Florida Will Adopt the NextGen Bar Exam in July 2028: What Applicants Should Know

Florida has announced a major change to its bar examination. Beginning with the July 2028 Florida Bar Exam, the Florida Board of Bar Examiners says it will administer the NextGen Bar Exam with a Florida Law Component. For law students and future applicants, that means the structure of Florida’s licensing exam will change in a meaningful way, even though character-and-fitness review, application requirements, and other admission requirements will remain separate parts of the process.

The announcement is important now because students entering law school in 2026 or 2027 may be among the first Florida applicants affected by the transition. Applicants should understand what has been announced, what remains unknown, and which parts of the Florida admissions process are not changing.

When Will Florida Start Using the NextGen Bar Exam?

The Florida Board of Bar Examiners currently states that Florida will begin administering the NextGen Bar Exam with a Florida Law Component starting with the July 2028 examination. The Board has not yet published a complete Florida-specific testing blueprint on its public website, so applicants should avoid assuming that every detail of the future exam is final.

The timing is consistent with the broader national transition to the NextGen Uniform Bar Examination. The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) began the NextGen rollout in July 2026, and the current MBE, MEE, and MPT components are being phased out as jurisdictions adopt the new exam.

What Is the NextGen Uniform Bar Examination?

The NextGen Uniform Bar Examination, often called the NextGen UBE, is designed to test both legal knowledge and practical lawyering skills. According to NCBE, the exam emphasizes the work newly licensed lawyers actually perform rather than separating knowledge and skills into the traditional MBE, MEE, and MPT formats.

NCBE identifies foundational legal subjects such as civil procedure, contracts, constitutional law, criminal law, evidence, real property, torts, and business associations. The exam also tests lawyering skills including legal research, legal writing, issue spotting and analysis, investigation and evaluation, client counseling and advising, negotiation and dispute resolution, and client relationship management.

Family law is scheduled to become a regularly tested doctrinal subject beginning in July 2028, the same administration in which Florida currently plans to begin using the NextGen exam.

What Does “With a Florida Law Component” Mean?

Florida’s announcement specifically says that the state will administer the NextGen Bar Exam with a Florida Law Component. That matters because the NextGen UBE is intended to provide a uniform national examination while allowing individual jurisdictions to impose their own local-law requirements.

As of this writing, the Florida Board of Bar Examiners has not published enough detail to say exactly how Florida’s local component will be structured, scored, or administered in July 2028. Applicants should watch the Board’s official announcements rather than relying on assumptions based on Florida’s current exam format.

That distinction is especially important for students planning coursework or commercial bar preparation several years in advance. The national NextGen content outline is useful, but Florida-specific requirements may add another layer.

Will Florida Bar Character and Fitness Review Change?

Florida’s transition to the NextGen exam does not eliminate the separate character and fitness process. Examination performance is only one part of admission. Applicants must still satisfy the Florida Board of Bar Examiners’ eligibility, application, background-investigation, and character-and-fitness requirements.

An applicant who passes the examination may still have unresolved admissions issues if the Board has questions about disclosures, criminal history, academic discipline, employment history, financial responsibility, prior professional conduct, substance-related matters, or other character-and-fitness concerns.

If you are already concerned about disclosures or background issues, waiting until the exam year to address them may make the process more difficult. Tucker Law’s Florida Bar character and fitness practice focuses on those separate admissions issues.

What Should Florida Law Students Do Now?

Students who may sit for the Florida Bar in July 2028 or later should follow official updates from both the Florida Board of Bar Examiners and NCBE. The most useful steps now are practical rather than speculative.

• Track the Florida Board’s announcements. The Board will be the authoritative source for the Florida Law Component, Florida filing requirements, deadlines, fees, and any Florida-specific transition rules.
• Review NCBE’s NextGen content scope. The national exam places substantial emphasis on integrated legal analysis and practical lawyering skills.
• Do not ignore the admission application. The background investigation and character-and-fitness process are separate from the exam itself.
• Keep records as you go. Employment records, addresses, court documents, school discipline materials, and other records can become important when completing a Florida Bar Application.
• Compare disclosures for consistency. Applicants should carefully review prior law-school applications, other bar applications, and related records before submitting Florida disclosures.

Applicants who want counsel before filing can learn more about Tucker Law’s Florida Bar application review services.

Does the NextGen Exam Change When You Should File Your Florida Bar Application?

No announcement suggests that applicants should wait to begin the admissions process simply because the examination format is changing. In fact, the Florida Board of Bar Examiners has long encouraged applicants to file complete applications and respond promptly to requests for information because background investigations can take time.

The exam transition and the character-and-fitness investigation operate on different tracks. A student may be preparing for the NextGen exam while the Board is separately investigating the applicant’s background.

What Happens to the Current Florida Bar Exam?

The current Florida examination format will continue through the administrations preceding July 2028 unless the Florida Board announces otherwise. Nationally, NCBE has stated that the current MBE, MEE, and MPT components are being sunset as jurisdictions transition to the NextGen UBE.

Florida applicants should therefore pay close attention to the specific administration for which they are applying. Someone taking the February 2028 examination may face a materially different test structure from someone taking the July 2028 examination.

Will a NextGen Score Be Portable Into or Out of Florida?

NCBE designed the NextGen UBE to support score portability among participating jurisdictions, but each jurisdiction controls its own admission rules and policies for accepting transferred scores. Florida has announced adoption of the NextGen exam and a Florida Law Component, but applicants should wait for Florida-specific transfer-score rules before making plans based on portability.

What We Still Do Not Know About Florida’s 2028 Transition

Several important Florida-specific details remain to be announced publicly. Those may include the precise format of the Florida Law Component, how and when it will be administered, how it will be scored, whether it will be integrated with or separate from the NextGen UBE, and the rules governing transferred NextGen scores.

As those details are released, applicants should rely first on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners and the Supreme Court of Florida rather than unofficial summaries.

Florida Bar Admissions Are More Than the Exam

The move to the NextGen exam will change an important part of Florida’s licensing process, but it does not change the basic reality that admission is broader than test preparation. The Florida Board of Bar Examiners evaluates educational qualifications, examination performance, and character and fitness before recommending admission.

Tucker Law represents applicants dealing with application review, character-and-fitness questions, investigative hearings, and formal hearings. Learn more at the firm’s Florida Bar Admissions Attorney page.

Sources

• Florida Board of Bar Examiners — official announcement that Florida will administer the NextGen Bar Exam with a Florida Law Component beginning in July 2028.
• National Conference of Bar Examiners — About the NextGen UBE.
• NCBE — Official Name of NextGen Bar Exam Announced.

This article is for general informational purposes and may be updated as the Florida Board of Bar Examiners releases additional details about the July 2028 transition.