBE report's finalized date within 60 days of submission, notarized forms dated within 60 days, and a credit report dated within 30 days of the postmark. An NCBE supplemental report is accepted only if the original was completed no more than three years before the application.
Source: Bar Applications ↗
The bar exam application filing fee is $500 for students, graduates never admitted anywhere, and attorneys admitted less than one year, and $800 for attorneys admitted one year or more. A UBE transfer application is $750, a reciprocity application $2,000, and a military spouse application $150, each in addition to a separate NCBE background investigation fee that typically begins at $395. Laptop users pay $140 directly to the software provider.
The Board accepts business checks, certified checks, cashier's checks and money orders made payable to the State of WV, and does not accept personal checks or credit cards. A reinstatement fee of $500 or $800, plus the $200 late fee if it applies, is due from someone who withdrew within 60 days before an exam or failed to appear, while an applicant who withdraws more than 60 days out may transfer the fee. An eligibility certificate costs $5 and an optional admission certificate for framing $25. Travel for the exam, the in-person character interview and the admission ceremony is the applicant's own cost.
NCBE's pass-rate table shows no figure for West Virginia, so the number comes from the Board of Law Examiners' own unofficial results list. It gives each applicant a number and a pass or fail result for the July 2026 exam and no names. Counting that list gives 117 applicants, numbered 1 through 117, of whom 72 passed and 45 failed. That is a pass rate of 61.5%. The list does not separate first-time takers from repeaters, so the figure is one overall rate only.
The West Virginia Judiciary says the list is unofficial and that official score notices are mailed to each examinee at the address on file with the Board, and it asks applicants to read that letter before contacting the Board's office.
Source: West Virginia Judiciary: July 2026 Unofficial Bar Exam Results ↗
With the July 2028 exam. The Supreme Court of Appeals moved the date from July 2027, and the current UBE stays through February 2028.
270 or higher on the Legacy UBE or 620 or higher on the NextGen UBE. The Court treats a NextGen 620 as equal to a Legacy 270.
November 1 for the February exam and April 1 for the July exam. A postmark up to December 1 or May 1 is accepted with a $200 late processing fee.
$500 for students, new graduates and attorneys admitted under a year, and $800 for attorneys admitted one year or more, plus an NCBE character fee that typically starts at $395.
$750 for a transferred UBE score and $2,000 for reciprocity, each plus a separate NCBE background investigation fee.
No. The Board accepts business checks, certified checks, cashier's checks and money orders payable to the State of WV, and it does not accept personal checks or credit cards.
No. Items must be postmarked by the deadline or the application is rejected, and the Board grants no grace period and no waivers of its rules.
$500 or $800, the same as the original filing fee, plus the $200 late fee if applicable. It applies if you withdrew within 60 days before an exam or failed to appear.
About 61.5%: the Board's unofficial results list shows 72 of 117 applicants passing, which is a count of that list and not a rate the Board states.
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Source: NCBE Comprehensive Guide: West Virginia ↗ · reviewed August 21, 2026.