TL;DR: A transmuted grade is the report card number DepEd produces after running a learner's computed raw grade through a conversion table. For school year 2026-2027 the governing issuance is DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026, which repealed DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2015. The practical change: an Initial Grade of 70.00, not 60.00, is now the minimum that converts to a passing 75. From school year 2027-2028 the table disappears for Grades 4 upward and the computed grade is simply reported as it is.
Search "transmuted grades" today and most of what comes back is out of date. Reviewers, teacher blogs, downloadable spreadsheet templates and a great deal of social media explain a table in which a raw 60 becomes a 75. That table was real, it governed for a decade, and it is no longer in force.
This guide does the thing those pages skip: establish which DepEd order actually governs before stating any rule.
Which Order Governs Right Now
DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026, Revised Guidelines on Classroom Assessment, Grading System, and Awards and Recognition for the K to 12 Basic Education Program, was signed by Education Secretary Sonny Angara on 4 June 2026. Paragraph 6 of the order is blunt about what it does to the previous rules:
"This Order repeals DepEd Order (DO) No. 8, s. 2015 (Policy Guidelines on Classroom Assessment for the K to 12 Basic Education Program) and DO No. 36, s. 2016 (Policy Guidelines on Awards and Recognition for the K to 12 Basic Education Program)."
Two more scope points matter before you apply anything below:
- It starts this school year. Paragraph 3 implements the guidelines from school year 2026-2027 in all public elementary and secondary schools nationwide, consistent with the phased rollout of the revised curriculum.
- Private schools are encouraged, not compelled. The enclosure covers all public schools implementing the Revised K to 10 Curriculum and the Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum. Private schools, SUCs, LUCs and Philippine Schools Overseas offering basic education are encouraged to adopt the guidelines, with any adaptation subject to approval by the appropriate DepEd regional office. If your child is in a private school, the answer to "which table applies" is whatever the school tells you in writing.
Our breakdown of the new grading order covers the wider reform. This page stays on the conversion step.
What a Transmuted Grade Actually Is
The order defines three terms that people routinely mash together:
| Term | Definition in DO 015, s. 2026 |
|---|---|
| Initial Grade (IG) | The computed raw grade based on weighted scores from all summative assessment components, prior to transmutation |
| Transmutation Table | A reference chart used to convert the IG into a transmuted grade for reporting purposes |
| Transmuted Grade | The reported grade after applying the transmutation table to the initial grade |
So the sequence is: raw scores → percentage scores → weighted scores → Initial Grade → table → Term Grade on the card. The transmuted number is a reported figure, not a measured one. That is not a scandal and never was; it is a stated design choice, and the reason DepEd is now unwinding it.
Paragraph 3 of the enclosure names the problem in DepEd's own words: the order addresses "persistent challenges in grading and recognition practices, including grade inflation, overreliance on transmutation, inconsistent promotion standards, and the limited use of assessment evidence to inform instruction."
The Adjusted Transmutation Table for SY 2026-2027
Annex D of the order carries the table that applies this school year, for Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 4, including Grades 2 and 3 while they are still on numerical grading. Every value below is from that annex.
| Initial Grade | Transmuted | Initial Grade | Transmuted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99.50 – 100.00 | 100 | 74.72 – 75.89 | 79 |
| 98.32 – 99.49 | 99 | 73.54 – 74.71 | 78 |
| 97.14 – 98.31 | 98 | 72.36 – 73.53 | 77 |
| 95.96 – 97.13 | 97 | 71.18 – 72.35 | 76 |
| 94.78 – 95.95 | 96 | 70.00 – 71.17 | 75 |
| 93.60 – 94.77 | 95 | 65.34 – 69.99 | 74 |
| 92.42 – 93.59 | 94 | 60.67 – 65.33 | 73 |
| 91.24 – 92.41 | 93 | 56.01 – 60.66 | 72 |
| 90.06 – 91.23 | 92 | 51.34 – 56.00 | 71 |
| 88.88 – 90.05 | 91 | 46.67 – 51.33 | 70 |
| 87.70 – 88.87 | 90 | 42.01 – 46.66 | 69 |
| 86.52 – 87.69 | 89 | 37.34 – 42.00 | 68 |
| 85.34 – 86.51 | 88 | 32.68 – 37.33 | 67 |
| 84.16 – 85.33 | 87 | 28.01 – 32.67 | 66 |
| 82.98 – 84.15 | 86 | 23.35 – 28.00 | 65 |
| 81.80 – 82.97 | 85 | 18.68 – 23.34 | 64 |
| 80.62 – 81.79 | 84 | 14.01 – 18.67 | 63 |
| 79.44 – 80.61 | 83 | 9.35 – 14.00 | 62 |
| 78.26 – 79.43 | 82 | 4.68 – 9.34 | 61 |
| 77.08 – 78.25 | 81 | 0.00 – 4.67 | 60 |
| 75.90 – 77.07 | 80 |
Three features are worth reading off the table itself.
The passing threshold moved by ten raw points. Under the repealed DO 8, s. 2015 table, an Initial Grade of 60.00 landed on a transmuted 75. Here, 70.00 is the floor for a 75. A learner whose raw work would have scraped a pass last year can now be sitting on a 73 or 74.
Above 70, the bands are even. Each transmuted point from 75 to 100 covers roughly 1.18 raw points. That is the "proportionally distributed intervals" language in Annex D, and it means the top of the scale no longer compresses the way it used to.
Below 70, the bands are wide. Everything from 0.00 to 69.99 is squeezed into transmuted grades 60 to 74, with 60 stated as the minimum reportable grade. The old cushion has not disappeared entirely; it has been pushed down below the passing line, where it now signals remediation rather than a pass.
Our older transmutation table guide reproduces the repealed DO 8, s. 2015 table in full, which is still useful if you are reading a report card from a previous school year.
The Grade 12 Exception Nobody Mentions
Paragraph 49 sets up a split that will confuse a lot of households with two senior high learners:
"For SHS Grade 12, which has not yet implemented the Strengthened SHS Curriculum for SY 2026-2027, the weights in DO No. 8, s. 2015 shall apply together with the adjusted transmutation table."
Read that carefully. A Grade 12 learner this year is graded using the old component weights but converted using the new table. A Grade 11 sibling in the same house is on the new weights and the new table. Same report card format, two different rule sets, one school year. Our Strengthened SHS curriculum guide explains why Grade 12 is a year behind.
Kindergarten to Grade 3: No Transmutation at All, Eventually
Key Stage 1 is leaving numbers behind entirely, in stages set out in Table 12 of the order:
| School year | Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-2027 | Descriptive | Numerical, adjusted transmutation | Numerical, adjusted transmutation |
| 2027-2028 | Descriptive | Descriptive | Numerical, zero-based |
| 2028-2029 | Descriptive | Descriptive | Descriptive |
Kindergarten is descriptive from 2026-2027 onward. Descriptive grading uses letter descriptors and narrative feedback instead of numbers, so there is no Initial Grade to convert. Class records at this level are kept as qualitative documentation, and where numerical equivalents are needed for system-level reporting, the order says they must not replace the descriptive report given to parents.
When Transmutation Ends, and a Wrinkle in the Order
Paragraph 50 of the order states:
"Beginning SY 2027-2028, a zero-based grading system shall be implemented for KS2 to KS4. Term Grades (TGs) shall be based directly on computed IGs without transmutation, with 75 as the minimum passing grade."
The definitions section agrees, describing zero-based grading as applying "from KS2 to KS4 beginning SY 2027-2028."
Annex D of the same order says something narrower. Paragraph 13 of that annex describes the zero-based system as covering "KS2 (Grades 4-6) to KS3 (Grades 7-10)", leaving senior high school out. We are flagging this rather than picking a side: the body of the order and the definitions both say Key Stage 4 is included, and one annex paragraph does not. If you are a senior high teacher planning ahead for 2027-2028, this is a question for your division office, not something to settle from a blog post.
What is not in dispute is the direction. Once zero-based grading applies, a computed 78.4 is reported as 78. There is no lift, and there is no 60 floor either, because there is no table.
Why So Much of the Internet Is Still Wrong About This
The repealed table had a ten-year run. It was embedded in downloadable class record templates, in board exam and LET reviewers, in school in-service training decks, and in thousands of blog posts optimised for exactly the search you probably ran to get here. None of that content updates itself when an order is repealed.
A quick test before you trust any page on this topic:
- Does it name an order? If it says "DepEd transmutation table" with no issuance number, you cannot tell which regime it describes.
- Which number does it call the passing raw score? If it says 60, it is describing the repealed table.
- Does it mention 2026-2027 or 2027-2028? A page that does not know the table is being phased out was written before the change or copied from something that was.
DepEd's own issuance is the only source that settles it, and it is a free public download linked below. If you need to look up any other order, our guide to finding DepEd orders covers where the official archive lives.
What This Means Practically
- A 75 now means more work behind it than it did last year. If your child's grade sits at 75 or 76, the raw performance underneath is around 70 to 72, not around 60.
- Grades near the line are the ones to watch. The band from 65.34 to 69.99 all reports as 74, one point below passing. That is a wide raw range compressed into a single failing number, so a 74 tells you very little about how far off the learner actually is. Ask the teacher for the Initial Grade.
- Do not compare this year's numbers to last year's. A term grade of 82 in 2026-2027 and an 82 in 2025-2026 came out of different tables. Year-on-year comparison across the change is not meaningful.
- Grade 12 households need to ask twice. The weights and the table came from two different orders this year.
- Learners failing at year end have a route. Under the promotion rules in the same order, a learner failing at most two learning areas goes to Summer Remedial Class, and the Final Grade is averaged with the remedial class mark to produce a Recomputed Final Grade; 75 or higher passes. Failing more than two learning areas means retention. Our guide on when a learner repeats a grade covers what that looks like in practice.
Sources
- DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026 — Revised Guidelines on Classroom Assessment, Grading System, and Awards and Recognition for the K to 12 Basic Education Program (official issuance page)
- DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026 — full text PDF, including Annex D and the adjusted transmutation table
- DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2015 — Policy Guidelines on Classroom Assessment for the K to 12 Basic Education Program (repealed by DO 015, s. 2026)
- SchoolFinderPH — DepEd Transmutation Table Explained, including the repealed DO 8, s. 2015 table
- SchoolFinderPH — DepEd's New Grading System: What Changed
Checking a school before you enrol? Use our search tool to compare schools across the Philippines on tuition, programmes and reviews.
