UPCAT back after 3 years

MANILA, Philippines — After three years of postponement due to the pandemic, the highly anticipated University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT) returned this weekend with thousands of senior high school students aspiring entry to the country’s premier state university.

In UP Diliman alone, the university’s flagship campus located in Quezon City, some 40,000 applicants are expected to take the pencil-and-paper test.

They compose almost half of the 104,000 examinees who have submitted applications and will take the test in 102 testing centers across the country.

According to UP president Angelo Jimenez, one examinee arrived as early as 1 a.m. in Diliman on Saturday to avoid the expected heavy traffic around the campus.

Several accounts online also shared stories of applicants and their parents camping out hours before the scheduled examination.

No issue was reported during the first two of the four UPCAT sessions this weekend, held in the morning and afternoon of Saturday.

Jimenez earlier said the university will only be able to accommodate 15,000 students for the freshman intake for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Like in the past, this year’s UPCAT consisted of four subtests: Language Proficiency (English and Filipino), Science, Mathematics and Reading Comprehension (English and Filipino).

Applicants will be selected based on their combined UPCAT scores and composite of final grades from Grades 8 to 11.

To implement the policy of democratic access, UP said it also considers socioeconomic and geographic factors in its admission process.

“Applicants come from very diverse backgrounds but they are all ranked based on indicators of academic preparedness for university life,” said the university.

“Selection for admission to a campus is based on the applicant’s rank, campus quota and/or cut-off grade… The successful applicants for a given campus are ranked according to grade predictors and quotas of their chosen degree programs. Some degree programs are more competitive due to high demand,” it added.

This weekend’s examination marked the return of the UPCAT after three years of suspension due to the pandemic.

During the said period, applicants were assessed using the UP College Admissions system, which solely used the students’ grades during junior and senior high school.

The year’s UPCAT was held earlier than usual to ensure the timely release of results.

After taking the test, applicants will then have to revisit the online application portal in September to fill out their grades and submit a hard copy of their Form 137 or the permanent school record.

UP offers almost 200 undergraduate programs in its eight constituent universities in Diliman, Baguio, Los Baños, Manila, Visayas, Cebu, Mindanao and the Open University, and one autonomous college in Tacloban City.