LET Elementary Without a BEEd? CMO 75 and the 18-Unit Route Explained

LET Elementary Without a BEEd? CMO 75 and the 18-Unit Route Explained

If you've read that a non-education graduate can take LET Elementary by finishing 18 units of Professional Education "under CMO 75", here's the short answer: that route doesn't lead to LET Elementary.

• LET Elementary requires a BEEd/BSEEd or an equivalent degree (PRC's list of requirements for Professional Teachers).
• The "bachelor's degree plus at least 18 units of Professional Education" route is for LET Secondary, under RA 7836 as amended by RA 9293.
• CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 75, s. 2017 is CHED's program standard for the Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSEd) degree. It sets what a BSEd program must teach. It is not a LET eligibility pathway.

This post explains where the confusion comes from and what career shifters can actually do.

What PRC actually requires

PRC's list of requirements for the teachers' exam separates the two levels:

Both levels share the same fee (₱900) and the same passing rule: a 75% general average and no test below 50%.

Whether your particular degree and units count is PRC's decision, not a review center's or a university's. Confirm your eligibility with PRC before you pay for any units or program.

Where the confusion comes from

Two real things got mixed together:

1. The 18-unit Professional Education programs that many universities offer to non-education graduates (often called a certificate or diploma in professional education or teaching). These are how a non-education graduate becomes eligible for LET Secondary.
2. CMO 75, s. 2017, the CHED standard for BSEd programs. Its Prof Ed course list (the teaching profession, child and adolescent learners, facilitating learning, assessment, curriculum, technology for teaching, field study) looks a lot like the subjects in an 18-unit program, so people link the two.

Neither one makes you eligible for LET Elementary.

Your options as a career shifter

Option 1: LET Secondary through the 18-unit route

If you have a bachelor's degree outside education, this is the usual route. Complete at least 18 units of Professional Education, confirm eligibility with PRC, then take LET Secondary.

What to expect from the exam: it's one Sunday, in three parts. General Education runs 8–10 a.m. (20%), Professional Education 11 a.m.–2 p.m. (40%), and your Specialization 3:00–6:30 p.m. (40%). Most majors have 150 items per part, and the Mathematics major has 120. You pick the specialization that matches your background. A math, science or English degree maps naturally onto those majors.

In March 2026, 73.10% of LET Secondary examinees passed (45,001 of 61,561, per PRC).

Option 2: complete a BEEd

If you specifically want to teach elementary grades, you need an elementary education degree (or one PRC accepts as equivalent). Some schools credit units from a previous degree. Ask the registrar how many units you'd still need and how long it would take.

Option 3: check the newer elementary tracks

PRC's 2026 exam programs include an "Elementary with specialization" track for graduates of BECEd, BSNEd, BTLEd, BTVTEd, BPEd and BCAEd programs. Those are teacher-education degrees too, so this isn't a shortcut for non-education graduates, but it matters if you already hold one of them.

Timeline basics

There's no fixed timeline, but the fixed points are these:

• Units first. You need the units (Secondary) or the degree (Elementary) before you can file.
• Two sittings a year. The LET ran in March and September in both 2025 and 2026. The next is expected in March 2027, but PRC hasn't published its 2027 schedule yet. Check prc.gov.ph.
• Results take about two months or more. The March 15, 2026 LET results came out on May 12, 2026. For the September 20, 2026 LET, PRC targets November 27, 2026.

Reviewing Prof Ed as a career shifter

Whichever route you take, Professional Education is where non-education graduates usually have the thinnest foundation. A short units program gives you the topics but not four years of repetition. Give Prof Ed more of your review time than a BEEd or BSEd graduate would.

Theories of learning. Drill the major theorists and what each looks like in a classroom: Piaget, Vygotsky, Bruner, Skinner, Bandura, Maslow.

Education laws. Read the key provisions of:

• RA 7836 (Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act of 1994)
• RA 9293 (amends RA 7836)
• RA 4670 (Magna Carta for Public School Teachers)
• RA 10533 (Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013)
• RA 9155 (Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001)
• the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers

Practice under time. Prof Ed is 150 items in 3 hours. Do timed practice sets well before exam month.

What a DepEd teaching career pays

A public school Teacher I (Salary Grade 11) earns ₱31,705 a month at Step 1 in 2026, rising to ₱33,387 on January 1, 2027. Compare that honestly with your current pay and benefits before you shift. The DepEd teacher salary 2026 guide has the full ladder, and the career shift to teaching guide covers the move more broadly.

Practice with Super Tutor

If you're taking the Secondary route, Super Tutor's LET Secondary reviewer covers Gen Ed (English, Filipino, Mathematics, Social Sciences) and Prof Ed, with practice quizzes at three difficulty levels and an AI tutor that explains any question step by step. It doesn't cover specialization (major) content and has no LET Secondary mock exams, so plan your major separately with the official table of specifications. Start free with a 5-day trial, no card needed.

What to read next

The LET Elementary vs Secondary guide compares the two exams side by side. The LET Secondary major field review covers the specialization part. If you do hold a BEEd, the LET Elementary pillar guide covers the full review.