TL;DR: RPMS (Results-based Performance Management System) is DepEd's teacher performance evaluation framework under DepEd Order No. 2, s. 2015, anchored on the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST). As of School Year 2025-2026, DepEd has officially renamed it PMES (Performance Management and Evaluation System) under DepEd Memorandum No. 089, s. 2025, covering SY 2025-2026 through 2027-2028. Teachers set objectives under several Key Result Areas at the start of the cycle, get observed in the classroom during the year, and receive a final numerical rating from 1 (Poor) to 5 (Outstanding) recorded on the IPCRF, now the electronic eIPCRF. A Very Satisfactory rating or higher is generally required for performance-based bonus eligibility. Because the KRA count, objective count, and observation schedule have changed almost every school year, always match your paperwork to the current cycle.
Ask ten teachers what "RPMS" stands for and you'll get ten slightly different answers about how it currently works, because DepEd has revised the system nearly every school year since it launched. This guide explains what the Results-based Performance Management System is, walks through the IPCRF and the rating cycle, and flags the biggest recent change: DepEd has officially renamed RPMS to PMES for SY 2025-2026 onward. Every detail below is scoped to a specific school year and sourced from DepEd's own orders and memoranda, because a description of "RPMS" that doesn't say which year it's describing is likely already outdated.
What Is RPMS?
RPMS stands for Results-based Performance Management System, established under DepEd Order No. 2, s. 2015, "Guidelines on the Establishment and Implementation of the Results-Based Performance Management System (RPMS) in the Department of Education." The order adopted the Civil Service Commission's Strategic Performance Management System (SPMS) framework for DepEd, covering "all officials and employees, school-based and non school-based, in the Department holding regular plantilla positions," including personnel under job orders and LGU-funded employees for evaluation purposes.
For classroom teachers specifically, RPMS was anchored to the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST) starting with DepEd Order No. 42, s. 2017, which mandated the "National Adoption and Implementation of the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers." That pairing, DO 2 s. 2015 for the performance management framework and DO 42 s. 2017 for the teaching-quality standard it measures against, is still the legal foundation of the system today, even after its 2025 rename.
RPMS Is Now Called PMES: What Changed for SY 2025-2026?
As of School Year 2025-2026, DepEd has renamed the system PMES, short for Performance Management and Evaluation System, under DepEd Memorandum No. 089, s. 2025, "Guidelines on the Multi-Year Performance Management and Evaluation System for Teachers from School Years 2025-2026 to 2027-2028." The memorandum opens a new three-year assessment cycle, replacing the SY 2022-2023 to 2024-2025 cycle that ran under the RPMS-PPST name.
The underlying legal basis (DO 2 s. 2015) and the PPST anchor haven't changed, but the KRA and objective structure has been revised, and DepEd now requires teachers to use the eIPCRF, an official Excel-based electronic version of the performance form, rather than a printed one. Most teachers, review materials, and search engines still default to "RPMS," so this guide uses both terms, but treat "PMES" as the current official name if you're looking up SY 2025-2026 or later documents specifically.
Disclaimer: DepEd has revised RPMS/PMES tools, timelines, and KRA structures almost every school year. Confirm the current cycle's guidelines with your school head or division office rather than relying on a prior year's template.
How Many KRAs and Objectives Does RPMS Have?
This has changed by school year, so match the count to your current cycle rather than assuming a fixed number. For the SY 2022-2023 to 2024-2025 cycle, DepEd's RPMS-PPST tools used 5 Key Result Areas (KRAs) covering 15 objectives, drawn from the PPST's 37 indicators spread across the three-year period. For the new SY 2025-2026 to 2027-2028 PMES cycle, secondary reporting on DepEd's guidelines describes a restructured framework built around updated PPST indicator groupings; exact KRA and objective counts for this cycle should be confirmed against your school's current IPCRF template rather than an older one, since DepEd has adjusted the indicator rollout even within a single multi-year cycle.
| Cycle | Framework Name | School Years Covered | Legal Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prior cycle | RPMS-PPST | SY 2022-2023 to 2024-2025 | DO 2 s. 2015; DO 42 s. 2017 |
| Current cycle | PMES (renamed) | SY 2025-2026 to 2027-2028 | DO 2 s. 2015; DM 089 s. 2025 |
KRAs correspond to broad professional responsibilities (for example, content knowledge and pedagogy, or the learning environment), while objectives are the specific, measurable commitments a teacher sets under each KRA at the start of the cycle. A teacher's final rating is the weighted average across all objectives, not a single number picked by the rater.
What Is the IPCRF and How Does It Work?
The IPCRF, or Individual Performance Commitment and Review Form, is the actual document that carries a teacher's RPMS/PMES record: the objectives committed to at the start of the period (Phase I: Performance Planning and Commitment), the mid-year check-in (Phase II: Performance Monitoring and Coaching), the year-end self-assessment and rating (Phase III: Performance Review and Evaluation), and, in principle, a development-planning phase where a rater and teacher discuss growth areas going forward (Phase IV: Performance Rewarding and Development Planning).
Starting SY 2025-2026, DepEd requires the eIPCRF, an official Excel-based electronic tool, for inputting performance data instead of a manually filled paper form. This is a procedural change, not a change to what's being measured, but it does mean older printed IPCRF templates circulating online may not match the current submission format. Confirm with your school head which version your division is using this cycle.
How Does the RPMS/PMES Rating Scale Work?
RPMS and PMES both use a five-point numerical rating scale that maps to an adjectival description: 5 corresponds to Outstanding, 4 to Very Satisfactory, 3 to Satisfactory, 2 to Unsatisfactory, and 1 to Poor. A teacher's numerical ratings on individual objectives are averaged (with KRA weights applied) into a final numerical score, which then converts to the adjectival rating that appears on official records.
| Numerical Rating | Adjectival Rating |
|---|---|
| 5 | Outstanding |
| 4 | Very Satisfactory |
| 3 | Satisfactory |
| 2 | Unsatisfactory |
| 1 | Poor |
This final adjectival rating is what feeds into other DepEd processes: eligibility for the Performance-Based Bonus, consideration for promotion or reclassification under the Expanded Career Progression System, and, in some divisions, eligibility for certain training slots through the National Educators Academy of the Philippines.
What Score Do I Need for the Performance-Based Bonus?
Under DepEd Order No. 12, s. 2013, "Guidelines on the Granting of Performance-Based Bonus (PBB) for the Department of Education (DepEd) Employees and Officials," and the annual PBB circulars that follow it, employees generally need at least a Very Satisfactory rating to be eligible for the full bonus grant, with a minimum length of service also required (commonly around nine months of the review period, prorated for shorter service). A Satisfactory rating alone is typically not enough for PBB eligibility, though it does not put a teacher's employment status at risk.
Exact PBB rates, minimum service periods, and agency-level compliance conditions are set fiscal year by fiscal year in DBM and DepEd joint issuances, so treat any specific peso amount you see for PBB as belonging to a particular year, not a standing rule. Confirm the applicable circular for the current fiscal year with your division's HR office before assuming last year's terms apply.
What Documents Do I Need for RPMS/PMES?
Teachers are expected to submit means of verification (MOVs) supporting each objective's rating, not just a self-assessed score. Common MOVs include:
- Classroom Observation Tool (COT) rating sheets, completed by the observing rater during scheduled classroom visits.
- Lesson plans and instructional materials used during the rating period.
- Certificates of participation in trainings, seminars, or LAC (Learning Action Cell) sessions relevant to the objectives committed to.
- Accomplishment reports for objectives tied to school or community initiatives outside direct classroom teaching.
- The signed IPCRF/eIPCRF itself, with both teacher and rater signatures at each phase.
The number of required classroom observations has changed by school year: DepEd required two observations (one per quarter, in the last two quarters) for SY 2022-2023, then four observations (one per quarter, all year) for SY 2023-2024 and SY 2024-2025. Confirm the observation count and schedule for the current cycle with your school head, since DepEd has revised this timeline mid-year in the past.
Tips for Getting Through the RPMS/PMES Cycle
- Set specific, evidence-friendly objectives early. Vague commitments are harder to support with MOVs later; specific ones make gathering documentation throughout the year much easier.
- Keep MOVs as you go, not at the end. Certificates, lesson plans, and accomplishment reports are far easier to compile in real time than to reconstruct in the final quarter.
- Confirm the current cycle's tool with your school head before using an old template. Because KRA counts, objective counts, and even the form itself (paper IPCRF vs. eIPCRF) have changed by school year, an old downloaded template can cost you time if it doesn't match what your division is using.
- Understand what your rating feeds into. A Very Satisfactory or higher rating matters not just for the PBB but for promotion and reclassification eligibility under DepEd's newer career progression rules.
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Sources
- DepEd — DO 2, s. 2015: Guidelines on the Establishment and Implementation of the Results-Based Performance Management System (RPMS) in the Department of Education (official)
- DepEd — DM 089, s. 2025: Guidelines on the Multi-Year Performance Management and Evaluation System (PMES) for Teachers from SY 2025-2026 to 2027-2028 (official)
- DepEd — DO 12, s. 2013: Guidelines on the Granting of Performance-Based Bonus (PBB) (official)
- TeacherPH — Guidelines on RPMS
- TeachPinas — Multi-Year RPMS-PPST Tools and Guidelines
- SchoolFinderPH — DepEd Teacher Ranking, Promotion and Reclassification
- SchoolFinderPH — How to Become a Teacher in the Philippines
- SchoolFinderPH — Teacher Salary in the Philippines
