Study in Philippines

Education system of Philippines resembles closely with that of the American system, as it was a colony of America for more than 48 years. The Bureau of Elementary Education is responsible for making preprimary and primary education available for every Filipino child and maintaining its standard. Pre-primary education in Philippines starts at the age of 3. Up to the age of five they attend nursery school and then go to the kindergarten.

Primary education in Philippines starts at the age of six. The primary medium of instruction in all the schools of Philippines is English. Filipino is considered the second language. In some of the schools Spanish (Philippines was a colony of Spain before the Americans took over) and Arabic (5% of the population is Muslim) is also taught. Six years of primary education in Philippines is compulsory and provided for free in the public schools.

With the abolition of the National Elementary Achievement test (NEAT) in 2004, students need not produce any score for getting admission to the govt. high schools. However, the private schools may conduct some entrance exam for admitting students in the high school. Secondary school education in Philippines consists of four years and provided for free by the Bureau of Secondary Education in the public schools. Students can move up to either two or three years of technical or vocational education in Philippines or pursue higher education in a college or university.


Higher education in Philippines is provided by both private and public institutes and the commission for Higher Education is responsible for formulating and implementing policies, plans and programs for the development and efficient operation of system of higher education in Philippines. There are more than 1647 higher education institutes in Philippines at present. Students from various parts of the globe come to Philippines for pursuing higher education. Most of these foreign students come from America, Korea and Taiwan.