Simulated Bar exam set on Jan. 31, SC announces

MANILA, Philippines–The Supreme Court will conduct a pilot mock Bar examination on Jan. 31 in preparation for the digitalized examination set in November.

In a Bar Bulletin issued Friday, the Office of the 2020/21 Bar Chairperson said the simulation is in coordination with the Philippine Associate of Law Schools (PALS), The Asia Foundation, and ExamSoft.

The mock test will be small-scale involving 120 students divided in four testing sites–Baguio City, Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao.

“The examinations will be a small-scale simulation of the actual Bar examinations using computer software, proctored both physically and virtually,” read the Bar Bulletin.

It added that “the goal of this exercise is to improve on the procedures and technical specifications” for the localized Bar examinations.

The pre-selected students must apply through the high court’s online portal starting Jan. 12 with a deadline for applications on Jan. 20.

Selected examinees’ grades for the mock Bar exams will not be part of the actual bar examinations and no merit /demerit shall be received by students who participate should they later take the actual Bar examinations.

In September last year, the high court announced that the next Bar examinations for aspiring lawyers will be held in November this year.

At the height of the country’s strict community lockdown, the high court has decided to postpone the 2020 Bar examinations to 2021.

In 2019, a total of 2,103 examinees or 27.36 percent of the 7,685 passed Bar exam.

JPV