Study guide
1.1 FYLSE Exam Structure, Passing Standard & Administration
California First-Year Law Students' Examination Baby Bar
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1 Introduction & FYLSE Examination Guide
1.1 FYLSE Exam Structure, Passing Standard & Administration 1.2 Study Method, Pacing & MBE-Style Technique
2 Contracts: Mutual Assent, Capacity & Contract Formation
2.1 The Offer & Objective Theory of Assent 2.2 Termination & Irrevocability of Offers 2.3 Acceptance & the Mailbox Rule 2.4 Mirror Image Rule & UCC 2-207 Battle of the Forms 2.5 Mistake in Contract Formation 2.6 Fraud, Duress, Undue Influence & Illegality 2.7 Capacity to Contract
3 Contracts: Consideration, Estoppel & Implied Obligations
3.1 Consideration & the Bargained-For Exchange 3.2 Past & Moral Consideration, Pre-Existing Duty & Modification 3.3 Promissory Estoppel & Detrimental Reliance 3.4 Implied-in-Fact Contracts & Quasi-Contract 3.5 Implied Covenant of Good Faith, Fair Dealing & Indefinite Terms
4 Contracts: Third-Party Beneficiaries, Assignment & Delegation
4.1 Third-Party Beneficiary Contracts 4.2 Assignment of Rights 4.3 Delegation of Duties
5 Contracts: Statute of Frauds, Parol Evidence & Interpretation
5.1 Statute of Frauds: Contracts Within the Statute 5.2 Satisfying the Statute: Writing, Signature & Exceptions 5.3 The Parol Evidence Rule 5.4 Contract Interpretation & Canons of Construction
6 Contracts: Performance, Conditions, UCC Warranties & Breach
6.1 Conditions: Express, Constructive & Excuse 6.2 Substantial Performance vs. Perfect Tender 6.3 Cure, Rejection, Revocation & Installment Contracts 6.4 UCC Article 2 Warranties & Risk of Loss 6.5 Anticipatory Repudiation & Insecurity
7 Contracts: Remedies, Discharge & Changed Circumstances
7.1 Expectation Damages & Their Limitations 7.2 Reliance, Restitution & Liquidated Damages 7.3 Specific Performance & Injunctive Relief 7.4 UCC Article 2 Buyer's and Seller's Remedies 7.5 Impossibility, Impracticability & Frustration of Purpose 7.6 Discharge by Agreement: Rescission, Novation & Accord and Satisfaction
8 Criminal Law: Principles of Criminal Liability & Mens Rea
8.1 Actus Reus, Voluntary Acts & Omissions 8.2 Criminal Causation & Intervening Causes 8.3 Common Law & Model Penal Code Mens Rea 8.4 Mistake of Fact, Mistake of Law & Concurrence
9 Criminal Law: Inchoate Offenses & Accomplice Liability
9.1 Criminal Attempt & Impossibility 9.2 Solicitation & the Merger Doctrine 9.3 Conspiracy & Merger Doctrine 9.4 Accomplice Liability: Actus Reus & Mens Rea 9.5 Scope of Accomplice Liability, Withdrawal & Parties to Crime
10 Criminal Law: Homicide & Crimes Against the Person
10.1 Common Law Murder & Malice Aforethought 10.2 Degrees of Murder, Premeditation & Deliberation 10.3 The Felony Murder Rule & Its Limitations 10.4 Voluntary & Involuntary Manslaughter 10.5 Non-Homicide Crimes Against the Person
11 Criminal Law: Property Crimes, Theft & Habitation
11.1 Common Law Larceny 11.2 Embezzlement & False Pretenses 11.3 Robbery & Extortion 11.4 Receiving Stolen Property 11.5 Burglary 11.6 Arson
12 Criminal Law: Defenses: Capacity, Justification & Excuse
12.1 Insanity: The Four Legal Tests 12.2 Intoxication, Diminished Capacity & Infancy 12.3 Self-Defense & Defense of Others 12.4 Defense of Property, Habitation & Law Enforcement Privileges 12.5 Duress & Necessity 12.6 Entrapment & Mistake as an Excuse
13 Torts: Intentional Torts to Persons & Property
13.1 Intent, Motive & Incapacity in Intentional Torts 13.2 Transferred Intent 13.3 Battery & Assault 13.4 False Imprisonment 13.5 Trespass to Land 13.6 Trespass to Chattels & Conversion
14 Torts: Privileges & Defenses to Intentional Torts
14.1 Consent: Express, Implied & Capacity 14.2 Exceeding & Vitiating Consent 14.3 Self-Defense & Defense of Others (Tort) 14.4 Defense of Property & Recapture of Chattels 14.5 Public & Private Necessity 14.6 The Shopkeeper's Privilege
15 Torts: Negligence — Duty of Care & Breach
15.1 Duty of Care & the Foreseeable Plaintiff 15.2 Affirmative Duties to Act & Special Relationships 15.3 Standard of Care: The Reasonable Person & Children 15.4 Professional Negligence, Informed Consent & Negligence Per Se 15.5 Land Possessor Liability & Premises Duties 15.6 Breach of Duty & Res Ipsa Loquitur
16 Torts: Causation, Defenses, Multiple Tortfeasors, Wrongful Death & Damages
16.1 Cause in Fact & Multiple Actors 16.2 Proximate Cause & Intervening Forces 16.3 Contributory, Comparative Negligence & Assumption of Risk 16.4 Joint and Several Liability, Contribution & Indemnity 16.5 Vicarious Liability & Non-Delegable Duties 16.6 Wrongful Death & Survival Actions 16.7 Statute of Limitations & Claim Accrual 16.8 Tort Damages: Compensatory, Nominal, Punitive & Mitigation
17 Torts: Strict Liability & Products Liability
17.1 Strict Liability for Animals 17.2 Abnormally Dangerous Activities & Scope of Risk 17.3 Strict Products Liability & Defect Categories 17.4 Products Liability Under Negligence, Warranty & Misrepresentation 17.5 Defenses to Products Liability
18 Torts: Emotional Distress, Defamation, Privacy & Economic Torts
18.1 Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress 18.2 Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress 18.3 Common Law Defamation: Elements, Libel & Slander 18.4 Constitutional Limits, Privileges & Defenses to Defamation 18.5 Invasion of Privacy 18.6 Nuisance & Economic Torts
1.1 FYLSE Exam Structure, Passing Standard & Administration
Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI
The FYLSX is 100 multiple-choice questions split into two sessions of 50 questions each, 90 minutes per session, separated by a set 20-minute break — 200 minutes of total appointment time.
Once a session is submitted the applicant cannot return to it, so questions 1-50 must be finalized before the break.
Of the 100 questions, 90 are scored (30 each in Contracts, Criminal Law, and Torts) and the rest are pretest or substitute items; a scaled score of 560 out of 800 is required to pass.
Under Business and Professions Code section 6060(h)(1) and Rules 4.31 and 4.55 of the Admissions Rules, an applicant who passes within three consecutive administrations of first becoming eligible receives credit for all law study completed to that date; passing later earns credit for the first year only.
Recent administrations show how steep the exam is: June 2025 passed 22.6 percent of 208 takers (33.3 percent first-time, 12.3 percent repeat) and October 2025 passed 12.2 percent of 196 takers (13.8 percent first-time, 11.0 percent repeat).
Last updated: September 2026
FYLSE Exam Structure, Passing Standard & Administration
A note on the name: the State Bar of California abbreviates this examination FYLSX , while FYLSE is in common use among students and commercial prep providers. Both refer to the same exam, and this guide uses the State Bar's abbreviation when describing official rules and policy.
Exam Snapshot: The California First-Year Law Students' Examination (FYLSX)—known across the profession as the "Baby Bar"—is administered twice a year by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California. It is 100 multiple-choice questions on Contracts, Criminal Law, and Torts , delivered as two sessions of 50 questions, 90 minutes each, separated by a set 20-minute break . Of the 100 items, 90 are scored (30 per subject). Passing requires a scaled score of 560 out of 800 .
1. Statutory Authority & Examination Purpose
The FYLSX is required by California Business and Professions Code section 6060(h) and administered under Title 4, Division 1 of the Rules of the State Bar of California (the Admissions Rules). Rule 4.3(J) defines the examination; Rule 4.56 provides that it "is given each year in June and October at test centers in California designated by the State Bar," that the State Bar develops the questions, and that the Committee of Bar Examiners determines the examination's format, scope, topics, content, grading process, and passing score.
The examination exists as a competence checkpoint. Because unaccredited registered law schools and the Law Office Study Program operate outside American Bar Association (ABA) approval and State Bar accreditation, the FYLSX is an independent test of whether a candidate has actually absorbed first-year doctrine before investing several more years and substantial tuition in a legal education.
Historically the FYLSX ran far longer, pairing four one-hour essay questions with 100 multiple-choice questions. The Office of Admissions announced that "[b]eginning with the June 2024 administration, the essay portion of the FYLSX will be eliminated," leaving the 100-question multiple-choice format now in use. The law tested did not change.
2. Candidate Eligibility: Who Must Sit, and the Two-Part Exemption
Whether you must take the FYLSX is governed by Admissions Rule 4.55(A) and Business and Professions Code section 6060(h)(2) . The exemption has two independent requirements, and a candidate must satisfy both :
Rule 4.55(A)(1): a general applicant must take the FYLSX unless the applicant has satisfactorily completed (a) at least two years of college work as defined by the rules and the Committee's guidelines; and (b) the first-year course of instruction (i) at a law school ABA-approved or Committee-accredited when the study was begun or completed, and (ii) that law school has advanced the person, whether or not on probation, to the second year of instruction.
The State Bar states the college-work threshold concretely: students advanced to their second year at an ABA- or California-accredited law school "who have completed a minimum of 60 semester or 90 quarter units of undergraduate work are generally exempt."
Candidate Category Program Description FYLSX Requirement Authority
Unaccredited registered law school (distance, correspondence, or fixed-facility) Registered with the Committee of Bar Examiners but not accredited by the State Bar or approved by the ABA Mandatory B&P Code § 6060(h)(1); Rule 4.55(A)
Law Office Study Program (LOSP) Four years of study in a law office or judge's chambers under the personal supervision of a California licensee or judge Mandatory B&P Code § 6060(e)(2)(B)–(C); Rule 4.29
ABA-approved or California-accredited law school, student with fewer than 2 years of college work 1L completed at an approved/accredited school, but the undergraduate threshold is not met Mandatory Rule 4.55(A)(1)(a)
ABA-approved or California-accredited law school, student with ≥ 2 years of college work and advanced to 2L Both conditions of Rule 4.55(A)(1) satisfied Exempt B&P Code § 6060(h)(2); Rule 4.55(A)(1)
Foreign law school study Exempt by reason of study in a foreign law school as provided by the rules Exempt Rule 4.55(A)(2)
The trap most candidates miss: accreditation alone does not exempt you. A student who enrolls at an ABA-approved law school without two years of college work behind them must still sit for the FYLSX. Conversely, no amount of prior education exempts a student enrolled at an unaccredited registered school or in the Law Office Study Program. Under Rule 4.57 , an applicant who is exempt may still choose to take the examination, and failing it does not affect that applicant's status.
3. The Three-Administration Rule & Credit Preservation
The single most consequential rule governing the FYLSX is the credit rule in Business and Professions Code section 6060(h)(1) , implemented by Admissions Rule 4.31 and restated in Rule 4.55(B) .
Rule Statement
Rule 4.31(A): an applicant required to pass the FYLSX "will not receive credit for any law study until the applicant passes the examination." An applicant who passes within three consecutive administrations of first becoming eligible to take it "will receive credit for all law study completed to the date of the administration of the examination passed." An applicant who does not pass within that window, but who later passes, "will receive credit for his or her first year of law study only."
Law Study Credit Consequences
Passing within three administrations: full credit for all law study completed up to the date of the administration passed — including upper-division coursework finished while awaiting results.
Passing on the fourth or a later administration: credit for the first year of law study only . Everything studied between the end of the first year and the passing administration is lost.
One statutory carve-out: under Rule 4.31(B) , if the June 2020 administration falls inside a candidate's first three administrations, that sitting is not counted toward the three.
Practical Case Study: The Fourth-Administration Trap
Hypothetical: Taylor finishes the first year of study at a registered distance-learning law school in May 2024 and becomes eligible for the June 2024 FYLSX.
Attempt 1 (June 2024): scores 520 — fail. Taylor enrolls in 2L courses in Fall 2024.
Attempt 2 (October 2024): scores 542 — fail. Taylor continues into Spring 2025 2L courses.
Attempt 3 (June 2025): scores 554 — fail. The three-administration window is now exhausted.
Attempt 4 (October 2025): scores 578 — pass.
The cost: Taylor receives credit for the 1L year completed in May 2024 and nothing more. The entire second year of study completed between June 2024 and October 2025 earns no credit and must be repeated before Taylor can qualify for the California Bar Examination.
4. Examination Blueprint, Subject Allocation & Session Structure
The Scope and Grading page states that the examination "includes 100 multiple-choice questions measuring the content areas of Contracts, Criminal Law, and Torts, testing legal theories and principles of general applicability," and that "[d]etailed knowledge of California-specific law is not required." That single sentence is worth internalizing: the FYLSX rewards general common-law and Uniform Commercial Code doctrine, not California statutory trivia.
Subject Area Scored Questions Share of Scored Exam Tested Doctrinal Scope
Contracts 30 33.3% Formation and mutual assent; consideration and implied contracts; UCC Articles 1 and 2; third-party beneficiaries; assignment and delegation; Statute of Frauds; parol evidence and interpretation; performance and conditions; breach and remedies; impossibility and frustration; discharge
Criminal Law 30 33.3% Mens rea, actus reus, causation and capacity; attempt, solicitation, conspiracy, parties and merger; homicide including degrees, felony murder and manslaughter; crimes against the person; theft, burglary, arson and receiving stolen property; justification and excuse defenses
Torts 30 33.3% Damages, limitations and proximate cause; intentional torts and privileges; negligence duty, standard of care, breach, causation, apportionment and defenses; wrongful death and survival; strict and products liability; emotional distress; nuisance, defamation, privacy and misrepresentation
- Pretest / substitute items 10 Unscored Not identifiable to the examinee
- Total 100 100% Two 90-minute sessions + 20-minute break
- Session Structure — and the rule that punishes poor pacing
The June 2026 Admittance Ticket Bulletin sets out the exam-day schedule precisely:
- Session Duration
- Multiple-choice questions 1–50 90 minutes
- Break 20 minutes
- Multiple-choice questions 51–100 90 minutes
Two points matter more than any other logistical fact about this exam:
"The multiple-choice questions are split into two sessions of 50 questions each. Applicants can answer the 50 multiple-choice questions in each session in any order they prefer. Once a session is complete, the applicant cannot return to that session." Flagging and revisiting works within a session only. Anything left blank or unresolved in questions 1–50 is gone the moment you submit that session.
The break is scheduled, not discretionary. It is a fixed 20 minutes between the two blocks; it is not extra working time, and you cannot borrow from it.
Applicants schedule either a morning or an afternoon appointment, with start times generally between roughly 8:00–9:00 a.m. and 12:30–1:00 p.m. Pacific. Candidates approved for extended-time accommodations receive a modified schedule directly from the State Bar.
Pretest items: the Scope page notes that "[f]or each exam, up to 25 questions may be new multiple-choice questions being pretested for use on future exams," while the Grading section fixes the operative arithmetic — 90 questions count, the remainder "are those that are being pretested or are potential substitutes if any of the scored questions did not perform well statistically." Because pretest items are indistinguishable from scored items, every question deserves full effort.
- 5. Scoring, Equating & the Real Pass-Rate Picture
- The 560 Scaled Passing Standard
The State Bar explains the mechanics directly: the scored questions "will be equally weighted such that a perfect raw score will be 100," and through equating those weighted raw scores "will be converted to a scale with a theoretical maximum of 800 points," because multiple forms of the exam exist and equating "adjusts for the possible differences between forms in the average difficulty of the exam." The standard is then a single number: Pass: total scaled score ≥ 560 out of 800 \text{Pass: total scaled score} \ \ge\ 560 \ \text{out of}\ 800 Pass: total scaled score ≥ 560 out of 800
Two consequences follow, and both are commonly misunderstood:
There is no published raw-score cutoff. Because scaled scores are equated form to form, the number of correct answers needed for 560 is not a fixed, published figure, and no reliable source converts one to the other. Treat every claimed "you need X out of 90" number — including those circulated in commercial prep materials — as guesswork.
Nothing is deducted for a wrong answer. A blank and a wrong answer score identically, so never leave an item unanswered — least of all in questions 1–50, which close permanently at the break.
Reconsideration of Grades
The Committee of Bar Examiners considers requests for reconsideration "only when an applicant establishes with documented evidence that a clerical error resulted in failure or prevented the exam from being properly graded," and will not entertain challenges to the grading system itself. Requests must reach the Office of Admissions no later than two weeks after results are released . Results for the June and October administrations are generally released in August and December respectively.
Published Pass Rates
The FYLSX is genuinely difficult, and the published results swing hard between administrations:
- Administration All takers First-time takers Repeat takers
- June 2025 22.6% (208 takers) 33.3% (102 takers) 12.3% (106 takers)
- October 2025 12.2% (196 takers) 13.8% (87 takers) 11.0% (109 takers)
Both rows come from the State Bar's own General Statistics Reports for those administrations. Two sittings four months apart produced overall rates of 22.6 percent and 12.2 percent, so do not plan around an "average" pass rate — plan around the possibility of drawing the harder form and a weaker cohort. First-time takers outperform repeaters in both administrations, and the gap is wide in June 2025 (33.3 percent against 12.3 percent), which is exactly what the three-administration credit rule punishes: the candidate most likely to pass is the one who is fully prepared the first time.
6. Administration Logistics, Test Centers & Deadlines
The FYLSX is primarily an in-person, test-center examination . Recent administrations, including June 2026 and October 2026, "will be administered primarily in person at Prometric test centers," on Prometric-provided computers, with appointments scheduled first-come, first-served at a specific location.
Administrative Parameter Requirement & Specification Practical Candidate Guidance
Testing schedule Twice per year, June and October, at California test centers designated by the State Bar (Rule 4.56). Recent sittings fell on a Tuesday — June 23, 2026 and October 27, 2026.
Session timing Two 90-minute sessions of 50 questions with a set 20-minute break; morning or afternoon appointment. Start times run roughly 8:00–9:00 a.m. or 12:30–1:00 p.m. PT.
Delivery In person at a Prometric test center on a Prometric-provided computer. Handwriting is available to in-person applicants who selected it on an approved application or who have certain approved accommodations. Anticipated California sites include Bakersfield, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange County, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Stockton, and Ventura.
Remote testing Available only by approved request — for out-of-state applicants and others with no test site near their residence, evaluated case by case, requested with the application by the published deadline. Approved remote takers must meet Prometric's minimum system requirements and complete a mandatory practice exam ; proctoring runs live through Prometric's ProProctor platform.
Scratch paper In-person applicants receive physical scratch paper, collected and destroyed after the exam and never graded. Remote applicants use virtual scratch paper in the Prometric platform. Either way, plan to diagram elements and cross off eliminated options somewhere other than your memory.
Application deadlines Rule 4.58(A): the June application is due by April 1 and the October application by August 1 ; late applications are accepted only through May 15 and September 15 respectively, and none are accepted afterward. A deadline falling on a non-business day moves to the next business day. For October 2026 this produced a July 1 opening, an August 3 timely deadline, and a September 15 final cutoff.
Late filing fees $50 in the first late window; $250 in the final late window. Immediate repeaters from the previous administration follow a separate, later deadline track.
Application fee Set by the State Bar's Schedule of Charges and Deadlines (Rule 4.58(A)), which is the only authoritative source for the current amount. Published third-party figures disagree with each other. Confirm the fee in the Applicant Portal at the moment you apply; a 2.5% processing fee applies to card payments, while ACH has none.
Withdrawals Tiered refunds — for October 2026, 60% through September 2, 30% from September 3–17, and 0% from September 18 to the final withdrawal date. Withdrawing still consumes no administration, but the fee mostly does not come back.
Testing accommodations Requested in the Applicant Portal under Rule 4.81 , separately from the exam application. File early. Applicants who wait until the final deadline generally cannot exhaust review of a denial before exam day.