No UPCAT due to COVID-19 pandemic

The University of the Philippines (UP) on Tuesday announced that it will forego the annual UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) for incoming freshmen for the academic year 2021 to 2022 due to the persisting threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UP System said the University Council, the highest academic body which unites different UP campuses, “unanimously voted NOT to administer UPCAT” due to concerns raised because of the pandemic.

“The University Councils (UCs) of the eight constituent universities (CUs) of the University of the Philippines System, as the highest academic bodies of the CUs, unanimously decided that there will be no UPCAT for the intake of first year students in Academic Year 2021-2022,” UP announced on its website.

Instead, UP said it would come up with a modified admission system that will utilize “big data analytics” to arrive at a UP admission score model. The new admission guidelines is set to be released by February 2021. 

UP Student Regent Isaac Punzalan said the pandemic “pushed” the state university to forego the UPCAT.

“There is obviously no perfect option among those offered. But it’s understandable that the pandemic situation has pushed the university to decide on its own for its admissions, similar to other universities,” he said.

Yearly, the UPCAT is one of the most anticipated college entrance exams in the country with thousands of takers and a passing rate of 10 to 15 percent. The results of the exam determines one’s fate to study in the premiere state university.