What the UPCAT is
The University of the Philippines College Admission Test, called the UPCAT, is the entrance examination the University of the Philippines runs for first-year admission to its constituent universities and autonomous colleges. It is conducted by the UP Office of Admissions, under the University’s own admission policy, not by a national board or the Professional Regulation Commission.
Passing the UPCAT is not admission by itself. UP combines the UPCAT score with the applicant’s Grade 8 through Grade 11 grades to compute a University Predicted Grade, then admits candidates by ranking on that composite, campus by campus and programme by programme, so cutoff grades vary by campus and course.
Who conducts it, and when
UP administers the UPCAT once a year, in August, for admission the following academic year. The UPCAT for the 2026-2027 intake was held on 2 and 3 August 2025, at 116 testing centres including newly opened sites in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, and Sta. Maria, Davao Occidental. For the 2027-2028 intake the Office of Admissions opened online applications in March 2026. Application windows, testing centres and grade-submission deadlines are announced afresh each cycle on upcat.up.edu.ph.
Who can apply
The UPCAT is meant for first-time freshman applicants. A qualifying applicant is a Grade 11 or Grade 12 student in the school year of application, or a Filipino school leaver who has not previously enrolled in any college or university. Applicants studying abroad may apply under the Office of Admissions rules for that pathway. The examination may be taken only once, so a candidate who sits the UPCAT one year cannot re-sit in a later cycle.
How the exam runs
The UPCAT is a paper-based, machine-scored multiple-choice test with four subtests: Language Proficiency covering English and Filipino grammar, vocabulary and usage; Reading Comprehension; Mathematics covering arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, statistics and pre-calculus; and Science covering general science, biology, chemistry, earth science and physics. The test uses negative marking: each correct answer earns one point and each wrong answer deducts one-quarter of a point, per the Office of Admissions rules. The sitting including registration and orientation runs about five hours and is administered over two days for the current national schedule.
There is no single passing score. Scores feed into the UP Admission Grade alongside the applicant’s Grade 8 to Grade 11 marks, and UP admits the top-ranked applicants per campus and programme until the slots for that programme are filled. That is why applicants list first, second and, where allowed, third choices of campus and course on the application: rankings run per programme.
Applying and the examination fee
Applicants complete the online application on the UPCAT portal, attach a scanned photograph, choose the campus and course preferences, and pay the examination fee through the accepted channels. Schools confirm applicant eligibility through Form 2A on the same portal by the deadline for the cycle, and grades are submitted through Form 2B in the window that opens after the exam. Filipino qualifiers from low-income families are offered financial assistance under the Iskolar ng Bayan and UP admission-support schemes UP has published for recent cycles.
On exam day
Bring the Test Permit issued through the online application portal, a valid school identification or any government-issued photo identification, number two pencils, and a good eraser. Mobile phones, smartwatches, calculators, and any electronic device are not allowed inside the testing room. Reporting time and room assignment are printed on the Test Permit; arrive well before that time because latecomers are not admitted.
After the exam
Results are released online by the Office of Admissions, usually a few months after the exam. Passers are said to have qualified for UP and are notified of their campus assignment. Confirmation of acceptance and pre-enrolment are then run on each constituent university’s own schedule. A passer who does not accept the offered campus and course does not automatically move to another campus: the admission is to a specific slot.
Some figures on this page were verified against secondary reporting because the primary UP Office of Admissions pages were not directly reachable from the build environment on the last-verified date. Every fact carries its source and should be re-checked against upcat.up.edu.ph before it is quoted publicly.