The Supreme Court announced on Thursday that the 2023 bar exams will be held in September.

The SC stated that the exams would remain digitalized and regionalized and that they would be held on three days next year: September 17, 20, and 24.

Last month, the 2022 bar exams were held over four days, while the 2020 and 2021 bar exams were held over two days in February.

“The rationale is both practical and societal: an earlier conduct of examinations means an earlier release of examination results; successful Bar examinees can commence their practice of law as early as December 2023,” According to a press release from the Office of the Bar Chair.

“New lawyers may begin contributing to their families and to society as new members of the Bar in the same year they graduated from law school,” they added.

The exams will cover the six core subjects listed below. Each exam day will include two subjects.

Exams will consist of a maximum of 20 “straightforward, entry-level questions, in essay-type form,” with answers graded from 0 to 100 percent, or 5 percent for each question, according to the Supreme Court.

The exams will have four examiners per subject “to achieve an efficient, thorough review of answers despite the increasing number of bar candidates every year,” according to the announcement.

In November, 9,800 candidates took the 2022 Bar Exam.

Meanwhile, the 2020-2021 bar exams were the first to be held digitally, having been pushed through last February after a 2-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The exams were taken by 11,402 law graduates, and 8,241 passed.