A TOTAL of 12,017 examinees took the second day of the 2026 Bar Examinations on Wednesday, September 9, posting a 99.9% retention rate, according to data released by the Supreme Court.

The figure was slightly lower than the 12,029 examinees who took the first day of the examinations on September 6.

The 2026 Bar Examinations are being administered across 15 local testing centers nationwide.

The University of San Jose-Recoletos recorded the highest number of examinees on the second day with 1,324, followed by New Era University with 1,276; San Beda University, 1,148; Ateneo de Davao University, 1,143; and Saint Louis University, 1,132.

Other examinees were distributed among Cagayan State University, 358; University of Nueva Caceres, 654; University of Santo Tomas, 674; Ateneo de Manila University School of Law, 554; Manila Adventist College, 472; University of the Philippines-BGC, 659; San Beda College Alabang, 773; Dr. V. Orestes Romualdez Educational Foundation, 557; Central Philippine University, 563; and Mindanao State University-IIT, 730.

On the first day, 12,029 of the 13,441 examinees admitted to take the 2026 Bar Examinations reported to their respective testing centers.

Of the first-day examinees, 45.9% were first-time takers, 29.5% were previous takers, and 24.6% were refreshers. The Supreme Court also reported that 6,773, or 56.3%, were female, while 5,256, or 43.7%, were male.

The youngest examinee this year is 24 years old, while the oldest is 84.