The short answer
To keep what you read months before the Bar, test yourself instead of only rereading. Close the book and try to state the rule from memory (active recall), then return to each topic at growing intervals (spaced review). Writing each key rule as one sentence in your own words gives you short material to recall from, and a ready-made list for pre-week.
Key points
- Rereading feels productive but fades. Recalling from memory lasts longer.
- Return to a topic at growing intervals: days, then weeks, then months.
- Write each rule you want to keep as one sentence in your own words.
- A few minutes of recall a day keeps early subjects alive until September.
Why January's reading is gone by September
A ten-month review has a built-in problem: the subjects you read first are the furthest from the exam. Reading them again feels familiar, and familiarity is easily mistaken for memory.
Learning research has a name for the better alternative. Retrieval practice, also called active recall, means trying to bring information back from memory instead of looking at it again. Studies of the "testing effect" have repeatedly found that practising retrieval improves long-term retention more than restudying the same material for the same time.
Active recall, in practice
After you read a topic:
- Close the book.
- Try to state the governing rule, its elements and its exceptions from memory.
- Open the book and check. Note what you missed.
It is harder than rereading, and it is supposed to be. The effort of retrieval is what strengthens the memory.
Spaced review: come back at growing intervals
Memory fades on a curve: quickly at first, then more slowly. Reviewing a topic just as it starts to fade, and then waiting longer before the next review, is called spaced review or spaced repetition.
A simple schedule: recall a topic the day after you read it, then a week later, then a month later. Each successful recall lets you wait longer before the next.
Write the rule in your own words
Recall needs something short to recall. The most useful format is one sentence per rule, in your own words:
Good faith is always presumed; whoever alleges bad faith must prove it.
Writing the sentence is itself retrieval practice. And by the end of your review, those sentences form the most valuable document you own: your own summary of the law, in your own voice. It is exactly what you want to read in pre-week.
A routine that fits in minutes
- After each study session, write one sentence: the rule from today you most want to keep.
- Each day, spend five to ten minutes recalling older sentences from fading topics.
- Each week, check which subjects you have not recalled recently, and start there.
How Lagda does this
Lagda shows each subject as a pillar: its height is what you have read, its colour is what is still fresh. As colour fades, the app brings back the sentences you filed for that subject, a few minutes at a time. Lagda is coming soon to iOS.
Questions
What is active recall for the Bar exam?
Trying to state a rule from memory before checking it, instead of only rereading. Retrieval practice like this improves long-term retention more than rereading for the same time.
How often should I review a topic for the Bar?
At growing intervals: for example the day after you read it, a week later, then a month later. Each successful recall lets you wait longer before the next.
What should I write in my Bar review notes?
One sentence per rule, in your own words. Writing it is recall practice, and the sentences become your pre-week reading list.
Published 13 November 2026. Read how we write and check our guides in our editorial standards. The Supreme Court's bulletins and announcements always control. Lagda is an independent study aid and is not affiliated with the Supreme Court of the Philippines.