🇵🇭 Philippines: UPG (University Predicted Grade) Simulator

The 60 / 40 Composite

The University Predicted Grade is UP's single ranking number for college admissions. It combines a weighted UPCAT score (60%) with the high-school weighted average from Grades 9–11 (40%). Results are expressed on UP's academic 1.0–5.0 scale, where 1.0 is the highest possible grade and 5.0 is failing. A lower UPG is a stronger applicant.

Approximate qualifying UPGs from UP's last fully publicised cycle were Diliman ≈ 2.174, Baguio ≈ 2.421, Manila ≈ 2.580, Cebu ≈ 2.700 and Los Baños ≈ 2.800. The cutoffs shift each year with the applicant pool.

The "Right − ¼ Wrong" Penalty

UPCAT is one of the few Philippine entrance exams that deducts ¼ of a point for every wrong answer. Blank items earn zero — they are not penalised. Each of the four subtests (Language Proficiency, Reading Comprehension, Mathematics, Science) is scored independently: raw = correct − 0.25 × wrong. Random guessing has a 25% chance of being right and a 75% chance of being wrong, so expected value on a blind guess is 0.25 × 1 + 0.75 × (−0.25) = 0.0625 — slightly positive, but well below the value of an informed elimination guess.

The Standardisation Trap

UP does not publish its transmutation tables. Internally, raw UPCAT scores are standardised against the national applicant pool, and high-school averages are re-standardised by school of origin so that a 95 from a permissive private school is not treated identically to a 95 from a stricter public science high school. This calculator uses the publicly documented formula S-HSWA = (100 − HSWA) / 5 and a linear UPCAT-to-grade mapping, which approximates the published 2.174–2.800 cutoffs but cannot replicate UP's confidential school-standardisation step.

Palugit, Pabigat, and What Isn't Modelled

Beyond the 60/40 composite, UP applies socio-economic and geographic adjustments — a palugit may shave up to 0.5 off the UPG of qualifying applicants, while a pabigat may raise it. These adjustments are not in the predictor because UP does not release the rule book. A green band here means you are numerically above the cutoff before equity adjustments; treat it as a sanity check, not a guarantee of qualification.