More than 11,000 law graduates have so far applied for the 2020-2021 online bar examinations to be conducted by the Supreme Court (SC) in four Sundays this November.

The tremendous increase in the number of examinees was attributed to the postponement of the bar examinations in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic and the holding of the tests simultaneously with the 2021 examinations.

In 2019, a total of 7,685 law graduates took the bar examinations, 8,158 in 2018 and 6,748 in 2017.

The online examinations will be conducted in at least 24 testing centers nationwide.

Even the application and the payment of fees in November’s examinations are being done online by the SC.

While the original deadline for application was last Sept. 15, the SC had to extend it to Sept. 24 for those who have registered but have not completed their registration due to some technical issues.

“Those who have substantially complied with the deadline will be given until Sept. 24, 2021 to complete their registration,” the SC said through a bar bulletin issued by Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, chairperson of the 2020-2021 bar examinations committee.

Applicants “may reach out to the Office of the Bar Confidant Helpdesk hotlines at 09178138543 or 09088507682 or at its e-mail address, [email protected], the SC said.

Aside from conducting the tests online, there will be no announcement on 10 topnotchers as traditionally done. But those who get a weighted average score of 85 per cent will be recognized for exemplary performance.

The SC said the non-recognition of 10 topnotchers will only be, in the meantime, for the 2020-2021 bar examinations.

Also, the SC said that aside from recognizing exemplary performance of examinees, it will have a list of law schools ranked from the most to the least number of passers among first time examinees, and a separate list ranked from those with the most to the least number of examinees recognized for exemplary performance.

“It is hoped that by shifting the focus away from how select individuals excel and onto a school’s collective performance, this will encourage deep-seated and wide-ranging improvements in legal education,” Justice Leonen said in a previous bar bulletin.

The SC said the modification in the grading system for the 2020-2021 bar examinations was one of the reforms proposed by Justice Leonen.

It said the modification was done “to enable a more reasonable approach to appraising and reporting on Bar Examination performance.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the SC said that it had to take into consideration the two batches which would be taking the examinations.

Justice Leonen explained: “On one hand, those who had intended to take the Bar Examinations in 2020 either had more time to review, or endured more time for waiting.”

He said: “The 2021 graduates, on the other hand, had to endure the longer ordeal of preparing to graduate during the pandemic, causing delays in the graduation dates. They have been put in a constrained environment, with only a brief window of time to prepare.”

“Testing two batches of examinees that prepared under different circumstances– not to mention the vast number of combined examinees, placing an enormous demand on the examiners — compels the adoption of unique mechanisms that aim to balance these inequalities,” he also said.