How Do You Get Admitted to the South Carolina Bar?
Bar admission in South Carolina is governed by Rule 402, SCACR, the Supreme Court of South Carolina's rule, working with the Board of Law Examiners and the Committee on Character and Fitness.
The state's bar exam is the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), and applicants need a UBE score of 266 or higher, an MPRE score of 77 or higher and the Course of Study on South Carolina Law.
There is no admission on motion, but a UBE score earned in another UBE jurisdiction satisfies the UBE requirement if it is 266 or higher and less than three years old.
Verify before you rely on this
At a glance
The Supreme Court of South Carolina under Rule 402, SCACR, with the Board of Law Examiners and the Committee on Character and Fitness.
The Uniform Bar Exam (UBE).
266.
77 or higher.
NCBE lists South Carolina's first NextGen administration for July 2028.
No. South Carolina does not offer admission on motion.
$1,000 in the early filing window or $1,500 otherwise, plus $750 more for applicants admitted in another jurisdiction for over a year.
Ways to get admitted in South Carolina
- Admission by examinationBy examination
Score 266 or higher on the UBE, earn an MPRE score of 77 or higher, complete the Course of Study on South Carolina Law and be found qualified by the Committee on Character and Fitness.
- UBE score transferScore transfer
A UBE score of 266 or higher earned in another UBE jurisdiction satisfies the exam requirement if it is less than three years old.
Who admits lawyers in South Carolina?
Admission to the South Carolina bar is governed by Rule 402, SCACR, the Supreme Court of South Carolina's admission rule.
The Board of Law Examiners and the Committee on Character and Fitness administer it.
Rule 402 sets out the qualifications an applicant must meet — a UBE score, an MPRE score, the Course of Study on South Carolina Law, minimum age, a law degree and good moral character — along with the application fees.
Which bar exam does South Carolina give?
South Carolina gives the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), the exam coordinated by NCBE that combines the Multistate Essay Examination, two Multistate Performance Test tasks and the Multistate Bar Examination.
The minimum passing UBE score in South Carolina is 266.
A UBE score that is more than three years old cannot be used to satisfy the requirement, whether it was earned in South Carolina or in another jurisdiction.
“has received a score of 266 or higher on the UBE administered in South Carolina or any other jurisdiction. A UBE score that is more than three (3) years old may not be used to satisfy this requirement.”
Who is eligible to sit for the South Carolina bar?
Rule 402 requires a South Carolina applicant to be at least 21 years old, to be of good moral character and to hold a JD or LLB from an ABA-approved law school.
Those qualifications come straight from the rule; our research did not confirm the rest of the eligibility detail, so read Rule 402 in full and confirm your situation with the Board of Law Examiners before you apply.
“(1) is at least twenty-one (21) years of age; (2) is of good moral character; (3) has received a JD or LLB degree from an ABA Approved Law School.”
What MPRE score does South Carolina require?
South Carolina requires a scaled MPRE score of at least 77, and the score must come from an MPRE administration within three years of the date you file your bar application.
MPRE scaled scores run from 50 to 150, and each jurisdiction sets its own passing score — the 77 is South Carolina's requirement under Rule 402, not an NCBE rule.
“has received a scaled score of at least seventy-seven (77) on the MPRE.”
How does character and fitness work in South Carolina?
Good moral character is one of Rule 402's qualifications, and an applicant must be found qualified by a panel of the Committee on Character and Fitness.
The review applies whether you earn your UBE score in South Carolina or transfer one in — a transferred score does not skip character and fitness.
Our research did not confirm the details of the committee's process, so questions about your own history belong with the Committee on Character and Fitness.
“has been found qualified by a panel of the Committee on Character and Fitness”
Can out-of-state lawyers waive into South Carolina?
No. NCBE's listing for South Carolina says its rules do not provide for admission on motion, so there is no waiver based on years of practice in another state.
What South Carolina does accept is the UBE score itself: a score of 266 or higher earned in any UBE jurisdiction satisfies the exam requirement as long as it is less than three years old.
Each UBE jurisdiction's passing score applies both to people who tested there and to people transferring a score in, and a transferred score does not skip South Carolina's character and fitness review.
Pass rates, fees and results timing
The exam application fee is $1,000 for applications filed from December 1st to January 10th or from August 1st to August 31st, and $1,500 for applications filed during the remainder of the application periods.
The $1,000 windows close on the same dates as the first filing deadlines: January 10 for the July exam and August 31 for the February exam, as NCBE's October 2026 listing had them.
An applicant who has been admitted in another jurisdiction for more than a year pays $750 more.
Our research did not find a current South Carolina pass rate or a published results schedule, so check with the Board of Law Examiners for the latest figures.
“(i) $1,000 for applications filed from December 1st to January 10th or from August 1st to August 31st. (ii) $1,500 for applications filed during the remainder of the application periods.”
When does South Carolina switch to the NextGen bar exam?
South Carolina gives the legacy UBE through February 2028, and NCBE lists the state's first NextGen UBE administration for July 2028.
NCBE's listing showed South Carolina's NextGen minimum passing score as TBA when we read it in October 2026, so confirm the score and any changed jurisdiction requirements with the Board of Law Examiners as the switch gets closer.
What is the Course of Study on South Carolina Law?
South Carolina's local requirement is the Course of Study on South Carolina Law, which an applicant completes after filing a complete application.
It sits alongside the UBE and MPRE requirements in Rule 402 rather than replacing them — some UBE jurisdictions add a state-specific law component like this on top of the portable score.
One naming note from our research: it is not the SC Bar Essentials Series, which is a post-admission CLE course for newly admitted lawyers under Rule 408, not part of the bar application.
What This Page Does, and Doesn’t, Cover
This page summarizes the South Carolina court rules, board and bar pages and other sources listed below, as read for this state-by-state bar admission rules series, current as of October 2026.
It is not a substitute for the instructions the South Carolina Board of Law Examiners publishes.
For the rest of the picture in South Carolina, see CLE requirements in South Carolina.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is South Carolina a UBE state?
Yes.
South Carolina uses the Uniform Bar Exam with a minimum passing score of 266, and it accepts scores earned in any UBE jurisdiction as long as the score is less than three years old.
There is no admission on motion, so an out-of-state lawyer satisfies the exam requirement through the UBE score itself rather than through a waiver based on practice experience.
How much does the South Carolina bar exam cost?
The application fee is $1,000 for filings in the early window — December 1st to January 10th for the July exam or August 1st to August 31st for the February exam — and $1,500 during the remainder of the application periods.
An applicant already admitted in another jurisdiction for more than a year pays $750 more.
When is the deadline to apply for the South Carolina bar exam?
For the July exam the first filing deadline is January 10 (late January 31), and for the February exam it is August 31 (late September 30), as NCBE listed them in October 2026.
NCBE lists deadlines exam by exam, so confirm the dates for your administration with the Board of Law Examiners before you file.
Does South Carolina require the MPRE?
Yes.
Rule 402 requires a scaled MPRE score of at least 77, taken within three years of the date you file your bar application.
A passing score older than that does not satisfy the rule, so check your score date against your filing timeline.
What is the Course of Study on South Carolina Law?
It is South Carolina's local component, completed after you file a complete application, on top of the UBE and MPRE requirements.
It is not the SC Bar Essentials Series, which is a post-admission CLE course for newly admitted lawyers under Rule 408.
Rule 402, SCACR governs the course; Rule 408 governs CLE.
More South Carolina Resources
Sources
- Supreme Court of South Carolina: Rule 402, SCACR (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- Supreme Court of South Carolina: Rule 408, SCACR (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- NCBE: South Carolina jurisdiction page (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- NCBE: About the UBE (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- NCBE: UBE score portability (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- NCBE: UBE (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- NCBE: MPRE scores (retrieved 2026-10-02)
Sourced from the documents listed above.
Verified October 2026.
This is career information, not legal advice.
Confirm current rules with the South Carolina Board of Law Examiners.