The University of the Philippines will still not be conducting its college admission test (UPCAT) for student applicants for the academic year 2023-2024.
This will be the third consecutive year that the UPCAT is suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The effect of the pandemic will have to be factored into UP’s admission system,” UP Office of Admissions director Prof. Franciso de los Reyes said, adding that the system was constantly undergoing refinement.
“Remote learning, suddenly imposed upon teachers and students, would have an impact on teaching, learning, and student performance that would vary immensely across different strata of society and affect the student’s chances at UP admission,” he added.
The state university will continue with its UP College Applications (UPCA), an admission score model for assessing student applicants.
Pre-pandemic, the UPCAT was a component alongside the applicants’ high school general weighted average (GWA).
“Even during normal times, UP cancels out the difference in grading systems among high schools and regions. It corrects the difference of grades between more austere schools and those that may have inflated grades. It deals with biases in grading through a system of transmutation and standardization,” De Los Reyes said.
“These are biases UP can detect and rectify aided by its long experience of dealing with different kinds of high schools as it administered the admissions process through the years,” he added.