Well-wishers greet exam-takers after they finished on the last day of the 2024 Bar Exams in Manila on September 15, 2024. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA – The results of the 2024 Bar examinations for the next generation of lawyers will be announced by December, with the oath taking of successful examinees set for next January, officials of the Supreme Court said Wednesday. 

"Tentatively, we are intending to release it in December, but the oath-taking is already scheduled on January 24, 2025," Supreme Court Associate Justice Mario Lopez, who chairs this year's Bar Examinations, told the Senate Finance Committee during the judiciary’s 2025 budget briefing. 

Earlier in the briefing, Court Administrator Raul Villanueva told the panel that around 12,000 registered to take the exams, but only over 10,000 actually took the Bar.

"This is now digitalized and regionalized since 2021 and just to report there is an increasing number actually of Bar examinees," Villanueva said. 

"The number of applicants last year based on our records was 11,388, 10,368 completed the exams, 3,812 passed or a passing rate of 36.77 percent. In 2024 the number of applicants based on our records was 12246 but the actual takers was 10,490 if I'm not mistaken,” he said. 

In numbers: The 2024 Bar examinations

The judiciary is seeking over P60 billion in the 2025 Budget. The Senate Finance Committee submitted the budget to the Senate plenary for action.

Separately, the panel heard the budget briefing of the Presidential Management Staff, which is seeking over P800 million in the 2025 budget. It was also submitted to the Senate plenary.