The Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (or MPRE) tests the ethical rules that lawyers must abide by when practicing law. While you likely hear a lot about final exams and the bar exam when starting law school, chatter about the MPRE might be a little quieter. Taking and passing the MPRE, however, is just as important as passing a law school final exam or the bar exam! The vast majority of jurisdictions require that you pass the MPRE in order to practice law! Below, we discuss what you can expect to see on the MPRE as well as compile a list of free resources to help you prepare for the MPRE, including free MPRE practice questions, flashcards, and lectures.
Before we start discussing the free resources, it might be helpful to provide a little bit of background regarding the MPRE. As we mentioned above, the MPRE tests the ethical rules that lawyers must abide by when practicing law. The MPRE contains sixty multiple-choice questions that must be completed in two hours. Fifty of the questions count toward your final score, while ten questions are experimental and don’t impact your score. The MPRE is based on the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct, and the exam is offered three times per year. As of 2020, the MPRE is administered electronically at Pearson VUE testing centers.
The MPRE tests several different topics. Some topics appear more frequently than others on the MRPE. For example, “lawyer’s duties to the public and the legal system” covers only 2-4% of scored questions on the MPRE. That’s only about 1-2 questions! On the other hand, “conflicts of interest” appears most frequently, covering 6-9 questions (12-18%). See the chart below for more information about which subjects are most likely to appear on the MPRE.
MPRE frequency chart
As we mentioned above, the MPRE contains 60 questions. Of these 60 questions, the NCBE only scores 50 of them. Ten questions are “test” questions that may appear on future MPRE exams! The “test” questions are not labeled or otherwise identified, so you need to be prepared to answer all 60 questions!
Test-takers can receive anywhere from 50 to 150 points on the MPRE. The NCBE releases MPRE test-taker data periodically. The most recent release was in April of 2022, which included data pertaining to the March 2022 MPRE. For the March 2022 MPRE, the average score was 95.6., and 19,206 students took the MPRE in March of 2022.
With scores ranging from 50-150 points, what does it take to actually pass the MPRE? The short answer is that it depends! Different jurisdictions require different passing scores.
The NCBE uses scaled scoring when assigning scores on the MPRE. Students receive a raw score which is then scaled to account for exam difficulty as compared to prior exams. While the NCBE does not specifically address how many questions a student needs to answer correctly in order to pass the MPRE, we do provide some additional insight in this blog post. Be sure to check out that post if you want to better contextualize your MPRE score!
Passing scores on the MPRE range from 75 to 86, and they vary by jurisdiction. Check out the chart below to see what constitutes a passing score in the jurisdiction where you hope to be licensed!
The MPRE is available in March, November, and August of each year.
The NCBE usually delivers MPRE scores to students approximately one month after students take the MPRE. If you plan to take the MPRE during March of your 3L year, you should have your results in plenty of time for the July Bar Exam!
We offer a free MPRE course to help students prepare for the MPRE. Our course includes our MPRE outline, access to MPRE lecture videos, and plenty of MPRE practice questions! We currently have over 250 MPRE practice questions available for free in our course, and we continue to add more for each course administration!
We break down our MPRE course into modules based on MPRE topics (see our frequency chart, above, for more information on MPRE material!). Certain modules contain practice questions based on the specific topic covered within that module. These topics include the following:
Our MPRE course also contains four 15-question practice MPRE quizzes. These quizzes can be great tools to gauge your MPRE readiness without diving into a full practice exam and include questions on all of the topics that might appear on the MPRE!
We also provide students with access to three 60-question simulated MPRE practice exams. These are great to practice with as you get closer and closer to exam day!
Previously used MPRE questions can also be useful when preparing for the MPRE. While you can certainly purchase previously used MPRE questions released by the NCBE, there are also a handful of questions (15) available for free through the NCBE’s website. Looking for more practice with previously-used questions? We provide access to two sixty-question tests, 33 previously-released questions, an answer key, and answers and explanations that have all been released by the NCBE. These are available for purchase through our website.
Flashcards can be helpful as you prepare for the MPRE. We have close to 200 free MPRE flashcards in our free MPRE course! These flashcards track with our MPRE outline, and they cover the following subjects:
We’re including a sample of our flashcards below. With your flashcards, you can mark which ones you know, which ones you don’t know, and you can revisit the deck as many times as you want! You can also select different study modes which allow you to use the flashcards as flashcards, as a match game, and multiple other ways that can help you practice!
Do you use Youtube videos to help study? You can also use them to prepare for the MPRE! We have a number of different MPRE-related videos available for free on Youtube! These include everything from course lecture materials to general tips and tricks to pass the MPRE on the first try. You’ll also find videos walking you through the types of questions you’re likely to encounter on the MPRE. We know that providing updated materials is also important to ensure success. We revisit our materials after each administration, and we updated the videos you’ll find on Youtube for the next MPRE cycle!
By taking advantage of some free resources, enrolling in an MPRE course, and devoting some time to studying, you’ll be well on your way to pass the MPRE!
