OFFICE OF THE 2023 BAR CHAIR
BAR BULLETIN No. 5
Series of 2023
GENERAL GUIDELINES ON
THE DIGITALIZED BAR EXAMINATIONS
Pursuant to the Court’s endeavor to modernize and permanently
digitalize the Philippine Bar Examinations, the Court shall continue to use
Examplify, a secure computer-based program to be downloaded to and
installed in the examinee’s laptop, and which they will utilize in the virtual
taking of the 2023 Bar Examinations, all the while physically present in their
respective local testing centers.
Device and Operating System Requirements for Examplify
Essentially, your laptop will be your examination pen and booklet. A
reliable laptop is absolutely crucial to get you through all three days of the
2023 Bar Examinations.
All examinees must bring with them to the testing venue their
respective laptops equipped with the most basic laptop specifications:
Wi-Fi-enabled, a built-in keyboard, a working trackpad, an integrated display
monitor, and sufficient battery power. Likewise, all examinees must bring
their own laptop chargers.
Bar Bulletin 5-2023
Page 2
The full list of allowed external gadgets, computer accessories, and
personal effects1 shall be released in a later issuance.
In the interest of examinee comfort and convenience, and even if
allowed by the rules, please refrain from bringing and using external gadgets
and accessories, as each examinee’s allotted desk space is sufficient to hold
only one laptop.
Smartphones, iOS devices, tablets, and the like are NOT allowed.
Version 3.3 of Examplify will be utilized for the 2023 Bar Examinations.
The prescribed minimum system requirements, as well as the compatible
Operating Systems, may be accessed here.2
Proctors will be physically present in the examination rooms to oversee
the Bar Examinations. Thus, the requirements for ExamID and ExamMonitor
shall not apply.
As earlier instructed by the Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC),3
examinees who intend to use MacBook laptops must NOT update to or
install macOS Sonoma or macOS 14, whether in the beta version or its
regular release.
Downloading and Accessing Your Examplify Account
Qualified applicants4 shall be given their own individual Examplify
accounts.
An email containing detailed instructions on account credentials and
how to download and access Examplify accounts shall be sent to each
examinee’s BARISTA-registered email address on August 1, 2023.
1 E.g., non-mechanical keyboards, wired mice, Bluetooth mice, medical gadgets and equipment, etc.
2 For ease of reference, the full site address for Examplify’s minimum system requirements is
https://examsoft.com/resources/examplify-minimum-system-requirements/.
3 For ease of reference, the full site address of the OBC Notice re: Examplify and Compatibility Issues with macOS
Sonoma is https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023-Bar-Notice-re-Examplify.pdf.
4 Applicants who (1) have been approved by the Court as being conditionally admitted to take the Bar
Examinations (i.e., have been notified of their generated Application Forms via BARISTA or email);
and (2) have not complied with the requirements for withdrawal and/or request for refund.
Bar Bulletin 5-2023
Page 3
Examinees are required to install Version 3.3 of Examplify on their
respective laptops not later than August 25, 2023. Please closely monitor
your respective BARISTA-registered email inboxes (and Spam folders, for
good measure) on or before the said date to verify receipt of this
correspondence. If no such email is received by said date, please message the
OBC’s 2023 Helpdesk under the “Examplify – Technical Issues” section.
Taking the Sample Examinations
To check the compatibility of the examinees’ laptops and operating
systems with Examplify, three sample examinations will be made available.
These sample examinations are designed to aid examinees in familiarizing
themselves with the mechanics of Examplify and to ease into the use of the
said program.
For guidance, details on each sample examination are indicated below:
Sample When Available
When to Take the Sample Examination
Examination for Download
This will be conducted asynchronously.
First Sample Thus, this may be taken and submitted
August 1, 2023 no later than August 25, 2023.
Examination
This sample examination is optional.
This will be conducted synchronously.
Thus, this may be taken and submitted
Second Sample only on August 17, 2023 from 8:00 a.m.
August 16, 2023
Examination to 12:00 noon.
This sample examination is optional.
This will be conducted asynchronously.
Third Sample Thus, this may be taken and submitted
August 18, 2023 no later than August 25, 2023.
Examination
This sample examination is mandatory.
There is great benefit in participating in all three sample examinations.
Bar Bulletin 5-2023
Page 4
Please note that the taking of the third sample examination is
mandatory for all Bar examinees.
Failure to take the third sample examination will result in the
deactivation of the Examplify account of the non-complying examinee.
Please also note that the laptop that you intend to use in taking the
sample examinations must be the same laptop that you will use in taking
the actual Bar Examinations.
“Best Practices”
To ensure the seamless operation of Examplify, all examinees are highly
encouraged to adopt the following “best practices” pertaining to the digital
aspect of the Bar Examinations:
1. Disable all antivirus software installed in your laptop during the
three days of the Bar Examinations. You may re-enable your
antivirus software at the end of every afternoon examinations.
2. Uninstall all unnecessary software to avoid program conflicts or
technical issues.
3. Turn off automatic system updates before and during the
examinations.
The list of “best practices” shall be updated regularly and shall be
accessible here.
Frequently-Asked Questions and Examplify Manual
To further orient the examinees with Examplify, a comprehensive
Manual shall be released on or before July 31, 2023.
Bar Bulletin 5-2023
Page 5
All Bar examinees are enjoined to monitor the section updates on the
Digitalized Bar Examinations under the Frequently-Asked Questions for the
2023 Bar Examinations.5
The Court is committed to ensure that all aspects of the 2023 Bar
Examinations shall proceed as carefully planned. I ask this year’s examinees
to diligently read the Court’s announcements and abide by them, so that
they may be adequately supplied with practical information to minimize
their difficulties, if not avoid them altogether, as the examinations approach.
For your information and guidance.
July 15, 2023.
RAMON PAUL L. HERNANDO
Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the Philippines
Chair, 2023 Bar Examinations
5 For ease of reference, the full site address for the Frequently-Asked Questions for the 2023 Bar Examinations,
which includes a section on the Digitalized Examinations, is http://tinyurl.com/2023BarExamsFAQs.
