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Philippine Bar Examinations
The Philippine Bar Examinations is the professional licensure examination for lawyers in the Philippines. The exam is exclusively administered by the Supreme Court of the Philippines through the Supreme Court Bar Examination Committee.
The first Philippine Bar Exams were conducted in 1901 with only 13 examinees. The third Philippine Bar Exam took place in 1903 but the results were released in 1905. José L. Quintos of Escuela de Derecho de Manila (now Manila Law College) obtained the highest rating of 96.33%, future President Sergio Osmeña was second with 95.66%, future CFI Judge Fernando Salas was third with 94.5% and future President Manuel L. Quezon fourth with 87.83%. The bar exam in 1903 had only 13 examinees. The first Roll of Attorneys were listed in 1945 after the 1944 bar exam. After the 1903 exam, rankings were again avoided until the 1913 exam, with its first English exam and first top-ten list of topnotchers led by future president Manuel Roxas from UP Manila with 92%. This meant that every other year from the inaugural 1901 examination to 1912, and the 2020-21 examination, there were no scores given other than pass or fail. The 2016 bar exam had the highest number of successful candidates since 1954 with 3,747 out of 6,344 (59.06 percent) examinees, but that ratio was later topped in 2020-21 (72.28 percent, the third highest at that point). Past Bar examinations were conducted every September at De La Salle University until 2010 when they moved the date to November and changed the venue to University of Santo Tomas in 2011. By February 2022, the Bar examinations had been regionalized and different schools were chosen as venues for the examination, switching to three or four day schedules in one week. The examination was also converted from the traditional pen and booklet to an online method.
Meanwhile, the lowest year was the 1999 bar examinations which recorded the lowest passing rate of 16.59% or with a total number of 660 successful examinees. Also, the 2003 bar exam was marred by controversy when the Court ordered a retake of the Mercantile law exams due to questionnaire leakage. However, five months after the September 21 Mercantile law examination, the Supreme Court of the Philippines decided to cancel the retaking of the examinations, with the reason being to save the trouble for the examinees. It instead assigned different percentages per subject of the examinations.
In 2005, the Supreme Court implemented the "five-strike" rule, which disqualifies five-time flunkers from taking future bar exams. The five-strike rule imposes conditions on the third and fourth failed exams. After failing three times, certain conditions will have to be complied with before an examinee can take the examinations for the fourth time. Failing four times will also result in the same outcome — one will have to comply with certain conditions once more in order to be able to take the bar exam for the fifth time. Beyond that, flunkers are no longer allowed to take the bar exam. Eight years after the rule was imposed, however, in 2013, The Supreme Court lifted the five-strike rule in taking the bar examinations. Court spokesman Theodore Te said the rule was lifted after the SC en banc adopted a recommendation by a study group to lift the five-strike policy starting on the bar exams in 2014. The lifting, however, could not be applied to the 2013 examination as the list of probable bar candidates had already been published by that point.
In 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that individuals' scores were sensitive personal information under the Data Privacy Act and cannot be disclosed without prior consent of the examinees. However, it allowed law schools to requests for individual scores in such a manner that does not identify any single examinee.
In 2025, the Supreme Court adopted the rule that bar examinations shall be administered by electronic means and shall take place annually in local testing centers across the Philippines in the venue to be designated by the Supreme Court
A bar candidate must meet the following academic qualifications
Candidates should also meet certain non-academic requisites:
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Philippine Bar Examinations
The Philippine Bar Examinations is the professional licensure examination for lawyers in the Philippines. The exam is exclusively administered by the Supreme Court of the Philippines through the Supreme Court Bar Examination Committee.
The first Philippine Bar Exams were conducted in 1901 with only 13 examinees. The third Philippine Bar Exam took place in 1903 but the results were released in 1905. José L. Quintos of Escuela de Derecho de Manila (now Manila Law College) obtained the highest rating of 96.33%, future President Sergio Osmeña was second with 95.66%, future CFI Judge Fernando Salas was third with 94.5% and future President Manuel L. Quezon fourth with 87.83%. The bar exam in 1903 had only 13 examinees. The first Roll of Attorneys were listed in 1945 after the 1944 bar exam. After the 1903 exam, rankings were again avoided until the 1913 exam, with its first English exam and first top-ten list of topnotchers led by future president Manuel Roxas from UP Manila with 92%. This meant that every other year from the inaugural 1901 examination to 1912, and the 2020-21 examination, there were no scores given other than pass or fail. The 2016 bar exam had the highest number of successful candidates since 1954 with 3,747 out of 6,344 (59.06 percent) examinees, but that ratio was later topped in 2020-21 (72.28 percent, the third highest at that point). Past Bar examinations were conducted every September at De La Salle University until 2010 when they moved the date to November and changed the venue to University of Santo Tomas in 2011. By February 2022, the Bar examinations had been regionalized and different schools were chosen as venues for the examination, switching to three or four day schedules in one week. The examination was also converted from the traditional pen and booklet to an online method.
Meanwhile, the lowest year was the 1999 bar examinations which recorded the lowest passing rate of 16.59% or with a total number of 660 successful examinees. Also, the 2003 bar exam was marred by controversy when the Court ordered a retake of the Mercantile law exams due to questionnaire leakage. However, five months after the September 21 Mercantile law examination, the Supreme Court of the Philippines decided to cancel the retaking of the examinations, with the reason being to save the trouble for the examinees. It instead assigned different percentages per subject of the examinations.
In 2005, the Supreme Court implemented the "five-strike" rule, which disqualifies five-time flunkers from taking future bar exams. The five-strike rule imposes conditions on the third and fourth failed exams. After failing three times, certain conditions will have to be complied with before an examinee can take the examinations for the fourth time. Failing four times will also result in the same outcome — one will have to comply with certain conditions once more in order to be able to take the bar exam for the fifth time. Beyond that, flunkers are no longer allowed to take the bar exam. Eight years after the rule was imposed, however, in 2013, The Supreme Court lifted the five-strike rule in taking the bar examinations. Court spokesman Theodore Te said the rule was lifted after the SC en banc adopted a recommendation by a study group to lift the five-strike policy starting on the bar exams in 2014. The lifting, however, could not be applied to the 2013 examination as the list of probable bar candidates had already been published by that point.
In 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that individuals' scores were sensitive personal information under the Data Privacy Act and cannot be disclosed without prior consent of the examinees. However, it allowed law schools to requests for individual scores in such a manner that does not identify any single examinee.
In 2025, the Supreme Court adopted the rule that bar examinations shall be administered by electronic means and shall take place annually in local testing centers across the Philippines in the venue to be designated by the Supreme Court
A bar candidate must meet the following academic qualifications
Candidates should also meet certain non-academic requisites: