Short version: The NMAT has no pass mark. Each subtest is reported as a standard score from 200 to 800, and the overall composite comes with a percentile rank from 1- to 99+. CHED's rule sets a floor at the 40th percentile; every medical school may set its own higher cut-off. You have to clear whichever is higher for the school you want.
"NMAT passing score" is the most common way people search for this, and it is the wrong frame. Understanding what the NMAT actually reports changes how you read your own result and how you pick where to apply.
What the NMAT actually reports
The NMAT is a norm-referenced test, which means your result is expressed relative to other examinees rather than against a fixed answer-key threshold.
CEM explains the mechanics in its Bulletin of Information. Different NMAT forms use different questions, so a form can be slightly easier or harder than another. Raw scores are therefore converted to a scale "that takes into consideration the level of difficulty of the test questions on a given form," which makes scores comparable across forms.
Out of that conversion come three layers:
1. Subtest standard scores. Each of the eight subtests is expressed as a standard score with a range of 200 to 800. CEM states that "the test results of examinees are compared to those of the norm group which has mean scores of 500 and standard deviation of 100."
2. Two part composites. Part 1's four mental ability subtests roll up into a composite called APT. Part 2's four academic proficiency subtests roll up into a composite called SA.
3. The full composite and its percentile rank. All eight subtests roll up into the General Performance Score (GPS). The GPS is reported with a corresponding percentile rank (PR) on a scale from 1- to 99+, with a midpoint of 50.
CEM's definition of the percentile rank is precise and worth reading literally: "The PR indicates the percentage of NMAT examinees who have NMAT scores the same as or lower than the examinee."
What a percentile rank is not
Three misreadings are common.
It is not a percentage correct. A percentile rank of 70 does not mean you got 70 per cent of items right. It means you placed at or above roughly 70 per cent of the comparison group.
It is not a fixed number of correct answers. Because the score is scaled against a norm group, the same number of correct answers can land at slightly different percentile ranks in different circumstances. This is a feature of norm-referencing, not an error.
It is not the number your subtest scores are on. Your subtest results come on the 200-to-800 standard score scale. The percentile rank attaches to the GPS composite. Both appear on your report and they are not interchangeable.
The CHED floor
CEM says the percentile rank "will be evaluated by the medical school against the PR cutoff prescribed by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) or by the school itself," and describes that cut-off as "the minimum score that qualifies an examinee as a bona fide applicant for admission into his/her preferred medical school."
The governing instrument is CHED Memorandum Order No. 18, series of 2016, the Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the Doctor of Medicine program. Two provisions matter here:
- Applicants must have taken the NMAT not more than two years from the time of admission to medical school.
- Institutions must enforce an NMAT cut-off of at least the 40th percentile.
CEM states the combined rule as: your percentile score must be "equivalent to or higher than that currently prescribed by the school or the Commission (40 Percentile Rank), whichever is higher."
So the 40th percentile is a floor, not a target. It is the lowest cut-off any Philippine medical school is permitted to use.
The floor is currently under review
This is the part that dates fastest, so treat it as a live situation rather than a settled rule.
In an opinion column published in The Manila Times on 3 August 2026, education lawyer Joseph Noel M. Estrada wrote that CHED's Technical Panel for Medical Education held a public consultation on 30 July 2026 on amending the cut-off provision in CMO 18, s. 2016, and argued that a mandatory cut-off intrudes on the institutional academic freedom of medical schools.
Separately, a 2025 study in the Korean Journal of Medical Education examined the cut-off empirically, linking NMAT scores to Physician Licensure Examination outcomes for 42,261 first-time PLE takers between 2012 and 2022. It reported that each one-point increase in NMAT percentile rank was associated with roughly a 4.6 per cent increase in the odds of passing the PLE, but that the 40th percentile threshold excluded more than a third of students who would likely have passed the licensure exam. The authors proposed lower thresholds as a fairer trade-off.
What that means for you as an applicant, practically: do not assume the 40 PR floor is permanent, and do not assume it has changed either. CHED is the issuing body. Check the current CMO on ched.gov.ph, and check the admissions page of your target school, before drawing conclusions about the number you need.
Each school sets its own cut-off, and you have to look it up
This is where most published "NMAT cut-off" lists go wrong. They circulate as fixed tables and go stale, because schools revise their cut-offs, and because a cut-off is only one of several filters.
We are not publishing a table of school-by-school cut-offs here, because a wrong number costs an applicant an application cycle. Here is how to get the right number instead:
- Go to the medical school's own admissions page for the academic year you are applying to. Cut-offs are published per cycle, usually alongside the application deadline and the list of required documents.
- Email or call the admissions office if the page does not state a figure. Many schools publish requirements without a numeric cut-off and evaluate holistically above the CHED floor.
- Ask about how they read the composites. Some schools look only at the GPS percentile rank. Others also look at the APT and SA composites, or at individual subtests. This is a question worth asking directly.
- Ask what they accept as proof. CEM notes that the electronic copy of your results can be used for application purposes but that acceptance "depends on the school's policies," and some schools still require the original printed Examinee Report Form.
Our roundup of medical schools in the Philippines is a starting list of where to look, and how to become a doctor in the Philippines sets out the rest of the admission sequence.
Who sees your score
Your score does not travel privately. CEM sends a Masterlist of Test Results to all Philippine medical schools, to CHED, to the Higher Education Regional Offices, and to the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges Foundation, Inc. CEM describes the masterlist as "the sole basis for medical schools to verify the accuracy of test scores reported in the Examinee Report Form."
Two consequences follow.
Schools can see the scores you did not send them. This matters most if you sit the NMAT more than once, which we cover in retaking the NMAT.
There is a waiver. CEM operates an NMAT Waiver form for examinees who do not want a result scored and reported in the masterlist. It is usually accessible only until the day after the last exam date of a cycle, and once the form closes the request cannot be accepted.
When results come out, and in what form
Two releases, on two clocks:
| Release | Timing per CEM | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Electronic copy | Twenty CEM business days after the last date of the test administration | Viewable and downloadable through your NMAT account; access is time-limited and is usually disabled when new registration opens |
| Printed Examinee Report Form | Shipped after six weeks from the last date of the test administration | Delivered by courier to your registered Philippine mailing address only |
CEM's stated courier windows are approximately four to seven days within NCR and seven to fourteen days in the provinces, and it asks you to report non-delivery two weeks after the scheduled release.
A few fixed rules around results:
- No rechecking. CEM states the scores are official and guaranteed free of discrepancies, and that it does not entertain rechecking of answer sheets.
- No disclosure by phone or email. CEM will not release an individual's scores that way.
- Results only go to a Philippine address. There is no overseas mailing and no pickup arrangement.
- Duplicate copies cost money. CEM's published schedule of fees lists an ERF duplicate at ₱50.00 per copy plus an ₱80.00 shipping fee.
We do not publish NMAT results or link to result-checking mirrors. Your result comes from your own CEM account and from the ERF sent to you.
What a good score looks like
There is no honest universal answer, and anyone giving you one is guessing. What can be said accurately:
- The 40th percentile is the current statutory floor, not a competitive score.
- Higher percentile ranks correlate with better licensure outcomes, per the 2025 study above, but the relationship is gradual rather than a cliff.
- The competitive number is set by your target school, and it varies by school and by cycle.
- Clearing the cut-off is necessary, not sufficient. CEM describes it as what qualifies you as a bona fide applicant. Interviews, grades and documentary requirements sit on top.
CEM's own advice on aiming, from the Bulletin of Information: "You are encouraged to do well in the test and obtain your best scores to increase your chances of being accepted in the best medical schools in the Philippines." That is deliberately unquantified, and correctly so.
If you are still preparing, how to review for the NMAT and what the NMAT covers go into the test itself, and the physician licensure examination guide covers the exam at the other end of medical school.
Sources
- Center for Educational Measurement, Inc., NMAT Bulletin of Information (July 2025 edition), sections on Test Scores, Release of Score Reports, Distribution of Masterlist of Test Scores, and Validity period and minimum cut-off score: https://www.cem-inc.org.ph/nmat/files/downloads/NMAT_BOI_OCBT_0725-R.pdf
- Center for Educational Measurement, Inc., NMAT Frequently Asked Questions (July 2025), sections on Test Results and Schedule of Fees: https://www.cem-inc.org.ph/nmat/files/downloads/NMAT_FAQs_072025.pdf
- Commission on Higher Education, CHED Memorandum Order No. 18, series of 2016, Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the Doctor of Medicine Program, Section 17 on admission requirements: https://www.cem-inc.org.ph/nmat/files/upload/CHED_MO_No__18_Doctor_of_Medicine_Program.pdf
- Joseph Noel M. Estrada, "Guarding the gates of academic freedom: Why the NMAT cut-off score imperils PH medical education," The Manila Times, 3 August 2026 (opinion column): https://www.manilatimes.net/2026/08/03/opinion/columns/guarding-the-gates-of-academic-freedom-why-the-nmat-cut-off-score-imperils-ph-medical-education/2396583
- "The National Medical Admission Test and medical student selection: rethinking cutoff validity and fairness," Korean Journal of Medical Education, 2025: https://www.kjme.kr/journal/view.php?doi=10.3946%2Fkjme.2025.070
- Center for Educational Measurement, Inc., "Admission to Philippine Medical Schools": https://www.cem-inc.org.ph/nmat/admission-philippine-medical-schools
