The pass rate for first-time takers of the July Pennsylvania bar exam decreased this year, after markedly improving in 2017 following 2016′s historic low.

Of the 1,092 first-time applicants this year, 79 percent passed. Last year, 81.2 percent passed, up from 75.4 percent in July 2016, which was the lowest pass rate for any July exam for which the state Board of Law Examiners has made data about bar exam pass rates available.