
A TOTAL of 8,241 of the 11,402 who took and completed the 2020-21 Bar examinations have passed, according to Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen on Tuesday.
“Of the 11,790 admitted to take the exam, 11,402 completed the examinations. Only 3.9% were unable to take or finish the bar exams. 8,241 of the 11,402 bar takers passed the bar examinations,” said Leonen, who chairs the Bar Examinations Committee, during a press conference.
These passers earned a grade of 75% and above, he said.
According to Leonen, the 8,241 Bar passers translate to a passing rate of 72.28%.
Leonen said the Bar Examinations Committee will not do the traditional announcement of Top 10 passers this time to avoid the idea of competition among the takers.
Instead, the committee announced passers with “excellent” performance obtaining over 90% grades and “exemplary” performance with 85% to 90% grades
“The reforms include the recalibration of the grading system to avoid unnecessary competition for an artificial top ten, recognizing that the examinations are not a competition,” Leonen said.
“The system of pass, exemplary pass, and excellent pass without any ranking already recognizes effort without encouraging needless competition among individuals.”
Leonen said only 14 or 0.17% of the passers earned recognition for “excellent” performance, while 761 or 9.23% of passers earned recognition for “exemplary” performance.
University of the Philippines (UP) has four excellent passers, while Ateneo de Manila University and University of San Carlos (USC) have two each, and one excellent passer each in Arellano University, Ateneo de Davao University, Far Eastern University, San Beda University, University of Cebu, and University of the Cordilleras.
UP also has the most number of exemplary passers with 147, followed by AdMU with 100, San Beda with 94, USC with 57, and Arellano with 39.