The state bar board chair pointed to numerous issues that distracted test takers
The State Bar of California will permit a retake of its February bar exam for those who fail it due to distractions and confusion associated with the rollout of a new test, reported Reuters.
The state bar board announced on Friday that fees would be waived for test takers who fail the February 25 and 26 exams; these examinees would be allowed to retake the test in July for free.
State bar board of trustees chair Brandon Stallings said that test takers were distracted and confused by issues with testing locations, technical problems, and communication lapses. According to state bar officials, the problems were partially caused by the unexpectedly large pool of applicants (5,600) to the February exam – there were about more 1,000 test takers than anticipated.
California was also debuting a new hybrid remote and in-person exam that retained no aspects of the national bar exam used previously. The new test was developed by Kaplan Exam Services and allowed examinees to decide whether they wanted to take the test online under an online proctor or to do so in person.
However, examinees said they had problems scheduling in-person tests and with the lack of test sites nearby. State bar and testing company Meazure Learning also reportedly provided conflicting information, and the exam software was plagued with glitches.
The new exam was expected to save the state up to US$3.8 million in event space rental; however, cost overruns have been recorded. The board also set aside US$3.1 million for the testing waivers and refunds; on February 13, it offered refunds to those who backed out of taking the exam; 964 withdrew, according to a state bar spokesperson.
In addition, the state bar offered travel reimbursements to out-of-state test takers and to test takers who were relocated to different test sites on short notice.
“We recognize that the goal of all applicants is to pass this exam, and compensation of any kind falls short for some,” Stallings said in a statement published by Reuters.
The California Supreme Court greenlit the new exam last year.
