How Do February 2022 Results Compare with February 2021 Results (so far)?

Tennessee bar results for the February 2022 exam came out yesterday.

The February 2022 results were considerably lower than the February 2021 results.

The pass rate for first-time takers was 54%, which represented a 10-point drop from February 2021’s 64% first-time pass rate.

While the pass rate for repeat takers were identical between the February 2021 and 2022 examinations, the first-time pass rate pulled the overall pass rate down to 41%, which was a drop of 5 points from the February 2021 exam.

Typically, pass rates are lower on the February examinations compared with the July examinations. But it's interesting to see significant dips (like Tennessee's 10-point drop) from one February exam to another February examination.

So I wanted to see whether Tennessee’s 10-point drop in first-time bar passage rates was an outlier or a trend.

To date, 12 jurisdictions have publicly first-time bar passage information, according to data released by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin).

Of the 12 jurisdictions, six jurisdictions had higher first-time bar passage rates on the February 2022 exam compared with the February before. And six jurisdictions—including Tennessee—had lower first-time bar passage rates on the February 2022 exam compared with February 2021.

So, at least at this point, there’s not too much that can be gleaned from these results. But it’s still very early in the results season, with about 40 more jurisdictions still waiting to release their results.

I'll keep an eye on this as more jurisdictions release their results.