‘No retreat; no surrender,’ - 74-yr.-old examinee in Baguio is oldest to take 2025 Bar Exam

Baguio City, Philippines - At 74 years old, a determined woman is the oldest individual to finish the three-day 2025 Bar Exam in Baguio, proving that age is not a barrier to achieving lifelong dreams.

Natividad Rosal, affectionately called as Lola Natividad, who came all the way from Pangasinan to the city of Pines marked a milestone in the 2025 bar exams that ended on September 16.

In an interview with a regional media, the old-yet-bold aspirant said that it was already her third time taking the said exam due to personal reasons saying, “…hindi ako nakapag-take kasi nagkasakit yung asawa ko.”

The 74-year-old woman was one of over 1,000 bar examinees who registered this year.

Hence, By the time the exam for 2025 was scheduled, Lola Natividad did not hesitate to register and grab the opportunity to partake in one of the hardest exam known in the country.

The determined grandma admitted that it was difficult on her part, especially that taking the current exam was different from when she took the same exams in the past. She added that it was all for fulfillment now as she knows she couldn’t enter any government offices, given her old age.

“I want just- parang fulfillment nalang ng dreams. Hindi na rin ako makakapasok sa kahit na anong branch ng government,” she was quoted saying.

For this year’s exam, according to the supreme court via regional media, this year’s number of examinees had the highest all throughout the history of bar takers with a total of 11, 437.

The results is expected to be out by January 2026.