The online registration for the 2025 digitalized and localized Bar examinations starts on Wednesday, Jan. 8.
The Bar exams will be administered by the Supreme Court (SC) in various local testing centers (LCTs) nationwide on Sept. 7, 10, and 14.
Chairperson of the 2025 examinations is SC Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro Javier.
Bar examinations fee is P12,800 per applicant.
Bar Bulletin No. 2 issued by Justice Javier states: “The online application for the 2025 Bar Examinations via BARISTA shall be accessed through the Philippine Judiciary Platform (PJP). The application period shall commence at 8 a.m. on Jan. 8, 2025 (Wednesday) and shall end at 3 p.m. on March 17, 2025 (Monday).”
For online registration, the other pertinent portions of Bar Bulletin No. 2:
“Access BARISTA via PJP (Step 1 – Creation of PJP Account) An applicant must first create an account in the PJP which can be accessed at https://portal.judiciary.gov.ph/ before he or she can access BARISTA.
“The applicant must use his or her personal e-mail address, not his or her school or work e-mail address. This rule applies even to applicants who are employees of the Philippine Judiciary.
“Previous takers and refreshers who uploaded their requirements under Bar PLUS, the Supreme Court’s online bar examination application platform for the 2020/2021 and 2022 Bar Examinations, must create a new account under the PJP.
“For applicants who have existing accounts in BARISTA, please register using the same e-mail address. For any concerns regarding access to existing accounts, please reach out to the Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC) Help Desk which can be accessed at bit.ly/2025BarExamsHelpdesk.
“After successfully logging in to the PJP, the applicant must choose the BARISTA icon. The application for the 2025 Bar Examinations shall be accomplished exclusively through the BARISTA.
“Click ‘Apply Now’ to start the application. Select the 2025 Philippine Bar.
“The applicant will then be directed to the BARISTA dashboard. Thereafter, he or she must complete his or her profile and application details in the BARISTA.
“The application shall be supported by documentary requirements. The appropriate documentary requirements to be submitted will depend on the applicant type i.e., New Applicant, Previous Taker, or Refresher. As indicated in the checklist, some of the documentary requirements must be uploaded by the applicant to BARISTA following the guidelines for uploading of files, in addition to submitting the original or certified true copies of the same to the OBC.
“The 2025 Bar Examination Fee in the amount of P12,800 must be paid exclusively through the payment channel provided in BARISTA. The Bar Examination Fee is non-refundable.
“In the event that a New Applicant is unable to complete his or her law degree, a request to refund the application fee should be submitted to the OBC through the OBC Help Desk at bit.ly/2025BarExamsHelpdesk under ‘Payment-Refund Requests’ on or before Sept. 1, 2025 (Monday). The Refund Mechanics will be released on a later date.
“The date when successful payment is made is the date of filing of the application for the purpose of determining whether the same was timely filed.
“The physical copy of the mandatory documents must be submitted to the OBC within 10 calendar days from receipt of the email notice of approval of online application and the availability of the application form.
“The uploading and submission to the OBC of the deferred documents will start on June 16, 2025 (Monday) and may be submitted until Oct.14, 2025 (Tuesday). Applicants need not wait for the online processing to submit the physical copy of the deferred documents.
“Failure to upload and/or submit the physical copy of the documentary requirements may result in disqualification, and the examination answers of non-compliant applicants will not be checked.
“A detailed list and the corresponding specifications of the documentary requirements for each type of applicant may be found in the Checklist of Documentary Requirements.
“In accomplishing the Application Form, applicants must indicate their preferred testing area for taking the 2025 Bar Examinations based on the selection provided in BARISTA.
“The applicant will select three cities/localities from the cities/localities provided under BARISTA, regardless of their proximity to his or her indicated current address.
“The list of testing areas, at this stage of the application process, is provisional. It will be used though to aid the Office of the Bar Chairperson in determining the potential number of examinees per area.
“While the applicant’s assignment to his or her first choice is not guaranteed and may be subject to changes, it will still be considered by the Office of the Bar Chairperson during the assignment process, subject to the availability of slots provided by each local testing center (LTC). The final LTC assignment shall be displayed on the applicant’s BARISTA account on a later date.
“Applicants will be notified of the status of their applications to Take the 2025 Bar Examinations through BARISTA and their designated e-mail address. They are enjoined to regularly check their designated e-mail addresses for updates on their applications to take the 2025 Bar Examinations.
“They are reminded that all official communications regarding the status of their applications will be sent exclusively through the following e-mail addresses -- [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected].
“For any concerns, please contact the OBC Help Desk at bit.ly/2025BarExamsHelpdesk or call (02) 8552 9690.”