UPCAT Science Coverage 2026: What's Actually on the Test

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 the August 2026 sitting. The good news? You don't need everything. The UPCAT science sub-test pulls from a recognisable, repeating pool — and once you know what's actually tested, the prep gets manageable.

This guide breaks down what the science sub-test really covers in 2026, what topics keep showing up cycle after cycle, and where reviewers waste time studying things the exam doesn't ask about.

What the UPCAT Science Sub-Test Actually Covers

The UPCAT runs four sub-tests on August 1–2, 2026 — Math, Science, Language Proficiency, and Reading Comprehension. The science paper is roughly 50 items, mixed multiple-choice, with no calculator and roughly 60 minutes of working time. It feeds directly into your UP Predicted Grade alongside the other three sub-tests.

The four science domains aren't equally weighted. Past cycles suggest something like:

Biology — around 15 items. Cell biology, genetics, ecology, human physiology.
Chemistry — around 13 items. Stoichiometry, periodic trends, acids and bases, basic organic.
Physics — around 13 items. Mechanics, waves, electricity, basic thermodynamics.
Earth and Space Science — around 9 items. Plate tectonics, weather, astronomy basics.

Weights drift cycle to cycle. Don't bet on exact splits — but biology and chemistry routinely carry the most items, and earth science is the smallest block.

Biology: The Highest-Yield Block

Biology gets the most items and the most predictable patterns. The UPCAT examiners pull repeatedly from the same conceptual hooks.

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. Plenty of items frame this as a probability problem — 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 — Philippine biodiversity hotspots routinely show up.

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: Predictable, Calculation-Light

UPCAT chemistry skews conceptual. With no calculator, the exam can't lean heavily on multi-step stoichiometry, so most items reduce to ratios, concept questions, or short calculations.

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. The pH log scale shows up almost every cycle.
Basic organic — functional groups (alcohol, aldehyde, ketone, carboxylic acid). IUPAC naming for simple alkanes.

Where Chemistry Items Trip Reviewees

Significant figures and scientific notation. Every cycle has 1–2 items that test whether you can express 0.000456 in scientific notation, or how many sig figs are in a measurement. Free points if drilled.

Physics: Concept Over Computation

The no-calculator rule shapes UPCAT physics more than any other sub-test. Examiners can't ask for a 3-decimal final answer — so they ask for direction, ratios, proportional changes, and unit analysis. Most physics items reduce to: "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

The smallest block, but 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.

Roughly 9 items live here. A weekend of focused review nets you 6 to 7 of them. 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.

Weeks 1–2 — Biology. Read cell, genetics, ecology, physiology. Drill 30 items per day.
Weeks 3–4 — Chemistry. Periodic table, bonding, stoichiometry, acids and bases. Drill 25 items per day.
Weeks 5–6 — Physics. Concept-first approach. Drill 25 items per day, mostly proportional reasoning.
Week 7 — Earth science and astronomy. One weekend of intensive review.
Week 8 — Two full-length 50-item science mocks under exam conditions. Mixed-domain.

Where Reviewees Waste Time

Memorising the Krebs cycle — UPCAT asks where it happens (mitochondria) and what it produces (ATP, NADH, FADH2). Not the intermediates.
Drilling complex stoichiometry — without a calculator, the exam stays simple. Don't waste hours on multi-step buffer problems.
Ignoring proportional reasoning — physics rewards it heavily. Drill it explicitly.
Skipping Philippine context — earth science items often anchor on local geography. Know the Ring of Fire and the major fault systems.

The High-Yield Facts Worth Memorising

Some UPCAT science items reduce to single-fact recall. If you've memorised the fact, you bank the item in 15 seconds. Here's the 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. Memorise the diagonal pattern on the periodic table — metals + nonmetals tend to form ionic bonds; nonmetal-nonmetal combinations are covalent.
Chemistry trap items on isotopes vs ions — examiners love testing whether students know isotopes differ in neutrons (not protons), while ions differ in electrons. Different distinctions, easy to confuse.

How Super Tutor's UPCAT Track Tags Science

Our UPCAT track tags every science item by domain (bio, chem, physics, earth) and by sub-domain — so your analytics show whether your weak spot is genetics, stoichiometry, mechanics, or plate tectonics. Drill targeted blocks, not generic mixed sets. Focused Yearly is ₱1,999/year.

Pair this with the Complete UPCAT Guide 2026 and the UPCAT math pacing guide. STM has a deeper subject breakdown at supertutor.ph/resources/exams/upcat/science and a topic-by-topic frequency map at supertutor.ph/resources/exams/upcat/science-topics. The official syllabus context lives at up.edu.ph.

FAQs

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

Different, not harder. Your school tests calculate-and-solve. UPCAT tests recognise-and-apply. The shift catches Grade 12 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. The full table provided in some references isn't given on the exam.

How much physics math is involved?

Light. Almost all physics items reduce to proportional reasoning, qualitative comparisons, or single-step plug-and-chug. No calculator means no four-digit decimals.

Are there lab-based items?

Conceptual lab items — what does a particular setup measure, what's the role of a control, what's the dependent variable. No actual experimental results to calculate.

Next Steps

This guide breaks down what the science sub-test really covers in 2026, what topics keep showing up cycle after cycle, and where reviewers waste time studying things the exam doesn't ask about.

What the UPCAT Science Sub-Test Actually Covers

The four science domains aren't equally weighted. Past cycles suggest something like:

Biology — around 15 items. Cell biology, genetics, ecology, human physiology.
Chemistry — around 13 items. Stoichiometry, periodic trends, acids and bases, basic organic.
Physics — around 13 items. Mechanics, waves, electricity, basic thermodynamics.
Earth and Space Science — around 9 items. Plate tectonics, weather, astronomy basics.

Weights drift cycle to cycle. Don't bet on exact splits — but biology and chemistry routinely carry the most items, and earth science is the smallest block.