(File photo)
MANILA – Bar examinees this year are down to 9,916 after 159 backed out for still unknown reasons, the Supreme Court said Monday.
The Bar exams will be held on November 9, 13, 16, and 20 and would cover eight subjects, according to an earlier advisory.
“There were originally 10,075 approved applicants for the Bar exam this year,” SC spokesperson Brian Keith Hosaka said in a text message. “I don’t know the reasons for their withdrawal. I believe a formal notice would have to be sent to the Office of the Bar Confidant.”
This year’s Bar examinations will be chaired by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa.
It will be the second to be conducted digitally using personal laptops with a secure program, instead of the usual pen and paper, and in multiple venues.
Sample examinations were held on October 21 that checked device compatibility with the Examplify software.
The 14 testing venues are in Northern and Southern Manila, Pasay City, Quezon City, and Taguig City in the National Capital Region; Baguio City, Benguet, Lipa City in Batangas, and Naga City in Camarines Sur in Luzon; Northern and Southern Cebu City and Tacloban City, Leyte in the Visayas; Cagayan de Oro City, Davao City, and Zamboanga City in Mindanao.
Once a Bar candidate submits the venue choice, the submission shall be final and irrevocable.
A total of 8,241 passed the 2020-2021 Bar exams in February, equivalent to 72.28 percent of the 11,402 law graduates who took the test.
Fourteen earned recognition for “excellent” performance or grades higher than 90 percent while 751 passers were “exemplary” or a grade of 85 percent to 90 percent.
The Covid-19 pandemic canceled the exams in 2020 and 2021. (PNA)
