SC to hold mock exams for digital Bar

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) is set to conduct mock Bar examinations on Jan. 31 to around 120 students in four testing sites as part of its preparations for the digitalized Bar examinations in November this year.

A two-page Bar bulletin signed by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said the mock Bar examinations will be held in Baguio, Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao in coordination with the Philippine Association of Law Schools (PALS), the Asia Foundation and ExamSoft.

“The pilot (mock) Bar examinations will be a small-scale simulation of the actual Bar examinations using computer software, proctored both physically and virtually,” said Leonen, the 2020/2021 Bar examinations chairmaperson.

He explained that the mock exam aims to improve the procedures and technical specifications for the first-ever digital and localized Bar examinations that will be held in November 2021.

The interested 120 students who wished to participate in the mock exams are encouraged to apply through the SC’s online portal, which will open on Jan. 12 with a deadline on Jan. 20.

Leonen said the “grades” of the students who participated in the mock exams will not be part of the actual Bar examinations and they will not receive “merit or demerit” should they later take the actual examinations.

He added that the procedure and timeline for this year’s Bar exams will be announced soon after the conduct of the mock examinations before Feb. 14, 2021.