UPCAT to return next year

MANILA, Philippines — After three years of suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT) will again be administered next year for the freshmen intake for academic year 2024-2025.

UP on Thursday announced the decision to hold the in-person examination on June 3 and 4, 2023 in almost 100 testing centers nationwide.

The application will open in March 2023 for current Grade 11 students who are expected to graduate from senior high school the following year.

The university said the early opening of applications and holding of UPCAT will ensure the timely release of results in light of the anticipated increase in applications.

Successful applicants will admitted to the university in the first semester of academic year 2024-2025.

Meanwhile, the application period for the UP College Admission (UPCA) for academic year 2023-2024 is still ongoing.

University officials earlier decided to forego the UPCAT for the third time this year due to the pandemic.

It will again adopt the UPCA system to rank applicants based on their final grades in Grades 8, 9, 10 and 11.

Senior high school students expected to graduate before the start of AY 2023-2024 may submit the requirements to the UPCA online application portal at https://upadmissionsonline.up.edu.ph until Oct. 15.

Applicants must already have final grades for Grades 8 to 11, must not have taken any college subjects, must not have taken the UPCAT in 2019 or earlier and must not have applied and completed the UPCA in 2020 and 2021.

“All forms for UPCA shall be submitted online (except for certain regional areas). Applicants shall accomplish Form 1 (personal data sheet) and Form 2B (high school record) electronically and upload their photo and electronic signature,” said the university.