How to Become a Teacher in the Philippines: Degree, LET, and DepEd Hiring

TL;DR: Becoming a licensed teacher in the Philippines runs through a CHED-prescribed 4-year education degree (BEEd for elementary, BSEd with a major for secondary) or, for non-education graduates, a Certificate/Teacher Certification Program commonly cited at 18 units of professional education, followed by the LET (Licensure Examination for Teachers), administered by the PRC Board for Professional Teachers twice a year for a ₱900 fee. Passing the LET and completing PRC registration makes you a licensed professional teacher. DepEd hiring then runs through a merit-based ranking process that produces a Registry of Qualified Applicants (RQA), currently under DepEd Order No. 7, s. 2023 and later updates. Private schools are bound by the same licensure law, with only a narrow "para-teacher" permit under RA 9293 for near-passers, not a general license-free hiring option.

If you are asking how to become a teacher in the Philippines, the honest answer has more moving parts than "get a degree and apply." There is a specific CHED-prescribed degree track, a separate route for people who already finished an unrelated degree, a licensure exam with its own registration system, and then two different hiring pipelines, DepEd's and private schools', that do not work the same way. This guide walks through each stage in order: the SHS strand for teaching that sets you up for it, the BEEd/BSEd degree path, the certificate route for non-education graduates, the LET and PRC licensing, DepEd's ranking system, and how private school hiring differs. Every figure below is attributed to the PRC, CHED, DepEd, or the governing law, with hedges wherever a rule has changed recently or sources disagree.

What Degree Do You Need to Become a Teacher in the Philippines?

The standard path is a 4-year CHED-prescribed education degree: Bachelor of Elementary Education (BEEd) for kindergarten through grade 6, or Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSEd) with a subject major (English, Math, Science, Filipino, and others) for junior and senior high school. These programs are governed by CHED CMO No. 74, s. 2017 (BEEd) and CMO No. 75, s. 2017 (BSEd), the Policies, Standards, and Guidelines that every CHED-recognized teacher-education college follows. Institutions historically focused on teacher training, such as Philippine Normal University, the country's designated National Center for Teacher Education, build their curricula around these standards.

The table below lays out the full path from senior high school to a working teaching license, with the body that governs each stage.

Disclaimer: CHED, PRC, and DepEd issuances are revised periodically. Confirm the current version of any CMO or DepEd Order with the issuing agency before relying on it for enrollment or job applications.

Choosing where to earn your BEEd or BSEd matters for more than the diploma. Passing the LET on your first attempt is easier at schools with a track record of doing it, and our roundup of schools with the best LET passing rates breaks down which institutions post the strongest results by program.

Can You Become a Teacher Without an Education Degree?

Yes, but not automatically. Graduates of non-education bachelor's degrees (say, a BA in Psychology or a BS in Biology) can still sit for the LET if they complete additional professional education coursework, commonly delivered through a Certificate in Teaching Program or Teacher Certification Program (TCP), cited by several teacher-education colleges (including UST and FEU, which run their own TCP offerings) as requiring 18 units of professional education, under RA 7836 (the Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act) and CHED CMO No. 30, s. 2004.

Two things to know before enrolling in one of these programs:

• The rules around specialization units for secondary-level non-education takers have shifted. In February 2024, the PRC suspended an additional unit requirement tied to Board Resolution No. 51, s. 2016 for the March 2024 LEPT administration "until further notice," while it reviewed non-education course curricula. That means the exact unit count a non-education applicant needs can differ by intake year and by teaching major.
• The PRC evaluates transcripts individually. Completing a certificate program does not guarantee PRC will accept your specific units without additional coursework; applicants are told to present their full credentials directly to PRC for evaluation.

Because this requirement changes, do not enroll in a certificate program based on a number you saw online, including the 18-unit figure cited above. Confirm the current requirement with PRC or CHED, or directly with the college offering the program, before paying for units that may not be recognized.

What Is the LET and Who Administers It?

The Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET), sometimes called the LEPT (Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers), is administered by the PRC Board for Professional Teachers under the Professional Regulation Commission. It is given twice a year, typically in March and September. For 2026, the PRC's published schedule lists administrations on March 15, 2026 and September 20, 2026, with the September window's application period running from May 22 to July 23, 2026 through PRC's online LERIS (Licensure Examinations and Registration Information System).

The exam is split into two main categories:

• Elementary, for BEEd graduates, covering General Education and Professional Education content for elementary-level teaching.
• Secondary, for BSEd graduates (and eligible non-education graduates), covering General Education, Professional Education, and a Specialization component tied to your teaching major.

The PRC's published application fee is ₱900, filed through LERIS along with required documents such as your Transcript of Records, NBI clearance, and PSA birth certificate. For a full walkthrough of registration steps, exam coverage, and preparation timelines, see our LET guide.

Disclaimer: exam dates, fees, and application windows change with each PRC resolution. Verify the current schedule directly on prc.gov.ph before filing.

How Do You Pass the LET and Get Your PRC License?

Passing the LET means clearing PRC's rating requirements across the exam's components, then completing PRC's registration process, which includes an oath-taking ceremony before you are issued a Certificate of Registration and a Professional Identification Card as a licensed professional teacher. Only after this registration are you legally allowed to call yourself, and be appointed as, a "professional teacher" under RA 7836.

Because LET pass rates vary significantly by school and by review preparation, most successful examinees supplement their college coursework with a dedicated review period. If you are weighing options, our breakdown of the best LET review centers compares programs by focus area (elementary vs. secondary, general vs. specialization-heavy review) and format.

How Does DepEd's Hiring Process Work?

DepEd does not simply accept applications and interview candidates in the order they arrive. It runs a merit-based ranking system that scores every applicant against a point scale, then places qualifiers on a Registry of Qualified Applicants (RQA), the official pool that Schools Division Offices draw from to fill Teacher I vacancies.

Under DepEd's current hiring framework, most recently codified in DepEd Order No. 7, s. 2023 (and refined by subsequent orders, including guidance issued in 2024), applicants are evaluated against roughly the following criteria out of 100 points:

The exact point allocation and the minimum qualifying score for the RQA have been reported differently across DepEd regional and division-level references (some cite a 50-point cutoff, others a higher threshold). DepEd hiring guidelines are also updated periodically at the division level. Confirm the current criteria and cutoff score with your target Schools Division Office rather than relying on any single figure.

Once you clear the ranking and land on the RQA, you are not automatically hired. Schools with open Teacher I positions select from the registry, generally in rank order, when a vacancy needs to be filled, which is why timing your application to a division's hiring cycle matters as much as your score.

How Is Private School Hiring Different From DepEd's?

Private schools operate under the same underlying law as public schools: RA 7836, as amended by RA 9293, generally requires that anyone teaching in preschool, elementary, or secondary levels be a PRC-registered professional teacher. There is no blanket rule letting private schools hire unlicensed teachers the way some parents assume.

That said, hiring in practice looks different from DepEd's process in a few ways:

• No centralized ranking or registry. Private schools set their own screening process (interviews, demo teaching, credential review), rather than pulling from a division-wide RQA. Requirements and pay scales vary school to school.
• A narrow legal allowance for near-passers. RA 9293 provides a para-teacher mechanism: examinees who fail the LET by no more than 5 percentage points below the passing average can be issued a special or temporary permit, valid for two years and renewable once for a further non-extendible two years. This route exists in the law, but it is not a general license-free hiring option, and it comes with an assignment and permit process rather than an open-ended exemption.
• Specialized/technical subject teachers. Separately, some secondary specialized learning areas (technical-vocational subjects under the K to 12 curriculum) allow instructors with relevant TESDA certification to teach without an LET pass initially, provided they pass the LET within a set period afterward. This applies to a specific category of specialized subjects, not general academic teaching posts.
• Salary structure. Private schools are not bound to the DepEd salary schedule and Teacher I starting rate; pay varies by school, often below public-school scale at smaller institutions and above it at established private schools. See our guide to teacher salary in the Philippines for how the two compare.

Disclaimer: the exact wording and current status of these provisions should be confirmed against the full text of RA 7836 and RA 9293, and against your target school's own hiring policy, since interpretation and enforcement can vary.

Choosing Your Path: What to Do Next

• If you're still in senior high school, any strand can lead to teaching, though a background matched to your intended major (STEM for science/math teaching, ABM for business subjects) makes the college coursework easier.
• If you already have a non-education degree, contact PRC directly, or a college offering a Certificate/Teacher Certification Program, before enrolling, since the exact unit requirement has changed in recent years and PRC evaluates transcripts case by case.
• If your goal is DepEd employment, track your target division's hiring cycle and current ranking criteria directly with the Schools Division Office, since cutoffs and weightings are not static.
• If you're weighing private vs. public school employment, compare not just the base salary but benefits, class sizes, and the school's own credential requirements, since private schools are not obligated to follow DepEd's salary schedule or hiring process.
• Budget for the full licensure path, not just tuition: the LET application fee, review materials or a review center, and PRC registration costs all add up before your first paycheck.

Ready to find the right school? Browse schools or compare BEEd/BSEd programs and reviews across hundreds of Philippine schools on SchoolFinderPH.

Sources

• PRC — Schedule of Licensure Examinations for the Year 2026
• Republic Act No. 9293 amending RA 7836 — Chan Robles Virtual Law Library
• DepEd Order No. 3, s. 2016 — Hiring Guidelines for Teacher I Positions
• TeacherPH — DepEd 2023 Guidelines for Recruitment, Selection, and Appointment of Personnel
• Manila Bulletin — PRC Suspends Unit Requirement for Graduates of Non-Education Courses in March 2024 LEPT
• PRC Board — LET Majorship Guide for Non-Education Bachelor's Degree Holders
• Far Eastern University — Teacher Certificate Program
• Studocu — CHED CMO No. 74 and 75, s. 2017: Policies, Standards, and Guidelines for BEEd and BSEd
• TeachPinas — LET Requirements and Schedule
• TeachPinas — DepEd Hiring Guidelines: Teacher 1 Ranking Process