TL;DR: Two DepEd issuances decide whether a Senior High School learner graduates. DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2026 sets what must be completed: five Core Subjects worth 800 hours in Grade 11, plus at least 1,200 hours of Electives for the Academic Track or at least 1,280 hours including Work Immersion for the Tech-Pro Track. DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026 sets what counts as passed, and it repealed the 2015 assessment order that most published guides still describe. Completion of all prescribed subjects and hours is mandatory for a diploma, institutional subjects cannot substitute for them, and any extra elective you take must also be passed.
If you search for Senior High School graduation requirements, most of what you will find describes a curriculum that no longer applies. Tracks and strands, four core subjects per semester, applied and specialised subjects, a separate Personal Development subject: all of that came from the 2016 structure. DepEd replaced it. This guide works from the current orders.
Two Issuances Decide This, and They Do Different Jobs
Confusing them is the main reason people get the answer wrong.
| Issuance | Date | What it settles |
|---|---|---|
| DO 017, s. 2026 | June 2026 | The Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum. What subjects and hours you must complete, per track, to qualify for a diploma |
| DO 015, s. 2026 | June 2026 | Classroom assessment, grading, and awards. What counts as a pass, what happens after a failure, how the general average is reported |
| DO 021, s. 2019 | 2019 | The K to 12 policy guidelines. Still in force generally, but Annex 2 on Secondary Education was amended by DO 017, s. 2026 |
| DO 017, s. 2025 | June 2025 | The Revised Basic Education Enrolment Policy. Documentary requirements, transfers, records |
DO 017, s. 2026 does not itself set the pass mark. It says the retention, promotion and graduation of learners under the Strengthened curriculum shall be governed by the policy on assessment, grading and awards. That policy is DO 015, s. 2026, which took effect for SY 2026-2027 and repealed both DO 8, s. 2015 and DO 36, s. 2016. If a guide you are reading still explains graduation using DO 8, s. 2015, it is describing a repealed order. Our note on the status of DepEd Order 8, s. 2015 covers what that repeal did and did not carry over.
First Question: Which Curriculum Are You Actually Under?
DO 017, s. 2026 rolls out in phases, and for one school year the answer differs by school.
| School year | Pilot schools | All other schools |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-2027 | Grade 11 Strengthened, Grade 12 Strengthened | Grade 11 Strengthened, Grade 12 on the 2016 K to 12 SHS Curriculum |
| 2027-2028 | Grades 11 and 12 Strengthened | Grades 11 and 12 Strengthened |
For SY 2026-2027, non-pilot schools keep Grade 12 on the 2016 curriculum focused on the Most Essential Learning Competencies, and the TVL Track follows the 2016 specialisations. So a Grade 12 learner in a non-pilot school this year graduates against the old subject list, while the Grade 11 learner in the same building is on the new one. Ask your school registrar which applies to you before comparing your record to any table below. The broader picture is in our guide to the Strengthened SHS Curriculum.
The Five Core Subjects, Grade 11 Only
DO 017, s. 2026 cut the core to five subjects, developed with the Technical Panel for General Education of CHED, at 160 instructional hours each across one school year.
| Core Subject | Hours per year | Aligned CHED general education subject |
|---|---|---|
| Effective Communication / Mabisang Komunikasyon | 160 | Purposive Communication |
| General Mathematics | 160 | Mathematics in the Modern World |
| General Science | 160 | Science, Technology, and Society |
| Life and Career Skills | 160 | Understanding the Self |
| Pag-aaral ng Kasaysayan at Lipunang Pilipino | 160 | Readings in Philippine History |
Two consequences worth stating plainly. First, all five are offered in Grade 11 only; the order says core subjects shall no longer be offered in Grade 12. Second, Personal Development is not on this list. It was a core subject under the 2016 structure and it is not one now. DO 017, s. 2026 names teachers who handled Values Education, Health, Physical Education or Personal Development as among those eligible to teach Life and Career Skills, which is where much of that ground moved.
Academic Track: The Completion Table
Academic Track learners complete 800 hours of Core Subjects and at least 1,200 hours of Electives across the two years.
| Purely Academic Track | Subjects | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 Core Subjects | 5 | 800 |
| Grade 11 Academic Electives | 3 | 240 |
| Grade 12 Academic Electives | 9 to 12 | 960 |
| Total | 17 to 20 | 2,000 |
The subject count varies because Electives come in different sizes: 80 hours, 160 hours or 320 hours. Twelve 80-hour electives and nine electives of mixed length can both reach 960 hours.
The cross-track option, which replaced what used to be called the doorway option, lets an Academic Track learner take one Tech-Pro Elective in Grade 12:
| Academic Track with cross-track | Subjects | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 Core Subjects | 5 | 800 |
| Grade 11 Academic Electives | 3 | 240 |
| Grade 12 Academic Electives | 8 | 640 |
| Grade 12 Tech-Pro Elective | 1 | 320 |
| Total | 17 | 2,000 |
Work Immersion is optional for Academic Track learners. It exists as one Elective in the Field Experience cluster, alongside Research 1, Research 2, Design and Innovation, Arts Apprenticeship and field exposure options.
Tech-Pro Track: The Completion Table
The Tech-Pro Track is what the TVL Track became. Learners complete 800 hours of Core Subjects and at least 1,280 hours of Electives, and Work Immersion is mandatory.
| Purely Tech-Pro Track | Subjects | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 Core Subjects | 5 | 800 |
| Grade 11 Tech-Pro Elective | 1 | 320 |
| Grade 12 Tech-Pro Electives | 1 to 2 | 320 or 640 |
| Grade 12 Work Immersion | 1 | 320 in a one-term model, 640 in a two-term model |
| Total | 8 to 9 | 2,080 |
| Tech-Pro Track with cross-track | Subjects | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 Core Subjects | 5 | 800 |
| Grade 11 Tech-Pro Elective | 1 | 320 |
| Grade 12 Tech-Pro Elective | 1 | 320 |
| Grade 12 Work Immersion | 1 | 320 |
| Academic Electives in Grade 11 or 12 | 4 | 320 |
| Total | 11 to 12 | 2,080 |
Every Tech-Pro Elective is standardised at 320 hours and aligned to TESDA Training Regulations, and schools offering them must have teachers or trainers holding the matching National Certificates. That alignment is why the hours are uniform even though TESDA qualifications themselves vary in length. If you are weighing this track, our guide to work immersion and research covers what the immersion component actually involves.
A learner's total weekly load must not exceed 40 hours in either track, and private schools may add institutional subjects only on top of the prescribed hours, within that same 40-hour weekly ceiling.
The Rule Most Learners Have Not Heard
DO 017, s. 2026 contains a provision that catches people out. Learners who enrol in more than the required minimum number of Electives must pass all subjects taken in order to graduate. Regardless of whether you have already passed the minimum required number, failing any extra Elective disqualifies you from graduation.
There is no partial credit for enthusiasm here. An extra elective is not a bonus you can abandon; once enrolled, it becomes a graduation requirement. Treat the decision to overload as a commitment.
The same order also says any additional institutional or enrichment subjects offered by private schools shall not substitute for the prescribed graduation requirements. A school can require Theology or Christian Living and count it in its own records, but it cannot stand in for a Core Subject or an Elective.
What Counts as Passing
This is DO 015, s. 2026 territory, and it changed more than the pass mark.
- The pass mark stays at 75. A Final Grade of 75 or higher means the learner met the minimum standards. The Final Grade is the average of the term grades, rounded to the nearest whole number.
- Failing at most two learning areas triggers Summer Remedial Class. Summative assessments in remedial class produce a Remedial Class Mark, which is averaged with the Final Grade to give a Recomputed Final Grade. A Recomputed Final Grade of 75 or higher qualifies the learner for promotion.
- Still failing one or two after remediation means conditional promotion. The learner may enrol in higher-level learning areas already passed while clearing deficiencies as back subjects through School-Initiated Intervention, at one back subject per term.
- Failing more than two learning areas means retention in the same grade level.
- Senior High has an extra constraint. Failure in a prerequisite subject prevents enrolment in higher-level subjects until the learner obtains a passing Recomputed Final Grade through Summer Remedial Class or clears the prerequisite as a back subject.
Two transition details matter this year. For SY 2026-2027 an adjusted transmutation table applies, in which a raw grade of 70 corresponds to a transmuted 75. And for Grade 12 learners still on the 2016 curriculum, the component weights from DO 8, s. 2015 apply together with that adjusted table, which is the one place the repealed order still leaves a footprint. From SY 2027-2028 a zero-based system applies with no transmutation at all. Our DepEd grading system guide for 2026 walks through the computation itself.
The General Average Is Now Unit-Weighted
Under Annex E of DO 017, s. 2026, subjects are not equal when the general average is computed. Units are assigned by instructional hours:
| Subject classification | Instructional hours | Units per term |
|---|---|---|
| Core Subjects | 160 across 3 terms | 2 |
| Academic Electives | 80 per term | 3 |
| Arts Apprenticeship and Creative Production and Presentation | 160 per term | 6 |
| Tech-Pro Electives, Grade 11 | 320 across 3 terms | 4 |
| Tech-Pro Electives, Grade 12 | 320 per term | 12 |
Each grade is multiplied by its units, the products are summed, and the total is divided by the units earned that term. The practical effect for a Grade 12 Tech-Pro learner is that the specialisation grade dominates the average, because a 12-unit elective outweighs everything else on the load.
DO 017, s. 2026 adds a caution that is easy to skip: the unit system is for grading purposes in Senior High only, and is not necessarily a basis for credit transfer into higher education or middle-level skills training. Do not present it to a university as transferable college units.
Track Shifting, Transfers, and Balik-Aral
Track shifting is permitted in Grade 12, with school head approval and documentation in the Learner Information System. Moving from Academic to Tech-Pro requires having completed at least one Tech-Pro Elective and enrolling concurrently in the matching Work Immersion. Moving from Tech-Pro to Academic requires waiving or discontinuing the Work Immersion requirement.
Transferees and Balik-Aral learners are handled through Annex F of the same order, using a Subject Evaluation Checklist and an Equivalency Matrix at school level. Our guide on transferring during Senior High sets out that process and the documents involved.
Disclaimer: school-level clearance steps, deadlines for applying to graduate, and the handling of unsettled accountabilities are administered by each school and vary. DepEd sets the curricular and assessment requirements described above; it does not set your school's clearance calendar. Confirm those with your registrar.
Sources
- DepEd — DO 017, s. 2026, Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum
- DepEd — DO 015, s. 2026, Revised Guidelines on Classroom Assessment, Grading System, and Awards and Recognition
- DepEd — DO 021, s. 2019, Policy Guidelines on the K to 12 Basic Education Program
- DepEd — DO 017, s. 2025, Revised Basic Education Enrollment Policy
- Official Gazette — Republic Act No. 10533, Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013
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