OVER 72 percent of the 11,402 law graduates who took the Bar exams last February 4 and 6 passed the tests, the Supreme Court (SC) announced Tuesday, April 12, 2022.
Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the 2020/2021 Bar exams chair, announced that the 72.28 percent is equivalent to 8,241 successful examinees.
See the complete list of passers here.
The Bar exams were held in February after a two-year postponement due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
Leonen said that of the 8,241 successful examinees, 761 are “exemplary passers” who scored 85-90 percent in the tests, while 14 takers were recognized for their excellent performance after they obtained higher than 90 percent grades.
The bar council earlier recalibrated the grading system “to avoid unnecessary competition,” noting that “examinations are not competitions.”
In lieu of the ranking, the SC y shifted to a system of pass, exemplary pass and excellent pass.
“As an important philosophical point, we have removed all references to fail, instead, we categorize those who did not make it as ‘did not finish' or ‘did not pass’,” said Leonen.
He said the exams were considered the “Biggest Bar Ever” based on the number of takers, given that the 2020 Bar examination was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The Bar examinations for 2020 and 2021 cannot be compared with any past Bar examinations. These were conducted under challenging circumstances never before faced by any Bar examinee, let alone any Bar chairperson. This court creatively adjusted and conducted these qualifying examinations with very critical reforms,” he said.
The top law schools that produced the most number of excellent passers are the University of the Philippines (UP) with four; Ateneo de Manila (ADMU) and University of San Carlos, both with two; and Arellano University, Ateneo de Davao University, Far Eastern University, San Beda University, University of Cebu, and the University of Cordilleras, all with one.
The top five schools with the most exemplary passers were UP with 147 exemplary passers, ADMU with 100, San Beda University with 94, University of San Carlos with 57, and Arellano University with 39.
The SC said the successful examinees will take their oath on May 2, 2022. (SunStar Philippines)