UPCAT Cutoffs by Campus: What UP Actually Publishes

UPCAT Cutoffs by Campus: What UP Actually Publishes

"What's the UPCAT cutoff for UP Diliman?" is one of the most searched UPCAT questions — and the honest answer is that UP doesn't publish one. Not for Diliman, not for any campus, and not for any degree programme.

This post explains what UP does publish, how selection works, and how to make good campus and programme choices without relying on made-up cutoff tables. The UPCAT pillar guide covers the test itself.

What UP publishes

• The UPG exists. UP combines your standardised UPCAT scores with your final grades in Grades 8, 9, 10 and 11 into your University Predicted Grade (UPG), on UP's grading scale where lower is better.
• The weighting is not published. The "60% UPCAT, 40% grades" split quoted online is folklore.
• Programme cutoffs are not published. Each campus and programme admits according to its own capacity and that year's pool of applicants.
• Overall results are reported. For UPCAT 2026 (AY 2026–27), 147,437 examinees took the test and 18,350 qualified — 12.44%, including waitlisted applicants. For UPCAT 2025, 135,236 took it and 17,996 qualified — about 13.3%.

Of the 2026 qualifiers, 57.1% came from public schools and 21.45% from households earning ₱200,000 or less a year.

Why cutoff tables online can't be trusted

Any "UPG cutoff per programme" table you find was assembled from what individual applicants remember and share. Three problems:

1. It's a self-selected sample. People who post their UPG and result aren't a random slice of applicants.
2. Capacity and demand change every year. The same programme can be easier or harder to enter from one cycle to the next depending on how many strong applicants choose it.
3. It can't reflect the grades part of the UPG. Two applicants with the same UPCAT performance can land at different UPGs because of their Grades 8–11 record.

Use those tables, if at all, as a rough sense of which programmes are in high demand — never as a promise.

What you can actually do

1. Choose your campuses and programmes on fit first

Your application asks for your preferred campus and degree programmes. Start from what you want to study and where you can realistically live, then look at how in-demand each option is. High-demand programmes at high-demand campuses are the hardest to enter; the same degree at another UP campus may be more attainable.

2. Balance ambition with a realistic option

Put your genuine first choice first, but make sure your other choices include at least one programme you'd be happy to take that is less contested. Listing only the most in-demand programmes is the most common way strong applicants end up without an offer they want.

3. Maximise the part you can still change

By the time you're reviewing, your Grades 8–10 are fixed and Grade 11 is mostly set. The UPCAT is where extra effort still moves your UPG. Our UPCAT UPG Calculator lets you play with scenarios — remember it's an estimate, since UP doesn't publish its formula.

4. Plan your backups in parallel

You can take the UPCAT only once. Apply to other schools at the same time — their tests run on their own calendars (ACET in September–October, DLSU's DCAT from September to December, USTET from October to January for AY 2027–28 admissions). See the UPCAT vs ACET vs DLSU DCAT vs USTET comparison.

UP Open University

UP Open University (UPOU) runs its own admission process for its programmes. It's a different study model, mainly distance learning, not a "lower-cutoff" UP campus.

Where Super Tutor fits

Super Tutor won't give you a "you'll get into programme X" prediction — nobody honest can, because UP doesn't publish the formula or the cutoffs. What it does give you is the review itself: Super Tutor's UPCAT reviewer covers all four subtest areas in 55 chapters, each in 11 study formats, with practice quizzes at three difficulty levels, full UPCAT mock exams, an AI tutor and a study planner. Start free — 5-day trial, no card needed.

What to read next

The UPCAT pillar guide covers the full review plan and the current cycle's dates. If you're weighing backups, read the UPCAT vs ACET vs DLSU DCAT vs USTET comparison.