Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel
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Home > Admissions Information > General Information About the Colorado Bar Exam
NOTICE: The following information is provided as a summary of commonly asked questions regarding the Colorado Bar Exam. It is not intended to fully address all application/admission policies and requirements. Please refer to both the “Instructions for Filing an Application to Take the Colorado Bar Exam” as well as C.R.C.P. 203 for complete details.
The bar exam is held twice yearly on the last Tuesday and Wednesday of February and July.
Colorado is a Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) jurisdiction. The examination consists of the written portions – Multistate Essay Exam (MEE), Multistate Performance Test (MPT)- and the multiple choice portion – Multistate Bar Exam (MBE).
All exam applicants are required to take all portions of the MEE, MPT and MBE examinations. The MEE and MPT are administered on Tuesday, followed by the MBE on Wednesday.
The exam is administered in the Denver Metro Area at only one location.
Applications must be filed using the most recent version of the CiviCore™ Application Management System (AMS) and forms.
Applications, supplemental documents and applicable fees must be submitted through the CiviCore™ Application Management System (AMS) no later than the applicable filing deadline. In addition, all documents required for application submission and which must also be mailed or delivered in hard copy to the Office of Attorney Admissions must be received no more than 30 days following the date the document was issued or executed. The receipt of hard copy documents has no effect on the application fee assessed.
Applications submitted after November 1 for the February exam and April 1 for the July exam will be assessed late filing fees.
No late exam applications will be accepted after December 1 for the February exam and after May 1 for the July exam.
If you previously submitted an application to take the Colorado Bar Examination using the CiviCore™ AMS, you may reapply by logging in to your CiviCore application account and selecting the option for returning candidates to reapply. The AMS will prompt you to review and edit (if applicable) all information previously submitted. New forms must be completed each time you reapply. You must submit a newly signed, dated and notarized Authorization and Release and Statement of Verification, new fingerprints and a new driving record each time you reapply. Additional instructions are contained within the CiviCore application.
Information about withdrawing your exam application is located here.
Please refer to the “Application Instructions” in your application account for additional policies regarding fees, method of payment, dishonored payments (declined/rejected/unpaid), exam filing deadlines and late filing fees.
If your application fee is declined, rejected or dishonored by your bank after you have submitted your application, your fee will be considered deficient and your application deemed not timely filed. If the fee is resubmitted after the first filing deadline but on or before the last filing deadline, a $200 late fee will be assessed. If the fee is not resubmitted by the date of the late filing deadline, your application will be denied.
Late applications will be accepted through:
December 1 for the February examMay 1 for the July exam
Late Filing Fee, add $200
Late applications will not be accepted after December 1 for the February bar exam and May 1 for the July bar exam.
The date an application is filed is the date it is submitted through the CiviCore™ AMS and applicable fees are paid. Late fees will be assessed accordingly. Electronic submission of an exam application after December 1 or May 1 will be denied regardless of the day of the week on which the deadline falls.
Applications filed without the appropriate fees or not substantially completed will not be deemed timely filed and will not be accepted for processing.
The Colorado Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) consists of three parts: The Multistate Essay Exam (MEE), the Multistate Performance Test (MPT) and the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE). In order to pass the Colorado Bar Exam starting February 2023, an examinee must score 270 scale points (of a possible 400). For exams prior to February 2023, the required passing score was 276 points. The formula for determining the total bar exam score is:
MBE Scale Score + MEE/MPT Scale Score = Bar Exam Score
The MEE portion of the Colorado Bar Examination consists of six questions. Examinees are required to answer all six essay questions in the morning session. A total of three hours is allocated to answer six essay questions (an average of thirty minutes per question). Learn more about the MEE, including subjects that may be tested and areas covered within those subjects, study aids and information guides.
The MPT consists of two 90-minute questions. Both MPT questions are given in the afternoon session. A total of three hours is allocated to answer two MPT questions. The MPT questions are designed to test skills commonly used by lawyers practicing law competently. These skills generally include, but are not limited to, the following: Legal Analysis, Fact Analysis, Awareness of Professional Responsibility, Problem Solving, Research Skills, and Writing Skills. Learn more about the MPT, study aids and information guides.
The MBE is a 6-hour multiple-choice test consisting of 200 questions. It is divided into a 3-hour morning session and a 3-hour afternoon session. Learn more about the MBE, study aids and information guides.
Study aids, instructional guides and practice exams for the MBE, MEE and MPT are available from the National Conference of Bar Examiners.
