If you are planning to take the California Bar Exam in 2025 or later, please see this notice regarding the changes to the California bar exam.
Testing accommodations are provided to ensure that an applicant who has a disability can access the exam and is afforded an equal opportunity to obtain the same result, gain the same benefit, or reach the same level of achievement as that provided to others.
These webpages are intended to help test candidates, evaluators, educators, and others involved in documenting a request for testing accommodations. The State Bar and the Committee of Bar Examiners will use the information you provide to understand the nature of the accommodation you are seeking and its relationship to the specific task of taking the exam. This information will assist the State Bar in making a fair determination regarding your request for testing accommodations.
In situations when the State Bar cannot make provisions for a candidate’s request because of operational or technical reasons, staff will attempt to engage with the candidate to seek a mutually agreeable solution. Candidates are expected to participate in this interactive process in a timely and professional manner.
A reasonable testing accommodation is an adjustment to or modification of standard testing conditions that addresses the functional limitations related to an applicant’s disability by modifications to rules, policies, or practices; removal of structural barriers, communication, or transportation barriers; or provision of auxiliary aids and services, provided it does not:
Testing accommodations are available to those with disabilities as defined in Title 4, Division 1, Chapter 7 of the Rules of the State Bar of California (Admissions Rules). The State Bar is compliant with relevant accessibility laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Applicants with temporary medical conditions, such as a pregnancy or broken leg, and persons who are nursing may also file requests for temporary accommodations.
Test accommodations are adaptations to the exam that can help ensure that the test measures what it is designed to measure. The purpose of test accommodations is to provide candidates with access to the test and an opportunity for the candidate to demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and abilities required for the practice of law. Test accommodations are individualized and considered on a case-by-case basis.
Depending on the nature of the disability, accommodations may include things such as screen-reading software or personal healthcare assistants, wheelchair access, permission to dictate to software, customized timing, customized exam materials (Braille, large print, etc.), extended testing days, and permission to bring and use specific items or medical aids.
Applicants with disabilities are encouraged to file their request for testing accommodations well in advance of an examination they intend to take. Applicants who wait to file their requests near the final filing deadline for the examination they intend to take generally are not able to exhaust all administrative remedies before the exam, such as requesting review of a denial of some or all of the requested testing accommodations.
A request for testing accommodations must be complete and received no later than:
If a deadline falls on a nonbusiness day, the deadline will be the next business day.