The Structure of the NextGen UBE

There's plenty yet to learn about the NextGen UBE. But with a few jurisdictions administering the exam as early as this coming July, it's important to understand some basic facts about this test. Below are some fundamentals about this new exam. This post here focuses more on the structure of the exam; future posts will have a heavier focus on content. 

~ The test runs 9 hours. There are three sessions: a morning session of 3 hours, an afternoon session of 3 hours, and then one additional morning session of 3 hours. As for a second 3-hour afternoon session, that won't be a part of the NextGen exam, but I do expect some jurisdictions to take advantage of that time period to administer a state-specific component. 

~Each of the three sessions of the exam has the exact same format: 40 multiple choice questions, 2 integrated question sets, and one performance task. Adding up the three sessions amount to in total 120 multiple choice questions, 6 integrated question sets, and 3 performance tasks. Not all multiple choice questions count towards the score: 100 of the 120 count, and 20 are used as experimental questions for future tests. 

~In each of the three sessions, test takers will have 72 minutes to answer the multiple choice questions (1.8 minutes per question), 48 minutes to answer the integrated question sets (24 minutes per set), and 60 minutes to answer the performance task.

~Multiple choice questions are presented in two formats; in one format you're asked to select 1 answer from a list of 4 answers; in the other format, you're asked to select 2 answers from a list of 6 answers. Partial credit is available when asked to select 2 answers. 

~Integrated Question sets are presented in two formats: drafting sets and counseling sets. Drafting sets contain what the NCBE is calling "medium-answer questions," which I suppose are a bit longer than short-answer questions, but not as long as essay-length answers. Counseling sets contain both short answer questions and multiple choice questions. Partial credit is available except for multiple choice questions requiring only one answer. 

~Performance tasks are presented in two formats: standalone performance tasks which focus on a single, longer writing assignment, and legal research performance tasks which include multiple choice questions and short answer questions, followed by a medium answer question. Partial credit is available except for multiple choice questions requiring only one answer. 

~The lowest scaled score that one can receive on the NextGen UBE is 500; the highest scaled score that one can receive is 750.  Multiple choice questions contribute to 49% of the score, integrated question sets contribute to 21% of the scaled score, and performance tasks contribute to 30% of the score. 

Look out for more on this exam, as more information is disclosed!