Here is the short version, because a lot of advice online gets this wrong.
An A&E Junior High School certificate is not a college entry credential on its own. Under DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2026, A&E Junior High School corresponds to Grades 7 to 10 of the formal system. Higher education under K to 12 starts after Grade 12. So the ALS-to-college route has a middle step almost nobody mentions: finish Senior High School, either in a formal school or through ALS Senior High School, and then apply.
The rest of this post is about how to do that middle step efficiently, what CHED actually says, and which documents admissions offices want from an ALS applicant.
What CHED actually requires
The governing issuance is CHED Memorandum Order No. 10, s. 2018, titled "Policy on Alternative Learning System Completers and Passers of the A&E Test in Relation to the Implementation of the K to 12 Basic Education Program."
What it does:
- It directs public and private higher education institutions to accept, as first-year students, ALS completers who passed the A&E Test at high school level, subject to each institution's own admission policies and requirements.
- It specifies the proof: a certification based on the Certificate of Rating, showing at least the 60 percent passing score issued by DepEd, bearing the signature of the schools division superintendent and the seal of the schools division office.
- It allows admitting institutions to require bridging programmes for the general education component so entrants are ready for the higher education curricula.
What it does not do is turn a junior high school credential into a senior high school one. The order is explicit about who it covers: passers of the earlier A&E Tests at HS level, described as high school graduates of the old basic education curriculum for ALS. If you completed high school before K to 12 and hold one of those certificates, this memorandum is your document. If you passed A&E at junior high school level in recent years, it is not, and you need Grade 11 and 12 first.
DepEd's own ALS FAQ frames the ladder the same way: an A&E JHS passer moves to Senior High School or TESDA, and it is the senior high school level passer who moves on to college.
Step 1: get to senior high school level
Two ways in, and DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2026 recognises both.
Formal Grade 11. A&E JHS passers are eligible to enrol in Senior High School of the formal system. Public SHS charges no tuition, and private and non-DepEd schools may be part-funded through the DepEd voucher. The curriculum for incoming Grade 11 has changed, and the Strengthened SHS curriculum guide explains what that means for track and subject choices.
ALS Senior High School. DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2026 defines ALS SHS as equivalent to Grades 11 to 12 and names its intended learners: A&E junior high completers, formal JHS completers who cannot enrol in a formal SHS, formal SHS dropouts unable to return, over-aged Grade 10 PEPT passers, and high school graduates from before K to 12 who now need senior high school as a prerequisite for higher education. Schools already offering it continue with the Contextualized MELCs-based ALS SHS Curriculum or the ALS SHS Hybrid Curriculum until DepEd issues a strengthened version.
Be realistic about availability. ALS SHS is not in every school, and the order says separate guidelines on the strengthened ALS SHS curriculum and on the ALS SHS exit assessment are still to be issued. Ask your Schools Division Office which schools in your division run it before you plan around it. Our ALS enrolment guide covers how to find the ALS focal person in your area.
If you dropped out of formal school rather than going through ALS, the placement route may be shorter. The PEPT guide explains how the Philippine Educational Placement Test credits learning gained outside school for re-entry into formal grades.
Step 2: the documents to assemble
Start collecting these before application season, not during it.
| Document | Where it comes from | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Rating (COR) | Bureau of Education Assessment, released through your Schools Division Office | Proof you passed the A&E Test |
| Certification signed by the schools division superintendent, with SDO seal | Schools Division Office | The specific form CHED Memorandum Order No. 10 tells HEIs to look for |
| ALS Form 5 (AF-5), certified true copy | ALS teacher or Schools Division Office | The ALS permanent record, the ALS counterpart of Form 137 |
| PSA birth certificate | Philippine Statistics Authority | Identity, required almost everywhere |
| SHS diploma or ALS SHS completion record | Your senior high school | The level requirement most degree programmes apply |
The A&E test itself, its registration and the issuance of the COR cost nothing. DepEd's A&E test guidelines say plainly that no payment shall be collected for registration, administration or issuance of the Certificate of Rating, and Section 20 of Republic Act No. 11510 forbids collection of fees, costs or charges across DepEd ALS programmes. If someone offers to "process" your certificate for a fee, walk away and report it to the Schools Division Office.
Step 3: entrance exams and what they ask ALS applicants
There is no national college entrance exam. Each university sets its own, and each sets its own eligibility rules, so the only reliable source is the admissions page of the school you are applying to. Our entrance exams compared post lays out how the major ones differ.
UP is the clearest published example of how an ALS applicant is handled. Its General Information Bulletin on first-year admissions sets the minimum requirement as being a Grade 11 student expecting to graduate from senior high school, or a senior high school graduate, with complete grades for Grades 8 to 11. Its checklist of required documents then includes a line for applicants who earned credentials through ALS or PEPT: a certified true copy of the AF-5 for ALS, or a certified true copy of the Certificate of Rating for PEPT.
Read that as two separate things. The level requirement is senior high school. The ALS credential is accepted as documentation. Both have to be satisfied.
UPCAT dates and application windows move every cycle, and so do the other university exams, so take the schedule from the official admissions site rather than from a listicle. If you miss a window, ask the admissions office about a second-semester or mid-year intake before you write off a whole year.
Paying for it
ALS costs nothing. College can. Two things worth knowing before you assume you cannot afford it:
- Free tuition in state institutions. TESDA's own scholarships page cites Republic Act No. 10931, the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, as providing free tuition in state universities and colleges and in technical vocational institutions. Our is college free in the Philippines post explains what the law does and does not cover.
- Scholarships. CHED, TESDA, local governments and private foundations all run programmes, and several are aimed at exactly the profile of an ALS completer returning to study. Start with how to get a scholarship, then ask your city or municipal hall about its own scheme.
If you are an adult with years of work behind you
There is a separate route that does not involve sitting in Grade 11. The Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP) was adopted under Executive Order No. 330, s. 1996, which designated the Commission on Higher Education as the authority responsible for implementing it. It is an assessment scheme: a candidate's knowledge and prior learning from non-formal and informal experience is evaluated through written tests, interviews, skills demonstration, a portfolio and other methods, and a degree may be awarded on that basis.
Two cautions. ETEEAP is offered only by CHED-deputised institutions, and eligibility rules, including minimum age, secondary credential and required years of relevant work experience, are set by CHED and applied by the deputised school, so get them from the school's own ETEEAP office rather than from a third-party site. And be alert to imitations: any offer of a "degree in weeks" for a fee, with no assessment, is not ETEEAP.
A realistic timeline
If you are starting from an A&E JHS certificate today, the honest picture is roughly two years of senior high school level study, formal or ALS, then an application cycle, then enrolment. It is not a shortcut. It is a legitimate route with a defined middle step, and the reason to spell it out is that people who assume they can apply straight to a degree programme usually lose a year finding out otherwise.
Confirm three things locally before you commit: which senior high school level option exists near you, which universities you are targeting and what their admission offices say about ALS applicants, and when the next A&E cycle registration opens if you still need the junior high certificate.
Sources
- CHED Memorandum Order No. 10, s. 2018, "CHED to HEIs: Accept ALS passers for AY 2018-2019," Commission on Higher Education: https://legacy.ched.gov.ph/ched-to-heis-accept-als-passers-for-ay-2018-2019/
- DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2026, Implementing Guidelines of the Enhanced Alternative Learning System (PDF), Department of Education: https://www.deped.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/DO_s2026_001r-1.pdf
- Republic Act No. 11510, Alternative Learning System Act, LawPhil Project: https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2020/ra_11510_2020.html
- 2025 Accreditation and Equivalency Test Registration and Administration Guidelines (DepEd Memorandum, PDF as disseminated by SDO Bohol/Tagbilaran City): https://depedtagbilaran.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/DM-NO.-795-s.-2025-ACCREDITATION-AND-EQUIVALENCY-TEST-REGISTRATION-AND-ADMINISTRATION-GUIDELINES.pdf
- ALS Frequently Asked Questions, Department of Education: https://www.deped.gov.ph/als-frequently-asked-questions/
- General Information Bulletin on First-Year Admissions, UP Office of Admissions: https://upcat.up.edu.ph/htmls/aboutupcat.html
- Executive Order No. 330, s. 1996, Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines: https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1996/05/10/executive-order-no-330-s-1996/
- About ETEEAP, University of Southeastern Philippines: https://www.usep.edu.ph/eteeap/about-eteeap/
- Scholarship and Student Assistance Programs, TESDA: https://www.tesda.gov.ph/about/tesda/1279
- ETEEAP portal, Commission on Higher Education: https://eteeap.ched.gov.ph/
