TL;DR: Transferring is mostly not your job. Under DepEd Order No. 54, s. 2016, the receiving school enrols the learner in the Learner Information System, the system notifies the originating school, and the two schools move the Permanent Record between themselves. The order states that learners and parents are not allowed to hand-carry the Form 137, and that the transaction shall be strictly between the two schools. Your part is the report card, the supporting documents the new school asks for, and following up. Two deadlines matter: records for incoming learners must be secured before the end of the first grading period, and for a mid-year transferee, within thirty days of the first day of attendance.
Parents arrive at this process expecting a queue, a fee and a folder to carry across town. The governing order was written specifically to remove all three. Knowing that changes what you should ask for, and it changes what you should push back on.
This guide covers what DO 54, s. 2016 actually requires, the documents that genuinely fall to you, and the one area where the popular advice online is simply wrong: whether a school can withhold records over money.
The Rule That Shapes Everything Else
DepEd Order No. 54, s. 2016, the Guidelines on the Request and Transfer of Learner's School Records, was issued to establish standard processes for requesting and releasing Form 137 and Form 138 in all public schools nationwide. Its stated aim is to make the process work "without inconveniencing the learners and parents."
Four of its provisions do most of the work:
| Provision of DO 54, s. 2016 | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Learners and parents are not allowed to hand-carry the Form 137 | You should not be sent to collect it, and a school asking you to is departing from the order |
| The LIS is the platform; the transaction is strictly between receiving and originating schools | Your role is to enrol and follow up, not to courier documents |
| Receiving schools secure Form 137 before the end of the first grading period | There is a deadline, and it is on the school, not on you |
| For a transferee during the school year, documents are secured within thirty days of first attendance | Mid-year transfers have their own clock |
Note the naming. DO 54 uses the older labels, Form 137 for the Permanent Record and Form 138 for the Report Card. DepEd's standardised school-forms system renamed them SF10 and SF9 respectively, and registrars use both sets of names interchangeably. Our Form 137 and SF10 guide and SF9 report card guide cover each in detail.
The Two Records, and Which One You Actually Handle
Form 138 / SF9, the Report Card. Issued to Grades 1 to 10 learners at the end of every grading period, and to Grades 11 and 12 at the end of each semester. At the end of the school year it is the document that shows promotional status and is required for enrolling at the next grade level. This is the one that comes home with you and the one you present.
Form 137 / SF10, the Permanent Record. The learner's historical academic and co-curricular record. This is the one that moves school to school, and the one you are not allowed to carry.
Our comparison of Form 137 versus Form 138 sets out the difference in full, and the DepEd school forms guide covers the wider SF series.
The Process, in the Order It Actually Happens
- Tell the current school you are transferring. Do this in writing and keep a copy. Early is better; before the school year ends is best.
- Secure the report card with complete grades. Check it carries the LRN, the quarterly or semestral grades, and the adviser's and principal's signatures.
- Enrol at the receiving school through the LIS. This is the step that starts everything. The receiving school enrols the learner in the system, which supplies the correct record and LRN, shows that the learner is a transferee, and notifies the originating school on its dashboard, together with the receiving school's address and contact details.
- The originating school prepares and sends the Form 137 by mail or courier, and updates the LIS with the date it was sent.
- The receiving school confirms receipt in the LIS. That closes the loop.
- Follow up against the deadlines. If a month passes after the LIS notification with no document received, the receiving school flags a follow-up on the maturing request to alert the originating school. If nothing arrives by the end of the first grading period, the receiving school is directed to inform the Schools Governance and Operations Division for appropriate action. For a mid-year transfer, the same referral is made once thirty days have passed since the LIS notification.
Your practical job across all six steps is to enrol promptly, supply what the new school asks for, and check at the one-month mark that the follow-up has been raised.
Disclaimer: this is an explainer, not an enrolment portal. SchoolFinderPH does not transfer school records, access the LIS or process enrolment. Requests, forms and escalation go through your school and your Schools Division Office.
What You Actually Have to Prepare
The record transfer is the school's job. The enrolment file is yours. Receiving schools commonly ask for:
- PSA birth certificate, original or certified true copy
- The report card (SF9) with complete grades for the last completed period
- Certificate of Good Moral Character, requested from the guidance office, adviser or principal, and most often required by private schools
- Recent ID photographs, in the size and background the school specifies
- Medical or health certificate, where the school requires it
- Clearance from the previous school, certifying no outstanding obligations
Private receiving schools may add their own entrance assessment, an interview and application fees. Those are institutional requirements, not DepEd ones, and they vary.
Can a School Withhold Records Over an Unpaid Balance?
This is where most articles on transferring get it wrong, usually by asserting flatly that a school can never withhold records for money. That is not what the rules say.
The line is drawn around the learner's own, legitimate financial or property obligation to the school. DepEd Order No. 88, s. 2010, the Revised Manual of Regulations for Private Schools in Basic Education, permits a private basic-education school to withhold transfer credentials for suspension, expulsion or non-payment of the pupil's own obligation, and requires release once that obligation is settled.
Two things sit clearly on your side of the line:
- Voluntary contributions can never be a ground. DepEd Order No. 41, s. 2012 provides that in no case shall non-payment of voluntary school contributions or membership fees be made a basis for non-admission, non-promotion, or non-issuance of clearance. DO 54, s. 2016 reiterates this provision expressly.
- You have a timeframe. Section 9 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 232, the Education Act of 1982, gives students the right to the issuance of official certificates, diplomas, transcripts, grades and transfer credentials within thirty days of request.
Work out which side of that line your situation falls on before escalating. Our guide on when a school withholds your records walks through the specific charges and the escalation path.
If the Record Cannot Be Produced
DO 54, s. 2016 anticipates this. Where the Form 137 is unavailable due to circumstances beyond control, the Report on Promotions, School Form 5, may be used as a substitute, and it is available at the Schools Division Office. That is also the route where a school has closed or its records were lost, since the division holds the SF5. Our guide on lost school records covers reconstructing a record from what the division still has.
Transferring In From Abroad
A learner arriving from a foreign school does not slot into the LIS transfer process, because there is no originating Philippine school to notify. Expect the receiving school to require the foreign records, translated and authenticated where applicable, and to determine grade placement itself. Where documentation is insufficient, DepEd's placement testing route applies. See our guide to the Philippine Educational Placement Test for how grade level is established in that case.
Six Things That Actually Prevent Delays
- Enrol early in the LIS. The clock in DO 54 starts at LIS notification, not at your first phone call. Until the receiving school enrols the learner, nothing has been triggered.
- Have the LRN ready. It is the identifier that matches the learner to the record. Write it down somewhere you will not lose it.
- Get the notice of transfer in writing and keep the acknowledgment.
- Check at one month, not at the end of the quarter. That is when the follow-up is meant to be raised, and asking is what makes it happen.
- Photocopy everything before you submit an original.
- Escalate to the division, not to social media. The order names the Schools Governance and Operations Division as the escalation point, and that route works.
Disclaimer: private schools operate under their own manual of regulations alongside DepEd orders, and requirements for a specific receiving school may go beyond what is described here. Confirm the exact list with the school before enrolment day.
Sources
- DepEd Order No. 54, s. 2016 — Guidelines on the Request and Transfer of Learner's School Records (official PDF)
- DepEd Order No. 88, s. 2010 — 2010 Revised Manual of Regulations for Private Schools in Basic Education
- DepEd Order No. 41, s. 2012 — voluntary contributions cannot bar clearance (Official Gazette)
- Batas Pambansa Blg. 232 — Education Act of 1982, Section 9 (LawPhil)
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