DOST announces top qualifiers for Philippine Science High School entrance exam

Out of the 20,342 who took the examination for the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) System, only 1,738 were announced as top qualifiers for school year 2026–2027, according to the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) on Monday.

The National Competitive Examination (NCE) serves as the entrance test that gives Grade 6 students from both public and private schools the opportunity to enter the PSHS system, fondly known as “Pisay,” the country’s premier science high school.

The number of principal qualifiers translates to roughly 8.6% of the total number of examinees, who will first fill the 1,920 available slots across 16 existing PSHS campuses, Ronnalee N. Orteza, executive director of PSHS, told reporters on the sidelines of the press conference for the NCE results announcement.

The remaining 182 slots will be filled from the 3,000 applicants on the alternative list, who did not make it to the top qualifiers but obtained above-average scores compared with the national mean of all examinees.

The national mean of the recent NCE is 84.50%, Ed Herpert D. Briones, chief administrative officer for the PSHS system, said, noting that this is slightly higher than in recent years since the exam’s reintroduction post-pandemic.

The results of the NCE for school year 2026-2027 are accessible on the PSHS website. — Edg Adrian A. Eva