LET Secondary Career Value: DepEd Salary, Ranks, and Career Paths

LET Secondary Career Value: DepEd Salary, Ranks, and Career Paths

Sixteen weeks of LET review is a serious commitment, easily 200 or more hours of focused work. The honest question to ask first: what does the license actually unlock?

This post covers DepEd teaching posts, salary grades and allowances, private schools, and the career-shift route.

The headline value

The Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act (RA 7836, as amended by RA 9293) requires a PRC license to practice as a professional teacher at the elementary and secondary level. In practice, the license is what you need for:

• A permanent DepEd teaching post, from Teacher I upward
• Teaching posts in most private basic-education schools
• Moving up DepEd's teacher career ladder

Without the license, your options narrow to roles like tutoring or non-permanent arrangements, and you can't be appointed to a permanent DepEd teaching position.

DepEd salary grades for licensed teachers

Public school teacher pay follows the civilian Salary Schedule. For 2026, that's the third tranche of Executive Order No. 64 (s. 2024), implemented by DBM National Budget Circular No. 601. DepEd's teacher ladder comes from the Expanded Career Progression (EO 174, s. 2022, and DepEd-DBM Joint Circular No. 01, s. 2025).

Teacher IV to VII and Master Teacher V are new titles created by EO 174. Head Teacher titles are being retitled into this ladder under the 2025 Joint Circular.

Within a grade, pay rises by step: Teacher I (SG 11) runs from ₱31,705 at Step 1 to ₱33,611 at Step 8 in 2026. The fourth and final EO 64 tranche takes effect on January 1, 2027, when Teacher I Step 1 rises to ₱33,387.

On top of basic pay, public school teachers receive:

• PERA (Personnel Economic Relief Allowance): ₱2,000 a month
• Teaching allowance ("chalk allowance"): ₱10,000 a year from SY 2025–2026, under RA 11997 (Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act)
• Mid-Year Bonus: one month's basic pay
• Year-End Bonus: one month's basic pay (this is the government's "13th-month pay") plus a ₱5,000 cash gift
• Productivity Enhancement Incentive: ₱5,000 for FY 2025
• Performance-Based Bonus, depending on agency and individual ratings
• GSIS membership, which covers retirement benefits

For the full breakdown, see our DepEd teacher salary guide.

The Master Teacher ladder

The biggest pay step for a classroom teacher is the move into the Master Teacher ranks. At Step 1 in 2026, going from Teacher III (SG 13, ₱36,125) to Master Teacher I (SG 18, ₱53,818) is a jump of about ₱17,700 a month. The newer Teacher IV to VII titles now sit between those two.

Promotion depends on DepEd's qualification standards for each position (education, experience, training and performance) and on vacancies. Check the current DepEd issuances for the exact requirements.

Getting hired by DepEd

LET passers apply for Teacher I posts through the Schools Division Office where they want to teach. Applicants submit their documents (PRC license, transcript, and records of experience and training), are assessed and ranked under DepEd's hiring guidelines, and are appointed as vacancies open.

Competition varies a lot by division and by subject. Check your target division's announcements for current openings.

Private schools

Most private basic-education schools also require the LET for their teaching staff. Pay and benefits vary widely by school, so ask for the salary scale and benefits package when you apply. Private school teachers are covered by SSS rather than GSIS.

Teaching abroad

Some LET passers go on to teach overseas. Requirements (experience, additional certifications, sometimes a master's degree) and pay differ by country and employer, so check with the Department of Migrant Workers and the hiring school before you plan around it.

When the LET might not be worth it (yet)

A few honest scenarios:

1. You're not planning to teach. If you took BSEd but are moving into another field, your review time may be better spent elsewhere.
2. You teach in a setting that doesn't require the license and you're happy there. The LET adds options, but it isn't urgent.

For everyone else who teaches or plans to, including substitutes, private school teachers and career shifters, the license is the credential your teaching career is built on.

The career-shift route

Career shifters with a bachelor's degree in arts and sciences can qualify for LET Secondary by completing at least 18 units of Professional Education (RA 9293). A math, science or English background often maps to a specialization, so a shift into teaching doesn't have to start from zero.

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What to read next

The LET Secondary pillar guide covers the full review approach. For each test: Gen Ed, Prof Ed, Specialization. The pass rate breakdown has PRC's figures for recent sittings.