MANILA, Philippines – (Updated May 3) The November 2018 Philippine Bar Exam results are officially released online after the special en banc session on Friday, May 3, 2019. Out of 8,158 law graduates who completed the grueling tests on four Sundays of November 2018 (4, 11, 18 and 25), the full list of passers and topnotchers (top 10) are announced by the Supreme Court (SC).
Only 22.07% (1,800 out of 8,158) passed the 2018 bar exam, Bar Chair SC Associate Justice Mariano C. Del Castillo confirmed.
SEE ALSO: LGBT Bar topnotcher: “I promised myself that I would push it to the very limit”
For the 117th bar exams, the Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC) said that 8,701 were admitted to take the examinations (highest number of Bar candidates in recent years).
2018 BAR EXAM RESULTS SUMMARY:
As a protocol, takers who did not proceed on succeeding exams are not required to explain their absence. In addition, SC has no way of knowing if the examinees fell ill or were simply overwhelmed by fear of the grueling tests.
COVERAGE OF EXAMINATIONS
The 2018 bar exam was headed by Committee Chairman Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo and the eight (8) examiners for each bar subjects.
The examinable subjects are: Political Law and Public International Law (15%), Labor and Social Legislation (10%), Civil Law (15%), Taxation (10%), Mercantile Law (15%), Criminal Law (10%), Remedial Law (20%) and Legal and Judicial Ethics (5%).
Examinees were tasked to answer open-ended questions in long hand. Those questions, carefully selected by the committee, are formulated to test analytical ability, facility in expression in terms of written argument, comprehension of basic principles of law, and grasp of jurisprudence.
2018 BAR EXAM PASSING PERCENTAGE
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 2012-2014 Bar Examinations to lower the bar exam passing percentage.
In 2012, the Bar exam committee lowered the passing average to as low as 70%. In 2013 and 2014, SC lowered the passing grade to 73% in view of the structure of the results, the difficulty the candidates encountered with the MCQ portion of the exam, and in light of past precedents.
Meanwhile, the standard passing grade of 75% was kept for the 2015, 2016 and 2017 examinations. Section 14, Rule 138 of Revised Rule of Court added that there should be no grade falling below 50% in any bar subject.
2018 BAR EXAM OFFICIAL RELEASE
The official results of the 2018 bar exam are out this Friday, May 3. The confirmation was shared in a Twitter post by Supreme Court on Tuesday, May 1.
The Bar Examiners committee manually checked the test papers which caused the long waiting period of about five (5) months.
The OBC is tasked to release the 2018 Official List of Successful Bar Examinees.
Traditionally, the full list of successful bar examinees is being flashed on a widescreen at the Supreme Court front yard and simultaneously be viewed at the official website of the high court.
2018 BAR EXAM UPDATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Prior to the official release of list of passers and topnotchers, reliable sources give updates on the possible or exact date of release of bar exam results. Specifically, the Supreme Court 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.
March 3, 2019 Update: Sources said that 2018 bar exam results are out on May 3.
April 28, 2019 Update: Results are expected to be released this week. Stay tuned for more updates.
May 1, 2019 Update: As confirmed, bar exam results are out this Friday, May 3.
May 3, 2019 Update: The 2018 bar exam results are out today!
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 eight 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 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. MCQs weighed more (60 percent) than the results for essay questions (40 percent).
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 the sixth highest since 2001 which had a 32.89 percent.
The historic high of 59.06% passing rate in 2015 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 last year's bar exam, passing rate was down to 25.55%. Graduates of provincial law schools dominated the list of topnotchers. Mark John Simondo, graduate of University of St. La Salle (USLS) in Bacolod, Negros Occidental aced the bar with a grade of 91.05 percent.
Check out the Comparative Results for the Bar Examinations in the past 18 years ( statistics courtesy of OBC):
Meanwhile, SC spokesman Theodore Te explained:
RELATED STORIES
— The Summit Express
 |
| Good luck to all aspiring lawyers! Result of the 2018 bar exam out on Friday, May 3. |
Only 22.07% (1,800 out of 8,158) passed the 2018 bar exam, Bar Chair SC Associate Justice Mariano C. Del Castillo confirmed.
SEE ALSO: LGBT Bar topnotcher: “I promised myself that I would push it to the very limit”
2018 BAR EXAM RESULTS SUMMARY:
- LIVE UPDATES: SC releases 2018 bar exam results today
- A-G List of Passers: 2018 Philippine Bar Exam Results
- H-O List of Passers: 2018 Philippine Bar Exam Results
- P-Z List of Passers: 2018 Philippine Bar Exam Results
- Top 10 Passers: 2018 Philippine Bar Exam Results
Successful Bar examinees are set to take their Oath on June 13, 2019 at 2:00 pm, Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), per 2018 Bar Chair SC Justice Mariano C. Del Castillo. Signing of the Roll of Attorneys will start the following day, June 14.
As a protocol, takers who did not proceed on succeeding exams are not required to explain their absence. In addition, SC has no way of knowing if the examinees fell ill or were simply overwhelmed by fear of the grueling tests.
COVERAGE OF EXAMINATIONS
The 2018 bar exam was headed by Committee Chairman Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo and the eight (8) examiners for each bar subjects.
The examinable subjects are: Political Law and Public International Law (15%), Labor and Social Legislation (10%), Civil Law (15%), Taxation (10%), Mercantile Law (15%), Criminal Law (10%), Remedial Law (20%) and Legal and Judicial Ethics (5%).
Examinees were tasked to answer open-ended questions in long hand. Those questions, carefully selected by the committee, are formulated to test analytical ability, facility in expression in terms of written argument, comprehension of basic principles of law, and grasp of jurisprudence.
2018 BAR EXAM PASSING PERCENTAGE
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 2012-2014 Bar Examinations to lower the bar exam passing percentage.
In 2012, the Bar exam committee lowered the passing average to as low as 70%. In 2013 and 2014, SC lowered the passing grade to 73% in view of the structure of the results, the difficulty the candidates encountered with the MCQ portion of the exam, and in light of past precedents.
Meanwhile, the standard passing grade of 75% was kept for the 2015, 2016 and 2017 examinations. Section 14, Rule 138 of Revised Rule of Court added that there should be no grade falling below 50% in any bar subject.
2018 BAR EXAM OFFICIAL RELEASE
The official results of the 2018 bar exam are out this Friday, May 3. The confirmation was shared in a Twitter post by Supreme Court on Tuesday, May 1.
"The results of the 2018 Bar Exams will be released this Friday, May 3, 2019, after approval by the Supreme Court En Banc in a special session, per Bar Chair SC Associate Justice Mariano C. Del Castillo."
The Bar Examiners committee manually checked the test papers which caused the long waiting period of about five (5) months.
The OBC is tasked to release the 2018 Official List of Successful Bar Examinees.
Traditionally, the full list of successful bar examinees is being flashed on a widescreen at the Supreme Court front yard and simultaneously be viewed at the official website of the high court.
2018 BAR EXAM UPDATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Prior to the official release of list of passers and topnotchers, reliable sources give updates on the possible or exact date of release of bar exam results. Specifically, the Supreme Court 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.
March 3, 2019 Update: Sources said that 2018 bar exam results are out on May 3.
April 28, 2019 Update: Results are expected to be released this week. Stay tuned for more updates.
May 1, 2019 Update: As confirmed, bar exam results are out this Friday, May 3.
May 3, 2019 Update: The 2018 bar exam results are out today!
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 eight 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 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. MCQs weighed more (60 percent) than the results for essay questions (40 percent).
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 the sixth highest since 2001 which had a 32.89 percent.
The historic high of 59.06% passing rate in 2015 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 last year's bar exam, passing rate was down to 25.55%. Graduates of provincial law schools dominated the list of topnotchers. Mark John Simondo, graduate of University of St. La Salle (USLS) in Bacolod, Negros Occidental aced the bar with a grade of 91.05 percent.
Check out the Comparative Results for the Bar Examinations in the past 18 years ( statistics courtesy of OBC):
| Year | No. of Examinees | No. of Passers | Passing Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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, 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—from the Chair, who has absolute and sole discretion to choose the questions to be asked, to the eight examiners, who are the ones who correct the notebooks."
RELATED STORIES
- FULL LIST: 2020-2021 Bar Exam Result February 2022
- FULL RESULTS: 2019 Philippine Bar Exams
- FULL RESULTS: 2017 Philippine Bar Exams
— The Summit Express
