The Transition from the Legacy Exam to the NextGen Exam
Kathryn’s Class and Private Tutoring During the Bar Exam Transition
Kathryn’s class will cover all of the subjects tested on both the Legacy Exam and the NextGen Exam. The “practice” component will continue with the practice and method for the Legacy Exam.
Kathryn will offer private one-on-one tutoring for both the Legacy Exam and the NextGen Exam.
What Is the NextGen UBE?
• Fully computer-based: examinees test on their own laptops using NCBE’s secure testing browser (a shift from the legacy exam’s mix of Scantron and laptop use).
Continuing the Pedagogy of Practice
• Continuity across every NextGen subject: Kathryn’s Class continues to teach the heavily tested subject matter in all of the NextGen subjects — the eight Foundational Concepts and Principles (business associations and relationships, civil procedure, constitutional law, contract law, criminal law and constitutional protections of accused persons, evidence, real property, and torts) and the Foundational Skills (legal research, legal writing, issue spotting and analysis, investigation and evaluation, client counseling and advising, negotiation and dispute resolution, and client relationship and management).
• The pedagogy of practice: the class continues to teach through repeated, guided practice — working standalone questions, integrated question sets, and performance tasks under realistic conditions, then reviewing and correcting — rather than relying only on passive lecture on black-letter law.
• One-on-one tutoring available for both exams: alongside the class, students can now book individualized one-on-one tutoring sessions for both the Legacy exam and the NextGen exam. The same practice-based method, personalized — targeted work on whichever Foundational Concepts, Foundational Skills, or question types (standalone MCQ, integrated sets, performance tasks) will apply with direct feedback on practice responses.
How It’s Different from the Legacy UBE? A Comparison
Legacy UBE
Length - 12 hours over 2 days
Format - Printed materials + Scantron for MCQs; laptop for essays
Question types - 200 MCQ, 6 essays, 2 90 minute performance test
Subject list: Civ. Pro., Con. Law, Contracts, Evidence, Property, Torts, Accused Persons Constitutional Rights, Business Orgs. (Corps., LLCs, Partnerships & Agency)
NextGen UBE
Length - 9 hours over 1.5 days
Format - Fully computer-based; own laptop + secure testing UBE browser
Question types - 120 MCQ, integrated question sets (new), 3 1 hour performance tasks
Subject list: Civ. Pro., Con. Law, Contracts, Evidence, Property, Torts, Accused Persons Constitutional Rights, Business Orgs. (Corps., LLCs, Partnerships & Agency)
NextGen Exam Structure & Timing
• Three 3-hour sections over 1.5 days (Tuesday afternoon + morning, and Wednesday morning).
• Each 3-hour section = 40 standalone MCQs (72 min) + 2 integrated question sets (48 min) + 1 performance task (60 min).
• Suggested per-item pacing: 1.8 min/MCQ, 24 min/integrated set, 60 min/performance task. This is a natural hook for a “pacing drills” or “timed practice” service offering.
What’s Tested
Foundational Concepts and Principles (the substantive law)
Business associations and relationships, civil procedure, constitutional law, contract law, criminal law and constitutional protections of accused persons, evidence, real property, torts.
Foundational Skills (what NextGen adds emphasis to)
Legal research, legal writing, issue spotting and analysis, investigation and evaluation, client counseling and advising, negotiation and dispute resolution, client relationship and management.
Starred vs. unstarred topics
The NCBE has suggested a focus on how students should study:
• Starred topics must be learned from memory — no legal resources are provided on the exam for those. Focus on these starred sub-topics!
• Unstarred topics may appear with supporting legal resources (statutes, case law, excerpts) provided in-exam, so the skill being tested is application/recognition rather than pure recall.
• See NCBE website – Content and Scope
NextGen Question Types
• Standalone multiple-choice (120 total, 40/section): select-one-of-four and select-two-of-six formats; independent questions; worth 49% of the score; partial credit available on select-two items.
• Integrated question sets (6 total, 2/section): built around a shared fact scenario, either “drafting sets” (medium-answer writing) or “counseling sets” (MCQ + short-answer); worth 21% of the score.
• Performance tasks (3 total, 1/section): either a standard task (one longer writing assignment) or a legal research task; each comes with a case file and library of resources; worth 30% of the score.
Note: Much of the information above comes from NCBE’s official Examinees’ Guide to the NextGen UBE (July 2026–February 2027 edition, published August 1, 2025).