MANILA, Philippines – The November 2022 Philippine Bar Exam results will be released online after the special en banc session expected between February and April 2023 or in 3-5 months after the exams. Out of 9,183 law graduates who completed the second digitalized and regionalized bar exams, the full list of passers and exemplary/excellent passers (topnotchers) will be announced by the Supreme Court (SC).
The 2022 Bar exam, which had 91.77% turnout, was held on November 9, 13, 16, and 20, 2022 in 14 local testing centers nationwide – National Capital Region (San Beda University, De La Salle University, Manila Adventist College, Ateneo de Manila University and University of the Philippines – Bonifacio Global City), Luzon (Saint Louis University, De La Salle Lipa and University of Nueva Caceres).
Testing centers also include Visayas (University of Cebu, University of San Carlos and Dr. Vicente Orestes Romualdez Educational Foundation) and Mindanao (Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan, Ateneo de Davao University and Ateneo de Zamboanga University).
Relative to the successful conduct of 2020-2021 Bar Exam, the Supreme Court once again used Examplify, a computer-based examination program that allows examinees to securely take a test using their own devices. Aspiring lawyers took the 2022 Bar Examinations in-person, in their venue of choice, supervised by proctors, and monitored through closed-circuit television cameras.
February 17, 2023 Update: 2022 Bar Chairperson Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa said that bar exam results will most likely be released in the last week of April 2023. This was mentioned by Caguioa during his lecture as shared by former Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute Technology (MSU-IIT) law dean Alizedney Ditucalan.
2022 Bar Chair, Justice Caguiao, mentioned in his lecture that results of the 2022 Bar exams will most likely be out in the last week of the month of April 2023.
— Alizedney M. Ditucalan (@AlizedneyD) February 16, 2023
2022 BAR EXAM RESULTS SUMMARY
- A-G Passers: November 2022 Bar Exam Results
- H-O Passers: November 2022 Bar Exam Results
- P-Z Passers: November 2022 Bar Exam Results
- Excellent passers, topnotchers: 2022 Bar Exam Results
- Top performing law schools: 2022 Bar Exam Results
- GUIDE: 2022 bar passers online clearance procedure, oathtaking
SUPREME COURT OF THE PHILIPPINES
LIST OF PASSERS: 2022 BAR EXAM RESULTS
Held on NOVEMBER 9, 13, 16 & 20, 2022
Release Date: TBA (expected in April 2023)
Stay tuned for the list of bar exam passers. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the updates.
WHEN IS THE 2022 BAR EXAM RESULTS RELEASE?
As of this writing, the Supreme Court has no official announcement yet of the exact date of release of the 2022 Bar exam results. But due to the digital mode of the exams, takers may expect of soonest possible time as compared to previous years’ paper-and-pencil tests, which had results after 5-6 months.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Caguioa, the 120th Philippine bar exams Chairperson, is expected to announce soon some updates on the bar exam results.
In reference to the previous exams, it is possible that bar results will come out sometime in February to April 2023 or in 3-5 months.
2022 BAR EXAM UPDATES, ANNOUNCEMENTS
Prior to the official release of list of passers, exemplary passers and performance of law schools, reliable sources give updates on the possible or exact date of release of bar exam results. Specifically, the SC and the personnel related to the administration of the bar exam are sharing information of the special en banc leading to the release of results mid-day of the schedule.
The Summit Express will once again provide immediate and live updates on this page and our social media accounts in time for the announcement of results.
Aside from the online posting of results, SC is expected to flash on a widescreen at their front yard the list of new lawyers.
EXEMPLARY PASSERS AND PERFORMANCE OF SCHOOLS
In the 2020/21 Bar Examinations, the Supreme Court did not release the list of topnotchers but instead recognized examinees who recorded “exemplary performance” in the licensure test. In addition, SC also released the ranking of law schools according to the percentage of passers or passing rate.
The highest court clarified that modifications to the bar exam were pro hac vice (meaning, for this occasion only) because of the pandemic and a natural calamity.
For the 2022 Bar exam, there’s no update yet if SC will release list of top 10 passers (topnotchers) or will follow results format of previous year’s exam.
COVERAGE OF EXAMINATIONS
The November 2022 Bar Examinations covered the following core bar subjects and their respective weights:
1. Political and International Law (with related tax principles) – 15%
2. Labor Law – 10%
3. Criminal Law (and practical exercises) – 15%
4. Commercial Law – 10%
5. Civil Law I – 15%
6. Civil Law II (and practical exercises) – 10%
7. Remedial Law I – 15%
8. Remedial Law II (with basic tax remedies) and Legal Ethics – 10%
2022 BAR EXAM PASSING PERCENTAGE
Bar hopeful will have to earn at least 75% as total weighted score to pass. This score is the product of Bar subject’s relative weight and raw score as a percentage of the maximum possible score.
While a bar examinee is “deemed to have passed his examinations successfully if he/she has obtained a general average of 75%,” the SC en banc has the discretion whether to make adjustments, as it did in the previous Bar Examinations to lower the bar exam passing percentage.
Note: In the 2019 bar exam, passing percentage was lowered from 75% to 74%.
PHILIPPINE BAR EXAM OVERVIEW AND HISTORY
The Philippine bar examinations, dubbed as the most prestigious professional licensure exam in the country for aspiring lawyers, is the only professional exam not handled by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). It is exclusively supervised by the Supreme Court.
The SC conducts the Bar examinations pursuant to Article VIII, Section 5 of the Constitution which provides that it shall have the power to promulgate rules governing the admission to the practice of law.
Some Filipino lawyers say the bar exam is hard because it is centralized on wide-range bar subjects, with the expected annual passing rate of 20% to 30%.
Special en banc session for the ‘decoding of bar exam results’ is being done morning prior to the release of results. Decoding is the process where the SC orders the Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC) to open the sealed envelopes with the names of the candidates who passed the exams.
In 2011, SC introduced multiple-choice questions (MCQ) in the exams resulting for higher passing rate. In 2012, passing rate plummeted to a 12-year low of 17.76%.
In 2013, SC revised the rule giving essay questions more weight (80 percent) than MCQ (20 percent). Passing rate recovered (22.18) but still far from the 30-percent mark in the early 2000s.
The 2014 exam also resulted to a low passing rate of 18.82% while a big jump was saw in 2015 having 26.21%.
The historic high of 59.06% passing rate in 2016 was recorded as Chairman Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr was more “reasonable” as “points were given to answers, even if the positions taken may not exactly be the right answer.”
In the 2018 bar exam, passing rate was down to 22.07%. Sean James Borja of the Ateneo de Manila University aced the bar with 89.31%.
In the 2019 bar exam, passing rate rose a bit to 27.36% after adjusting the passing percentage to 74%. Mae Diane Azores of the University of Santo Tomas in Legaspi topped the bar with a rating of 91.0490%.
In the 2020-2021 bar exam, SC once again recorded a historic high of 72.28% passing rate, the first bar exam during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Check out the Comparative Results for the Bar Examinations in the past 22 years (statistics courtesy of Office of the Bar Confidant):
| Year | No. of Examinees | No. of Passers | Passing Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-2021 | 11,402 | 8,241 | 72.28% |
| 2019 | 7,685 | 2,103 | 27.36% |
| 2018 | 8,158 | 1,800 | 22.07% |
| 2017 | 6,748 | 1,724 | 25.55% |
| 2016 | 6344 | 3747 | 59.06% |
| 2015 | 6,605 | 1,731 | 26.21% |
| 2014 | 5,984 | 1,126 | 18.82% |
| 2013 | 5,292 | 1,174 | 22.18% |
| 2012 | 5,343 | 949 | 17.76% |
| 2011 | 5,987 | 1,913 | 31.95% |
| 2010 | 4,847 | 982 | 20.26% |
| 2009 | 5,903 | 1,451 | 24.58% |
| 2008 | 6,364 | 1,310 | 20.58% |
| 2007 | 5,626 | 1,289 | 22.91% |
| 2006 | 6,187 | 1,893 | 30.60% |
| 2005 | 5,607 | 1,526 | 27.22% |
| 2004 | 5,249 | 1,659 | 31.61% |
| 2003 | 5,349 | 1,108 | 20.71% |
| 2002 | 4,659 | 917 | 19.68% |
| 2001 | 3,849 | 1,266 | 32.89% |
| 2000 | 4,698 | 979 | 20.84% |
Meanwhile, veteran lawyer and former SC spokesman Theodore Te explained:
Each bar examination must be considered unique in itself when we look at the comparative statistics across the years. Unlike other licensure examinations which employ a standard set of questions and the same set of examiners across a period of time, the bar examinations for each year is practically a new exam because the composition of the Committee differs…
RELATED STORIES
- FULL RESULTS: 2020-2021 Philippine Bar Exams
- FULL RESULTS: 2019 Philippine Bar Exams
— The Summit Express