Knowing the NextGen Bar Exam subjects is more complicated than memorizing a list of eight course names. The NextGen UBE separates what you are expected to know as foundational legal doctrine from the lawyering skills you are expected to demonstrate, and it can also place unfamiliar legal topics inside skills-focused tasks when the necessary authorities are provided.
That distinction changes how you should read the official content scope and how you should plan your study time. Some rules must be recalled without help. Other topics may come with statutes, cases or regulations. And subjects such as Family Law and Trusts & Estates can appear in practical tasks even when they are not part of the current eight-subject foundational list.
This guide explains the official structure for the current July 2026-February 2028 content window and shows how to turn it into a realistic study plan.
If you first need the exam structure itself, read our NextGen Bar Exam Format: MCQs, Integrated Question Sets & Performance Tasks guide for the current question types, timing and score weighting.
Editorial review: Last reviewed August 30, 2026. The subject, skills and content-scope information in this guide was checked against current official NCBE Content Scope, Examinees’ Guide and related NextGen UBE resources. Candidates should always use the NCBE materials that apply to their own administration as the final authority.
The Eight Current NextGen UBE Foundational Subjects
From July 2026 through February 2028, NCBE identifies eight Foundational Concepts and Principles:
- Business Associations and Relationships
- Civil Procedure
- Constitutional Law
- Contract Law
- Criminal Law and Constitutional Protections of Accused Persons
- Evidence
- Real Property
- Torts
These are the subjects for which candidates are expected to build a real base of legal knowledge. They appear across the exam’s standalone multiple-choice questions and may also appear in integrated question sets and performance tasks.
The word foundational matters. It does not mean every doctrine traditionally taught in a law-school course is automatically testable. NCBE publishes detailed outlines defining the scope of each subject. That is why a study plan built from an old MBE/MEE topic list can waste time on doctrines that are outside the current NextGen foundational scope.
Official source: NCBE - NextGen UBE Content Scope.
1. Business Associations and Relationships
The official name is broader than simply “Corporations.” The subject covers legal relationships among principals, agents, partners, owners, managers and business entities.
For practical review, candidates should be comfortable identifying the type of relationship first. Many questions become much easier once you know whether the problem is about agency authority, a general partnership, a corporation, an LLC, promoter liability, fiduciary obligations or a shareholder claim.
Our Real Property & Business Associations practice set includes focused questions on agency, general partnerships, corporations, LLCs, promoters, authority, fiduciary duties and shareholder litigation.
2. Civil Procedure
Civil Procedure remains a core NextGen subject because entry-level lawyers need to understand where a case can be filed, how claims and parties enter litigation, how information is obtained and how a dispute moves toward judgment or appeal.
The current scope includes areas such as subject-matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction, venue, pleadings, joinder, discovery, pretrial motions, judgments, appeals and preclusion. Conflict-of-laws issues may also arise within the Civil Procedure framework when the governing rules call for them.
For focused practice, see Civil Procedure & Contracts Practice Questions.
3. Constitutional Law
Constitutional Law combines structural questions about government power with individual-rights analysis. Candidates need to distinguish the source of government authority, identify whether state action is present and select the correct constitutional standard before applying it to the facts.
High-value areas include federalism, separation of powers, federal and state authority, due process, equal protection and First Amendment protections. The challenge is often classification: choosing the correct level of scrutiny or constitutional doctrine before evaluating whether the government action survives.
The Torts & Constitutional Law practice set gives additional issue-recognition practice.
4. Contract Law
Contract Law requires candidates to move from formation to performance, breach and remedies while recognizing when Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code governs a sale of goods.
A good study structure includes formation, defenses to formation, contract terms, conditions, performance and breach, remedies, assignment, delegation and third-party rights. The important skill is not simply recalling a doctrine such as the Statute of Frauds or perfect tender; it is recognizing whether that doctrine applies to the transaction in front of you.
Contract questions are paired with Civil Procedure in our Set 2 practice page.
5. Criminal Law and Constitutional Protections of Accused Persons
The NextGen name makes the integration explicit: substantive criminal law and constitutional protections of accused persons are treated together.
That means a problem may require you to identify the elements or mental state required by a supplied criminal statute and then separately analyze a Fourth, Fifth or Sixth Amendment issue arising from the investigation or prosecution.
One important NextGen study point is that statutory criminal-law elements may be provided rather than tested solely through traditional common-law labels. Candidates should therefore practice reading the statute carefully and applying its actual language.
Our Criminal Law & Evidence practice set uses statutory formulations where appropriate and combines them with constitutional-protection questions.
6. Evidence
Evidence remains heavily rule-driven, but application is everything. A statement can look like hearsay yet be admissible for a non-hearsay purpose; an exception may seem available but fail because one condition is missing; relevant evidence may still be excluded under another rule.
Preparation should cover relevance, hearsay and its exceptions, opposing-party statements, confrontation where applicable, privileges, character evidence, opinion testimony, authentication and other exclusionary rules under the Federal Rules of Evidence.
The Evidence half of Set 4 is designed for this kind of classification practice.
7. Real Property
Real Property rewards precise labels. Before applying a rule, identify the estate, ownership arrangement, lease relationship, servitude, mortgage position or title problem involved.
The current foundational scope includes areas such as estates and future interests, co-ownership, landlord-tenant law, covenants and servitudes, mortgages, foreclosure, deeds, recording and marketable title. Candidates should follow the current NCBE outline rather than assuming every doctrine historically associated with bar-review Real Property remains foundational.
Focused questions are available in Set 5: Real Property & Business Associations.
8. Torts
Torts tests both familiar negligence analysis and more specialized liability rules. A strong foundation includes duty, breach, actual and proximate causation, damages, negligence per se, res ipsa loquitur, premises liability, products liability, intentional torts, defamation, privacy and comparative-fault concepts.
The recurring challenge is choosing the correct tort theory before applying its elements. Similar facts can support negligence, strict liability, an intentional tort or no tort claim at all depending on the defendant’s conduct and the type of harm.
See the Torts & Constitutional Law practice set for targeted review.
The Seven Foundational Lawyering Skills
The subject list is only half of the NextGen content model. NCBE also identifies seven skills that candidates are expected to demonstrate throughout the exam:
- Legal research
- Legal writing
- Issue spotting and analysis
- Investigation and evaluation
- Client counseling and advising
- Negotiation and dispute resolution
- Client relationship and management
These skills explain why NextGen is not simply an eight-subject multiple-choice test. Integrated question sets and performance tasks create space to measure how a candidate uses legal knowledge in a client-centered problem.
Issue spotting and analysis
This is the bridge between doctrine and facts. Candidates must identify which legal questions matter, separate relevant facts from background detail and explain how the governing rules affect the result.
Investigation and evaluation
Beginning lawyers often work with incomplete or competing information. The exam can test whether you recognize what additional facts matter, how reliable a piece of information is and what should be investigated next.
Client counseling and advising
A legally correct answer is not always a useful client answer. Counseling questions can require you to consider the client’s objectives, risks, constraints and available choices rather than simply state a rule.
Negotiation and dispute resolution
This skill focuses on legal problem solving in an adversarial or negotiated setting. Candidates may need to identify reasonable positions, assess alternatives or recognize strategies that serve the client without ignoring legal and professional obligations.
Client relationship and management
This includes practical judgment about communication, responsibilities and the lawyer-client relationship. NCBE also tests select rules of professional responsibility in the context of certain foundational skills.
Legal research
Legal research tasks can require candidates to work with provided authorities, identify the controlling rules and use source material accurately. This is especially visible in legal research performance tasks.
Legal writing
The exam assesses whether candidates can communicate legal analysis in a form appropriate to the assignment. That includes organization, rule synthesis, application and clear conclusions, not simply writing as much as possible.
What “Starred” and “Unstarred” Topics Mean
The official content scope uses a distinction that directly affects preparation.
Starred topics require recalled knowledge and understanding. When a topic is starred, the candidate is expected to know it without receiving legal resources.
Unstarred topics may be tested with or without legal resources. If an unstarred topic appears without resources, NCBE expects enough recalled knowledge to recognize that the issue is present in the fact pattern.
This is one of the strongest reasons to study from the actual NCBE content scope instead of a generic bar-review checklist. The outline is not merely a list of possible topics; it also tells you something about the level of recall expected.
Family Law: What Changes in July 2028?
Family Law deserves careful wording because it is already relevant to the NextGen UBE, but its status changes in 2028.
From July 2026 through February 2028, Family Law concepts appear on every NextGen exam in a performance task and may also appear in integrated question sets. During this period, the required legal authorities are provided because Family Law is being used as context for testing foundational skills.
Starting with the July 2028 administration, Family Law becomes a Foundational Concept and Principle. At that point, candidates will be expected to learn the published Family Law outline as part of their substantive exam preparation, and Family Law can be tested in standalone multiple-choice questions as well as other formats.
What About Trusts and Estates?
Trusts and Estates are different from Family Law because NCBE has not announced them as a future foundational subject in the current framework.
They can appear in skills-focused tasks with legal resources provided. That means a candidate may have to analyze a trust or estate problem, but the necessary statutes, cases or other authorities will be supplied. The purpose is to test lawyering skills, not to require a memorized standalone Trusts & Estates outline.
This distinction is important for time management. Do not spend foundational-subject study hours memorizing an entire Trusts & Estates course merely because the topic can appear in a performance task.
Professional Responsibility Is Also Part of the Picture
The NextGen UBE does not list Professional Responsibility as one of the eight foundational concepts, but select Model Rules of Professional Conduct are tested in the context of certain skills, including client counseling and advising, negotiation and dispute resolution, and client relationship and management.
Under current NCBE guidance, those selected Model Rules may be tested within integrated question sets, not the standalone multiple-choice portion. The specified rules are assessed with an expectation of recalled knowledge and understanding, so candidates should not assume that the controlling rule text will be supplied. See the official NCBE guidance on Professional Responsibility.
How to Turn the Content Scope into a Study Plan
The official outline becomes useful when you use it as a planning document rather than as a PDF you read once.
Step 1: Separate foundational subjects from contextual subjects
Your main memorization and doctrine-review schedule should center on the eight current foundational subjects. Family Law and Trusts & Estates should be understood in the way NCBE currently uses them: as skills-focused contexts with supplied legal resources until the announced Family Law change in July 2028.
Step 2: Mark starred topics
Starred topics deserve deliberate recall practice because no legal resources will be provided. Build short rule statements, flashcards or closed-book question practice around them.
Step 3: Practice issue recognition for unstarred topics
You may receive resources, but you still need to recognize the issue efficiently. Practice naming the legal problem before reading a model explanation.
Step 4: Connect each subject to at least one practical skill
For example, do not study Evidence only as a list of exceptions. Practice explaining why a document should or should not be used. Do not study Business Associations only as entity definitions. Practice advising a client about authority, duties or liability. This makes doctrinal review more compatible with NextGen task formats.
Step 5: Use mixed review after subject review
Once individual subjects are stable, use mixed practice to train classification. Our mixed eight-subject NextGen practice set is designed for this stage.
Subject-by-Subject Practice on MCQsQuestions.com
The current practice library is organized to cover all eight foundational subjects without forcing them into one oversized page:
- Set 1: Mixed practice across all eight subjects
- Set 2: Civil Procedure & Contracts
- Set 3: Torts & Constitutional Law
- Set 4: Criminal Law & Evidence
- Set 5: Real Property & Business Associations
These are original doctrine-focused practice questions, not official NCBE questions or a complete simulation. Use them to strengthen rule recognition and then use official NCBE sample materials for authentic NextGen task formats.
Common Content-Scope Mistakes to Avoid
- Studying an old MBE/MEE list as if it were the NextGen outline. The NextGen content scope is narrower in some areas and organized differently.
- Ignoring the lawyering skills. More than doctrine is being measured, especially in integrated sets and performance tasks.
- Assuming every topic must be memorized. The starred/unstarred distinction and supplied legal resources matter.
- Ignoring Family Law because it is not yet foundational. It still appears in skills-focused tasks during the current transition period.
- Memorizing Trusts & Estates as if it were a current foundational subject. That is not how NCBE currently describes its role.
- Using a static outline for years without checking updates. NCBE publishes content changes in advance, and Family Law’s July 2028 change is already scheduled.
Use the Official Content Scope as Your Final Authority
Commercial outlines, law-school materials and independent practice sites can all be useful, but the authoritative boundary of what NCBE says it will test comes from NCBE itself.
Before you finalize a study schedule, open the current NextGen UBE Content Scope for your administration. Confirm the applicable date range, note any announced changes and compare the official outline with the topics in your commercial bar-review course.
That simple check can prevent two opposite mistakes: leaving a tested area uncovered or spending valuable study time on doctrine that is outside the current foundational scope.
Frequently Asked Questions
What subjects are tested on the NextGen Bar Exam?
From July 2026 through February 2028, the NextGen UBE tests eight Foundational Concepts and Principles: Business Associations and Relationships, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contract Law, Criminal Law and Constitutional Protections of Accused Persons, Evidence, Real Property, and Torts.
How many foundational skills are tested on the NextGen UBE?
The current NextGen UBE framework identifies seven foundational lawyering skills: legal research, legal writing, issue spotting and analysis, investigation and evaluation, client counseling and advising, negotiation and dispute resolution, and client relationship and management.
Is Family Law tested on the NextGen Bar Exam?
From July 2026 through February 2028, Family Law appears in skills-focused tasks with the necessary legal resources provided. Starting in July 2028, Family Law becomes a Foundational Concept and Principle and can be tested like the other foundational subjects.
Are Trusts and Estates a foundational NextGen UBE subject?
No. Trusts and Estates are not a Foundational Concept and Principle. They can appear in skills-focused tasks with legal resources provided, so candidates are not expected to memorize a standalone Trusts and Estates content outline for the current exam period.
What do starred topics mean in the NCBE NextGen content scope?
In the current NCBE content scope, a starred topic must be recalled and understood without legal resources. An unstarred topic may be tested with or without provided legal resources.
Source note: The content-scope facts in this guide are based on current official materials from the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE). MCQsQuestions.com is an independent educational website and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NCBE. Candidates should use the official NCBE content scope for the administration they are preparing to take.
