Prepare for your bar exam with confidence.

Frequently Asked Questions

    • The Ontario Barrister and Solicitor exams are administered three times per administrative year. The sittings occur in June, November, and February of the following year. Check the Law Society’s website for more detailed information on registration and deadlines.
    • Pages per day
      1. We recommend approximately 45 pages of reading every day. This will allow you to highlight efficiently and retain key concepts.
      2. This timeline allows candidates to complete about 1500 pages of reading in 33 days.
    • Hours and Reading Schedule
      1. We recommend reaching for 6–10 hours per day, with timed short breaks in between.
      2. Starting in the morning will result in the most efficient use of your time.
      3. We recommend dedicating time to both reading and practice exams (which you should begin about two weeks before the actual exams).
      4. Include one rest/catch-up day weekly.
    • Group vs. Independent Study
      1. We suggest studying independently while staying connected with one or two people who can help keep you accountable to your study schedule.
      2. For those who prefer group study, consider working independently but in the same space as others to maintain focus and motivation.
    • Highlighting codes
      1. We recommend using pastel highlighters with the following colour-coded system:
        • Yellow: main concepts
        • Orange: caveats/exceptions
        • Blue: dates/timelines
        • Green: amounts
        • Pink: courts/statutes/cases
    • We recommend preparing your materials in a three-step process.
      • Printing
        • Research and visit your printing shop of choice (or library) to print your materials. Print them loosely and do not bind immediately — wait until after highlighting and tabbing.
      • Tabbing
        • We recommend purchasing two packs of 100 tabs listed here.
        • Once your materials have been printed, we recommend slipping the tabs into each booklet, aligning the tab number with the corresponding chapter number.
        • Tabbing your materials is an important step that will save you time flipping through as you take both the practice and the real exams.
      • Binding
        • Bind each legal subject separately, using the chapter title page as a divider to clearly separate each section.
        • Opt for ring binding rather than comb binding for smoother page turning and greater durability during the exam.
    • Number of questions: 160 per exam
    • Time: 4.5 hours (1 minute 40 seconds per question)
      • If you have been approved for accommodations, factor this into your time per question calculation
      • For example:
        • 25% extra time = 2.11 minutes (2 minutes and 7 seconds) per question.
        • 50% extra time = 2.53 minutes (2 minutes and 32 seconds) per question.
    • Exam Subjects:
      • Barrister Exam: Professional Responsibility, Civil Litigation, Criminal Law, Family Law, Public Law
      • Solicitor Exam: Professional Responsibility, Business Law, Real Estate, Estates
  • The Law Society of Ontario does not publicly disclose the exact pass rates for the Ontario bar exams. The LSO also does not publish a fixed passing score, as the scores fluctuate and may vary with each exam sitting. Candidates who fail an exam will receive a report outlining their general performance in each exam section, in comparison to the average performance of other candidates.
    • PR is included on both the Barrister and Solicitor exams. It is estimated to make up approximately 45-50% of the exam content, although this is not officially confirmed by the LSO.
    • The PR study materials are almost identical between the Barrister and Solicitor exams, with slight variations in page number.
    • Due to its significant weight, we recommend reading the PR materials multiple times if time allows, and using highlighting strategies specifically tailored for PR sections.
    • PR is mixed into each legal subject, it does not have its independent section.
  • It depends. We recommend maximizing your Detailed Table of Contents (DTOC) and annotating its margins with any key words from each chapter. During the exam, navigating through your DTOC will be much faster.
    • Indexes can be time consuming and unreliable.
    • If you would like to use an Index, we recommend waiting until volunteers from the University of Toronto post their annual index, which is free of charge and will be advertised by your law school.
    • Read all answer choices before locating the relevant section using DTOC.
    • The test will tell you which legal subject you should be searching in. Key parts of the question will guide you to the right part of your materials
    • If a question is unclear, re-read it again.
    • Candidates in the Ontario Lawyer Licensing Process are permitted to attempt each of the Barrister and Solicitor licensing examinations up to three times within their licensing term. A fourth attempt may be granted under the Law Society’s discretion. Check the Law Society’s website for more detailed information.
    • It depends on your schedule, timeline, and commitments.
    • If you have the capacity, we recommend taking both exams in one cycle, as you will already be in the study mentality for one of them.
    • Choosing your cycle will affect the date you are called to the bar. The earlier you take and pass both, the earlier you will be called (assuming you have fulfilled all other requirements.
    • While you can take both in the same sitting, if you do, start with Solicitor readings first and complete all reading before your first exam
    • If you spread them out, deeper review/re-read is more possible.
    • Bar Exam materials change after the last sitting in February of each year.