UPCAT Science Review: What to Cover and How to Drill It

UPCAT science review usually starts with a stack of textbooks and ends in a panic. Four subjects, hundreds of topics, and Grade 12 reviewees trying to cover everything from cell biology to projectile motion before test day. The good news? You don't need everything. UPCAT applicants come from every senior-high strand, so the safest core is the science you've already met in school — and once you focus on that core, the prep gets manageable.

This guide breaks down what to cover for the science subtest, which topics are the foundation for everything else, and where reviewers waste time on depth the exam is unlikely to need.

What We Know About the UPCAT Science Subtest

The UPCAT has four subtests — Math, Science, Language Proficiency, and Reading Comprehension — in a paper-based test that takes about five hours to administer. Calculators are prohibited. UP doesn't publish item counts or timings for each subtest. Your UPCAT score is combined with your Grades 8–11 grades into your University Predicted Grade (UPG).

UP also doesn't publish a science topic list or a split between the domains. The four domains most reviewers plan around are:

• Biology — cell biology, genetics, ecology, human physiology.
• Chemistry — atomic structure, periodic trends, stoichiometry, acids and bases, basic organic.
• Physics — mechanics, waves, electricity, basic thermodynamics.
• Earth and Space Science — plate tectonics, weather, astronomy basics.

Don't bet on exact splits. Cover all four domains, and give the most time to whichever one your school covered least.

Biology: A Big, Pattern-Rich Block

Biology has a lot of content, but it hangs on a small number of conceptual hooks. Learn the hooks and the details fall into place.

Cell Biology

Cell organelles and their functions. Mitosis vs meiosis stages. Photosynthesis (light vs dark reactions, where they happen). Cellular respiration (glycolysis, Krebs cycle, electron transport — at concept level, not memorised metabolite by metabolite). Drill these until you can sketch the broad pathways without notes.

Genetics

Mendelian crosses (monohybrid, dihybrid). Punnett squares. Sex-linked inheritance. DNA replication and transcription basics. Mutation types. Genetics questions are often framed as probability problems — what's the chance of an offspring inheriting a trait?

Ecology and Evolution

Food chains, food webs, trophic levels, energy pyramids. Symbiotic relationships (mutualism, commensalism, parasitism). Natural selection. Speciation. Conservation biology basics, including Philippine biodiversity.

Human Physiology

Major systems and their functions — circulatory, respiratory, digestive, nervous, endocrine. Don't memorise every hormone; do know insulin, glucagon, adrenaline, thyroxine, and the basics of homeostasis.

Chemistry: Concepts Before Calculation

With no calculator allowed, prepare for chemistry that reduces to ratios, concept questions, or short calculations rather than long multi-step arithmetic.

• Atomic structure — protons, neutrons, electrons, isotopes, electron configuration.
• Periodic trends — atomic radius, ionisation energy, electronegativity. Know which way each trend moves and why.
• Bonding — ionic vs covalent vs metallic. Polarity. Lewis structures for simple molecules.
• Stoichiometry — mole concept, molar mass, simple balanced equations. Limit yourself to one or two-step problems.
• Acids and bases — pH scale, strong vs weak, simple neutralisation. Know what the log scale means.
• Basic organic — functional groups (alcohol, aldehyde, ketone, carboxylic acid). IUPAC naming for simple alkanes.

Where Chemistry Items Trip Reviewees

Significant figures and scientific notation. Can you express 0.000456 in scientific notation, or count the sig figs in a measurement? These are free points if drilled.

Physics: Concept Over Computation

The no-calculator rule shapes how you should prepare for physics. Practise questions about direction, ratios, proportional changes, and unit analysis — the classic "if X doubles, what happens to Y?"

• Mechanics — Newton's laws, kinematics, projectile motion, momentum, energy conservation.
• Waves and sound — wave properties, Doppler effect (qualitatively), sound intensity.
• Optics — reflection, refraction, lenses (concept level), the EM spectrum order.
• Electricity — Ohm's law, simple series and parallel circuits, electric vs magnetic fields.
• Thermodynamics — heat vs temperature, specific heat (concept), the laws of thermodynamics qualitatively.

Drill proportional reasoning. "If the radius of a circle doubles, the area quadruples" — that pattern, applied to physics formulas, banks you items.

Earth and Space Science: Don't Skip It

Often the least-reviewed block, and some of the easiest points if you spend a weekend on it. Topics:

• Plate tectonics — convergent, divergent, transform boundaries. Volcanic and seismic activity in the Philippines.
• Rock cycle — igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic. How each forms.
• Weather and climate — air masses, fronts, monsoon patterns, typhoon formation.
• Astronomy — solar system order, lunar phases, eclipses, basic stellar classification.
• Philippine geography — Pacific Ring of Fire, fault lines, biodiversity zones.

A focused weekend covers most of this. Don't be the reviewer who skips earth science and loses easy items.

How to Drill the Science Sub-Test

Eight-week rotation if you're starting now.

1. Weeks 1–2 — Biology. Read cell, genetics, ecology, physiology. Drill 30 items per day.
2. Weeks 3–4 — Chemistry. Periodic table, bonding, stoichiometry, acids and bases. Drill 25 items per day.
3. Weeks 5–6 — Physics. Concept-first approach. Drill 25 items per day, mostly proportional reasoning.
4. Week 7 — Earth science and astronomy. One weekend of intensive review.
5. Week 8 — Two full-length timed science practice sets under exam conditions. Mixed-domain, no calculator.

Where Reviewees Waste Time

• Memorising the Krebs cycle — know where it happens (mitochondria) and what it produces (ATP, NADH, FADH2) before you worry about the intermediates.
• Drilling complex stoichiometry — without a calculator, long calculations are impractical. Don't waste hours on multi-step buffer problems.
• Ignoring proportional reasoning — physics rewards it heavily. Drill it explicitly.
• Skipping Philippine context — Philippine examples make natural earth science questions. Know the Ring of Fire and the major fault systems.

The High-Yield Facts Worth Memorising

Some science questions reduce to single-fact recall. If you've memorised the fact, you answer in 15 seconds. Here's a high-yield set:

• Powerhouse of the cell — mitochondria. Site of ATP synthesis.
• Site of photosynthesis — chloroplasts, specifically the thylakoid membranes for light reactions and the stroma for the Calvin cycle.
• Number of chromosomes in human somatic cells — 46. Gametes — 23.
• pH neutral — 7. Acidic below 7. Basic above. Each pH unit is a 10-fold difference.
• Avogadro's number — 6.022 × 10²³.
• Speed of light — 3 × 10⁸ m/s.
• Earth's atmosphere composition — 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% other.
• Order of planets from sun — Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
• Layers of Earth — crust, mantle, outer core, inner core.

The Science Mistake Patterns

Three places students leak science items even when they know the content:

• Misreading qualitative items as quantitative — physics items asking "what happens to Y if X doubles" reward proportional reasoning. Students who try to plug numbers in waste 90 seconds. The answer is direction or ratio, not a calculated value.
• Confusing covalent and ionic — when the item gives an example compound. Know which side of the periodic table's metal–nonmetal line each element sits — metals + nonmetals tend to form ionic bonds; nonmetal-nonmetal combinations are covalent.
• Chemistry trap items on isotopes vs ions — a classic trap is whether students know isotopes differ in neutrons (not protons), while ions differ in electrons. Different distinctions, easy to confuse.

How Super Tutor Helps With UPCAT Science

Our UPCAT reviewer has science chapter content in 11 study formats — summaries, study notes, flashcards, concept maps, cheat sheets and more — plus practice quizzes at three difficulty levels, full UPCAT mock exams, and an AI tutor for questions you're stuck on. Plans start at ₱249 a month with auto-pay (cancel anytime), or ₱1,999 for a full year, paid once.

Pair this with the Complete UPCAT Guide and the UPCAT math pacing guide. The UPCAT resources hub has more subject material, and the official test information lives at upcat.up.edu.ph.

FAQs

Is the UPCAT science sub-test harder than my school exams?

Different, not necessarily harder. Without a calculator, you need to recognise and apply concepts quickly rather than grind through long calculations. That shift catches students used to long-form problem sets.

Should I memorise the periodic table?

The first 20 elements by symbol and approximate position, yes. Past that, recognise where common elements sit and the trends across periods and groups. Don't count on a periodic table being provided.

How much physics math is involved?

UP doesn't say, but with no calculator allowed, expect the arithmetic to stay manageable. Practise proportional reasoning, qualitative comparisons, and single-step calculations.

Are there lab-based items?

UP doesn't publish item types, but know the basics of experimental design anyway — what a setup measures, the role of a control, which variable is dependent. They're cheap to learn.

Next Steps

• Complete UPCAT Guide
• UPCAT Math Without a Calculator
• 60-Day UPCAT Study Plan
• Super Tutor's UPCAT Reviewer