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UP College Admission Test (UPCAT)
The UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) is a four-hour, paper-based entrance exam administered once a year (first weekend of August) by the University of the Philippines Office of Admissions for first-year admission to UP's constituent universities, consisting of four subtests: Language Proficiency (English and Filipino), Reading Comprehension (English and Filipino), Science, and Mathematics.
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QuestionsNot publicly disclosed — The current first-party exam pages and candidate materials cited for this record were reviewed; they do not publish this field.
Testing time4 hours (the full test administration at the test center lasts about five hours, including check-in)
ScoringNo universal passing score; standardized UPCAT scores are combined with the composite of final Grades 8–11 grades into the University Predicted Grade (UPG), and applicants are ranked against campus quotas and degree-program cut-offs
Exam feeNo application fee for Filipino citizens; non-refundable application fee of PHP 450 for resident foreign applicants studying in the Philippines, or USD 50 for non-resident foreign applicants
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Exam overview
What to know before choosing your prep
- Who runs it
- UP
- Category
- Undergraduate Admissions
- Current version
- UPCAT 2027 administration (General Information Bulletin on First-Year Admissions, AY 2027-2028); no separate exam version label is published
- Where it applies
- PH — national
- Exam languages
- English, Filipino
- Testing provider
- Administered in-house by the UP Office of Admissions at UP constituent units and designated test centers (no external delivery vendor)
- Format
- Paper-based, administered at designated test centers nationwide in morning and afternoon sessions
- Availability
- Once a year on fixed national dates — administered on the first weekend of August (UPCAT 2027 was scheduled for 1–2 August 2026)
- Results
- Results released several months after testing, within the first half of the following calendar year (UPCAT 2027 results due within the first half of 2027; UPCAT 2026 results were posted 22 April 2026)
- Remote testing
- Not available
Exam structure
Four subtests: Language Proficiency (in English and Filipino), Reading Comprehension (in English and Filipino), Science, and Mathematics
Where rules vary
National admission test of the Philippines' national university, administered at test centers across all Philippine regions; the exam itself is uniform nationwide (test content does not vary by region)
Eligibility
Grade 11 students in AY 2025–2026 expecting to finish Grade 12 by end of AY 2026–2027, or senior high school graduates, with complete Grades 8–11 grades; applicants must NOT have taken any college/post-secondary courses, must NOT have taken the UPCAT before, and must NOT have had a UP application processed during the no-UPCAT years
Retake policy
The UPCAT may be taken only once: applicants who have previously taken the UPCAT are not eligible to apply again