UPCAT · Science
UPCAT Science review — biology, chemistry, physics and earth science
Science is one of the four UPCAT subtests. UP doesn't publish a topic list or item count for it, so plan to review the core high-school sciences — biology, chemistry, physics and earth and space science — and practice moving between them.
The official rules
The UPCAT has four subtests — Language Proficiency and Reading Comprehension (both in English and Filipino), Mathematics and Science — in a paper-based test that takes about five hours. Phones and calculators aren't allowed. UP doesn't publish item counts, subtest weights or a rule for wrong answers, and it combines your UPCAT score with your Grades 8–11 grades without publishing the weighting.
The last UPCAT was held on 1–2 August 2026. The next one is expected in August 2027 but hasn't been announced by the UP Office of Admissions yet. In recent cycles applications opened in March and the test ran on the first weekend of August.
Source: UP Office of Admissions — About the UPCAT. Rules can change — confirm with the UP Office of Admissions before you file.
Science chapters in the Super Tutor UPCAT reviewer
- Biology — the cell, classification, plants, animals, body systems, genetics, evolution
- Chemistry — matter, atomic structure, the periodic table and bonding, stoichiometry
- Chemistry — VSEPR, IMFA and KMT, gas laws, thermochemistry, equilibrium and redox
- Physics — measurement and vectors, kinematics, Newton's laws, work and energy
- Physics — fluids, waves and light, electromagnetism, mirrors and optics
- General science — the scientific method, machines and energy, weather and climate
- Earth and space — the universe, the solar system and the planets, ecology
Where students lose points
Each science has its own vocabulary and way of reasoning, and a mixed set makes you switch between them from one question to the next. Students tend to over-review their favorite science and leave gaps in the others.
How to study it
- 1Review each science on its own first, then practice mixed sets
- 2Know the core formulas (motion, gas laws, stoichiometry) well enough to use without looking
- 3Spend more time on the science you like least
- 4Read every explanation, including for questions you got right
- 5Keep a short list of terms and formulas you keep forgetting
How Super Tutor helps
Science in the UPCAT reviewer
The Super Tutor UPCAT reviewer has separate Biology, Chemistry, Physics and General Science subjects: every chapter comes as a summary, study notes, flashcards, a concept map, a cheat sheet and more, with practice quizzes at three difficulty levels and an explanation for each answer. When an explanation doesn't click, ask the AI tutor a follow-up. Full UPCAT mock exams drawn from 700+ exam-style questions — one on the free trial, more on paid plans.
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