TL;DR: In the March 2026 LEPT, 18,376 of 32,796 elementary examinees passed (56.03 percent) and 45,001 of 61,561 secondary examinees passed (73.10 percent). The elementary examination has two parts, not three: General Education at 40 percent and Professional Education at 60 percent. Secondary examinees sit three parts weighted 20, 40 and 40. PRC set the 2026 dates as 15 March and 20 September. No government agency accredits review centres, so treat their marketing claims as unverified and judge them on the coverage they will show you in writing.
Introduction
The Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers is the gateway to teaching as a licensed professional in the Philippines, administered by the Professional Regulation Commission through the Board for Professional Teachers. It is among the largest board examinations in the country — the March 2026 administration alone drew 94,357 examinees, of whom 63,377 passed.
It is also one of the most badly documented. The subject weights repeated across review blogs and Facebook groups are wrong for elementary examinees, the examination structure changed in September 2025 to match the revised teacher education curriculum, and the review centre industry that sells preparation for it is not regulated by anyone.
This guide fixes the facts first, then talks about review.
What the examination actually is
Structure
RA 7836 Section 14 sets the basic shape: the elementary and secondary examinations are separate, the elementary examination consists of two parts — professional education and general education — and the secondary examination consists of three, adding a field of specialisation.
PRC own exam programme for each administration publishes the weights. From the September 2025 programme:
| Examinee category | General Education | Professional Education | Specialisation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elementary | 40% | 60% | — |
| Elementary with specialisation | 20% | 40% | 40% |
| Secondary | 20% | 40% | 40% |
Note what this means for your study plan. A plain elementary examinee sits no specialisation test at all, and Professional Education alone decides 60 percent of the result. If you have been dividing your review time equally across three areas because a blog told you the elementary split was 40-40-20, you have been under-weighting the single biggest component.
The timetable on exam day
From PRC published programme, a full examination day runs:
- 7:00-7:45 a.m. General instructions and filling out of forms
- 8:00-10:00 a.m. General Education
- 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Professional Education
- 3:00-6:30 p.m. Specialisation, for those who sit it
Professional Education gets a three-hour block and specialisation three and a half. Practise at that length, in one sitting, before exam day.
The 2025 curriculum alignment
From the September 2025 administration, the LEPT was aligned with the revised teacher education curriculum under a PRC-CHED joint memorandum circular. The practical effects:
- Elementary level: the Bachelor of Special Needs Education (BSNEd) and Bachelor of Early Childhood Education (BECEd) are recognised as distinct degrees whose holders sit a specialisation subject — which is where the elementary-with-specialisation category comes from.
- Secondary level: Bachelor of Physical Education (BPEd) and Bachelor of Culture and Arts Education (BCAEd) became separate tracks with their own specialisation subjects, and the Bachelor of Technical-Vocational Teacher Education (BTVTEd) was introduced with a TVTEd specialisation.
- Old MAPEH holders may choose either the PE or the Culture and Arts Education subject.
- All holders of the new degrees are treated as first-time applicants and must appear at a PRC Regional Office for documentary evaluation. Repeaters with a BEEd no longer need to appear in person.
If your degree is one of the new ones, budget time for the regional office visit before the filing deadline, not after.
Passing
A general average of 75 percent is the passing mark PRC applies. The rider you will see everywhere — that no single test may fall below 50 percent — appears in neither RA 7836 nor the Board published exam programme; it comes from Board resolutions PRC does not publish alongside the programme. Treat it as unconfirmed and check the current Board resolution if the margin matters to you.
Passing rates, from PRC releases
| Administration | Elementary | Secondary | Testing centres |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2026 (15 March) | 56.03% — 18,376 of 32,796 | 73.10% — 45,001 of 61,561 | 41 |
| September and November 2025 | 51.04% — 21,967 of 43,035 | 72.62% — 57,729 of 79,493 | 45, plus Hong Kong and Thailand |
| March 2025 (23 March) | 46.77% — 16,282 of 34,810 | 62.27% — 38,747 of 62,225 | — |
What the numbers say:
- The secondary level passes at a far higher rate than elementary, consistently by 15 to 20 percentage points. In March 2025 the gap was 15.5 points; in September and November 2025 it was 21.6.
- Elementary rates have improved, from 46.77 percent in March 2025 to 56.03 percent in March 2026, but nearly half of elementary examinees still failed in two of the last three sittings.
- Result release time varies wildly — 39 working days for March 2026, 41 for March 2025, 63 for the combined September and November 2025 administration. Do not plan a job start date around a fixed turnaround.
Exam dates and filing deadlines
PRC issues the whole year calendar in a resolution. The 2026 calendar was Resolution No. 2113, s. 2025, and for Professional Teachers it set:
| Sitting | Exam date | Filing deadline |
|---|---|---|
| First | Sunday, 15 March 2026 | 3 February 2026 |
| Second | Sunday, 20 September 2026 | 23 July 2026 |
The filing deadline is the one that ends careers-in-waiting. For the September sitting it falls nearly two months ahead of the exam. PRC also amends the calendar and the testing-centre list during the year, so check prc.gov.ph rather than a saved screenshot. Our 2026 board exam schedule tracks the amendments.
Choosing a review centre in an unregulated market
Here is the fact that should shape how you read every review centre advertisement: nobody regulates them.
In Review Center Association of the Philippines v. Ermita, G.R. No. 180046, decided 2 April 2009, the Supreme Court declared Executive Order No. 566 — which had directed CHED to supervise the establishment and operation of all review centres after the 2006 nursing exam leakage — and CHED Memorandum Order No. 30, s. 2007 void for being unconstitutional, on the ground that the President had expanded CHED jurisdiction beyond RA 7722 without enabling legislation.
The consequence, seventeen years on, is that no government body licenses, accredits, inspects or ranks review centres. Branch counts, topnotcher tallies and "number one" claims are self-reported marketing, verified by nobody. That does not make them false; it means you cannot check them, and you should not choose on them.
What you can check:
- PRC Performance of Schools. PRC publishes performance by school of graduation for each administration. That is real, audited data — and it is about universities, not review centres. Use it to judge your alma mater, not your reviewer.
- The coverage outline, in writing. Ask for the syllabus mapped to the current PRC weights, including which category of examinee it is built for. A centre still teaching a 40-40-20 elementary split has not read the exam programme.
- Whether the material reflects the 2025 curriculum alignment. If you hold a BSNEd, BECEd, BPEd, BCAEd or BTVTEd, ask specifically what they cover for your specialisation subject.
- Mock exam realism. Three-hour ProfEd blocks, timed, marked and returned with an item analysis.
- What happens if you fail. Get any re-enrolment or free-repeat policy in the contract, not in a sales conversation.
- Total cost, itemised. Tuition, materials, mock exams, and whether the advertised price is a promotional rate with an expiry.
Where to look
SchoolFinderPH lists 221 review centres across 110 locations, so you can compare what is actually near you rather than what advertises hardest:
- CBRC — Carl Balita Review Center, whose LET programme is its flagship and which accounts for around 80 of the branch listings in our directory, more than any other brand
- St. Louis Review Center, with about 20 listed branches, running LET alongside NLE, criminology and civil service programmes
- University-based review programmes, often discounted or free for a school own graduates, taught by instructors who know the curriculum you came through
- Free online reviewers and practice-test sites, useful for drilling but not for coverage
Our comparison guides go deeper: best LET review centres, how to choose a review centre, is a review centre worth it, and what review centres cost.
When to enrol
- Enrol three to five months before the exam date. For a September sitting that means starting by May or June; for a March sitting, by November or December.
- Do not drift after graduation. Content knowledge fades, and the filing deadline is fixed regardless of how ready you feel.
- Retakers can compress. A focused two to three month intensive is common for a second attempt, targeted at the area you failed.
- Watch the filing deadline, not the enrolment discount. Enrolling in a review programme does not file your PRC application.
See how long to review for a board exam for a fuller treatment.
What review programmes typically include
- General Education — English, Filipino, mathematics, science, social studies
- Professional Education — teaching methods, educational psychology, curriculum development, assessment, and Philippine education law
- Specialisation — your subject field, for secondary and elementary-with-specialisation examinees
Alongside: handouts for each area, diagnostic quizzes, timed mock board exams, item analysis, and updates on PRC requirements.
Study strategy, weighted properly
Professional Education first. It is 60 percent of the elementary examination and 40 percent of the other two. Master the Philippine education legal framework — RA 7836, RA 9293, the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers — plus learning theory, curriculum models, and assessment types. ProfEd items are scenario-based more often than recall-based, which is exactly why they punish memorisation.
General Education next, sized to its weight: 40 percent if you are a plain elementary examinee, only 20 percent otherwise. Reading comprehension and grammar in English, Filipino grammar and literature, basic algebra and statistics, general science across biology, chemistry, physics and earth science, and Philippine history, government and economics.
Specialisation, if you sit it, is 40 percent from a single field and rewards content mastery. Work from your undergraduate texts and practise application items rather than definitions.
Sources
- Republic Act No. 7836, Section 14, on examination structure
- PRC Board for Professional Teachers, published Programme of the Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers, for subject weights and exam-day timetable
- PRC Resolution No. 2113, s. 2025, Schedule of Licensure Examinations for the Year 2026
- PRC results releases for the March 2026, September and November 2025, and March 2025 administrations
- PRC guidelines on the PRC-CHED joint memorandum circular aligning the LEPT with the teacher education curriculum
- Review Center Association of the Philippines v. Ermita, G.R. No. 180046, 2 April 2009
Find LET review centres near you on SchoolFinderPH. Compare options in Manila, Cebu City, Davao City, Baguio and more than a hundred other locations nationwide.
