DepEd Learning Systems Reforms: SY 2026-2027 Guide

In School Year (SY) 2026-2027, the Department of Education (DepEd) changed how public schools organize the year, plan and assess lessons, keep learning going through disasters, and run senior high school. Its Learning Systems Strand groups the changes as seven reforms: the three-term calendar (DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026), lesson planning (DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026), classroom assessment, grading and awards (DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026), learning continuity in emergencies (DepEd Order No. 014, s. 2026), the Strengthened Senior High School (SSHS) curriculum (DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2026), SSHS work immersion, field exposure and arts apprenticeship (DepEd Order No. 023, s. 2026), and the Flexible Learning Program (FLP). Six of the seven rest on signed orders. As of November 14, 2026, the FLP has no order or memorandum of its own.

The orders were written to work as one system. The three-term calendar sets the blocks in which the summative tests, the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program, in-service training and report cards fall. The lesson planning and emergency orders share eight Learning Design Principles. The SSHS curriculum takes its lesson planning and grading rules from the lesson planning and assessment orders. Not every reform reaches every school or grade this year, so the dates and coverage matter as much as the rules. On November 14, 2026, schools are in the last weeks of Term 2’s Instructional Block.

Key findings

• Six reforms have orders; the FLP does not. DO 009 was signed on April 16, 2026; DO 014, DO 015, DO 016 and DO 017 on June 4, 2026; and DO 023 on November 10, 2026. As of November 14, 2026, neither DepEd’s list of orders nor its list of memoranda has an FLP policy.
• Coverage is phased. All public schools use three terms, ILAW lesson planning and the new grading rules from SY 2026-2027, but descriptive grading reaches only Kindergarten and Grade 1 this year (DO 015, para. 55). Grade 12 follows the SSHS curriculum only in the 887 pilot schools, and DO 023 binds only SSHS pilot implementers until SY 2027-2028 (DO 017, para. 19; DM 036, s. 2026, Encl., para. 4; DO 023, item 3).
• The reforms repeal seven issuances by name. They are DO 012, s. 2025 (the four-quarter calendar), DO 42, s. 2016 (daily lesson preparation), DO 8, s. 2015 and DO 36, s. 2016 (classroom assessment and awards), and DO 30, s. 2017, DO 39, s. 2018 and DepEd Memorandum No. 052, s. 2025 (work immersion). The last three are repealed when DO 023 takes effect, 15 days after its publication (DO 023, items 4 and 6). DO 014 also replaced the old definitions of alternative delivery modes (para. 6.d).
• The old lesson plan formats are gone. Teachers could use the Daily Lesson Log (DLL) or Detailed Lesson Plan (DLP) only until the end of Term 1, September 15, 2026. From Term 2, a lesson plan in any format is sufficient when its intentions, learning experience, assessment and ways forward “are evident and aligned” (DO 016, paras. 11 and 43).
• The calendar holds the other reforms. Each term’s Instructional Block carries two teacher-made summative tests and a term examination, with ARAL sessions after classes two to four times a week. Each End-of-Term Block carries grade computation, report cards on Day 6, two days of in-service training and the wellness breaks (DO 009, paras. 13 and 27; Annex A).
• Every school needs a Learning and Service Continuity Plan (LSCP). It is developed before each school year and updated every term. When classes are disrupted, the school head reports the school’s learning continuity level within the first 12 hours (DO 014, paras. 25 and 44).
• Some of DepEd’s own orientation materials differ from the orders, and the orders govern. One teacher worksheet gives a general average of 95 for the Academic Excellence Award where DO 015 sets 90. The school head checklist asks for “only the official template” where DO 016 has no required national template (DO 015, para. 75; DO 016, para. 11).

The seven reforms: which order, when, and for whom

Two memoranda besides DO 017 set which schools and grades are on the SSHS this year. DepEd Memorandum No. 012, s. 2026 directed all senior high schools to start the SSHS with incoming Grade 11 in SY 2026-2027 and kept the pilot schools’ Grade 12 on it (items 4 and 5). DepEd Memorandum No. 036, s. 2026 limits the Grade 12 pilot to “the same set of schools” and lists 887 of them (Encl., para. 4).

The Revised K to 10 Curriculum, which DepEd still calls MATATAG, completes its rollout in the same year. DepEd Order No. 010, s. 2024 adds Grades 6, 9 and 10 in SY 2026-2027 (Encl., para. 8), so every grade from Kindergarten to Grade 10 is on it.

The SY 2026-2027 timeline

The year has 201 class days: 69 in Term 1, 65 in Term 2 and 67 in Term 3 (DO 009, item 4; Annex B). The guide to the three-term calendar has every date, the holidays and the class days per month.

What each reform changes

DepEd’s Learning Systems Strand published a policy summary with before-and-after tables for each reform. In a few rows it goes beyond the issued order or departs from it, and there the order governs.

The three-term calendar (DO 009, s. 2026)

The full guide is DepEd Three-Term School Calendar 2026-2027. The first weeks of Term 1 are in DepEd Opening Block: The First Weeks of Term 1.

Lesson planning and learning design (DO 016, s. 2026)

DO 016 also bars regional offices, Schools Division Offices (SDOs), schools and CLCs from requiring extra templates, forms or documentation (para. 21). It turns review into qualitative reviews that lead to coaching, with non-rated walkthroughs of about 10 to 15 minutes (paras. 32, 33 and 37.b), and it makes a shared plan “valid evidence” of preparation when every teacher understands and can deliver it (para. 28).

Two rows of the policy summary go beyond the order. It describes “a one-year transition period” in which “reasonable efforts toward alignment should not be sanctioned”. DO 016 allowed the old DLL and DLP formats only “until the end of the first term” of SY 2026-2027 and has no clause on sanctions (para. 43). It also says school heads “submit brief monthly updates” on adoption; DO 016 has no such report. Its monitoring sections ask school heads to keep assessing teachers’ needs and to give support, not to report monthly (paras. 38 to 41).

The full guides are DepEd ILAW Lesson Plan, DO 016, s. 2026, ILAW Lesson Plan: How to Write One, With Samples and From Curriculum to Lesson: Unpacking and Budget of Work.

Classroom assessment, grading, awards and recognition (DO 015, s. 2026)

Three rows of the policy summary need correcting against the order:

• Award threshold. The summary gives “overall average 95+ and no failing marks”, and the teacher orientation worksheet gives “95+ with no final grade below 85”. DO 015 sets a general average of 90 with no final grade below 80, in the body and again in Annex H (para. 75; Annex H, para. 4). The 95-and-85 figures are those of the Grade 12 SSHS pilot memorandum (DM 036, s. 2026, Encl., para. 36), which DO 015, issued a week later, modifies through its repealing clause (item 6; para. 87).
• AI categories. The summary names them “AI-Prohibited, AI-Limited, and AI-Allowed with Documentation”. The order’s categories are Prohibited, Limited and Guided AI Use (Tables 5 and 6).
• Key Stage 1. The summary says Key Stage 1 “shifts to descriptive grading”. In SY 2026-2027 only Kindergarten and Grade 1 do. Grades 2 and 3 keep numerical grades with the adjusted table, and schools “may choose to give” them Academic Excellence Awards (paras. 55, 56 and 74).

The full guides are DepEd Grading System, DO 015, s. 2026 and DepEd E-Class Record and SF9 for SY 2026-2027.

Learning continuity in emergencies (DO 014, s. 2026)

Before DO 014, schools responded to disasters under the suspension rules of DO 022, s. 2024, whose Annex B also set the contents of the LSCP, and reported the alternative delivery modes they used. Those suspension rules still stand. DO 014 adds:

The full guide is Learning Continuity in Emergencies: DO 014, s. 2026. The heat-index triggers for the levels are in Hayo, Hinay, Hinga, Hinto and the heat index. For the 2026-2027 El Niño, DepEd Memorandum No. 064, s. 2026 (October 26, 2026) has school heads review and update their LSCPs and sets the heat bands for each level (Secs. 4.2 and 5.2.2); see Super El Niño 2026: A School Head’s Continuity Guide.

The Strengthened Senior High School curriculum (DO 017, s. 2026)

The policy summary says “the draft” has school heads “lead in preparing class programs”. The issued order gives class programming to schools, with Annex D as the guide (para. 24; Annex D), and its sample programs of study speak of school heads preparing them: “In the preparation of the class program, school heads may schedule the Field Exposure as a dedicated day or as a continuous time block” (Annex C). The school head assigns core-subject teachers “subject to the school head’s discretion and SDO guidance”, may authorize additional sections, and monitors teacher assignments with the SDO (paras. 22 and 23).

On June 16, 2026, the Undersecretary for Learning Systems clarified the order’s time allotments in Memorandum OM-LS-2026-247: schools may adjust DO 017’s sample timetables if each subject’s minimum hours are met within the Instructional Blocks, the Opening and End-of-Term Blocks count only for make-up classes, class hours stay within 40 a week, and asynchronous sessions “must be reflected in both the class program and teachers’ schedules as part of their teaching load” (item 1). Its sample class programs, for both tracks and both grades and for Grade 12 on the 2016 curriculum, are redrawn in the MATATAG and Strengthened SHS guide.

The full guides are MATATAG Curriculum and Strengthened SHS in SY 2026-2027 and Strengthened SHS Electives: Full List by Cluster.

Work immersion, field exposure and arts apprenticeship (DO 023, s. 2026)

Under DO 30, s. 2017, work immersion runs at least 80 hours (its Model A). DO 023 sets:

The policy summary says “the draft” has school heads “act as legal representative”. DO 023’s words are “Serve as the official signatory for the school in all Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)” (para. 30). The order also opens an Enterprise-Based Education and Training pathway for the Tech-Pro Track under Republic Act No. 12063 (para. 19). The full guide is SHS Work Immersion and Field Exposure: DO 023, s. 2026.

What the reforms repealed or replaced

Each of the six orders also repeals or modifies every other issuance inconsistent with it (DO 009, para. 41; DO 014, para. 105; DO 015, para. 87; DO 016, para. 46; DO 017, para. 36; DO 023, item 5). DO 014 repeals no whole order: it “shall complement” DO 022, s. 2024, so the class suspension rules still stand beside the learning continuity levels (DO 014, item 3).

How the reforms fit together

The calendar holds the other orders

Two rules in DO 015 depend on these blocks. The first summative test comes “around the 16th instructional day” and the second around the 32nd, so the first test result arrives in time for remediation to start in Week 5 (paras. 26 and 68). Grades are submitted “at the end of each term” (para. 61), which the End-of-Term Block’s first five days are for.

Eight Learning Design Principles

DO 016 lists eight Learning Design Principles that “establish a common instructional language across DepEd” (paras. 17 to 19; Table 1). DO 014 repeats them as the foundation of learning delivery in emergencies (para. 18; Annex B). DepEd’s Learning Systems Strand, in its online guide to the reforms, writes: “Our policies in lesson planning, assessment, education in emergencies, and educational technology are all anchored in these.” DO 015 does not list the principles, but its rule that formative assessment “shall be embedded in daily instruction” (para. 14) matches the third.

“Not all principles are expected to be evident in every lesson” (DO 016, para. 18). A school head who turns the eight into a checklist for every plan misreads the order.

The LSCP links emergencies to planning and grading

The LSCP is DO 014’s plan, but two other orders build on its levels. DO 016 asks teachers to prepare alternative home-based resources for Hinay situations as part of the learning experience (para. 7.b.i). DO 015 sets what assessment may happen at each level: limited summative assessment at Hinay, summative assessment deferred at Hinga, and “No assessments” at Hinto (Annex A, paras. 14 to 16). When a disruption runs long, DO 014 sends the school to an FLP (para. 64), the one reform without its own order.

The SSHS runs on DO 015 and DO 016

DO 017 left SHS lesson planning to “the forthcoming policy on lesson planning” and grading, promotion and graduation to “the upcoming policy on assessment, grading system, and awards and recognition” (paras. 18, 25 and 26). Both came out the same day, June 4, 2026. DO 015 gives the SHS its own weights, from 20%, 50% and 30% for core subjects to 20% and 80% for work immersion (Table 10). DO 023 sets its placement models by term (para. 12) and grades work immersion 80% on the industry’s evaluation and 20% on the portfolio, the weights in DO 015 (para. 28).

The same rules on artificial intelligence

DO 015 and DO 016 both adopt DO 003, s. 2026, the Foundational Guidelines on Artificial Intelligence in Basic Education, and both sort AI use into prohibited, limited and guided categories (DO 015, para. 36; DO 016, para. 25). DO 003 restricts learners’ direct use of AI tools to Key Stages 2 to 4 (Encl., Sec. VI). The AI guidelines post has the details.

What a school head does across the year

DepEd’s school head checklist for the three-term calendar lists actions for four points in the year: before the school year, the Opening Block, the Instructional Block and the End-of-Term Block. The school head orientation worksheets ask school heads to map each term’s blocks and audit their teachers’ “collective competencies”. Both are support materials, not issuances.

Before the school year

From the checklist alone. “Instruct teachers to use only the official template” conflicts with DO 016, which has no required national template and lets teachers develop their own formats (paras. 11 and 30); the order governs. “Require teachers to prepare pacing aligned to the three-term calendar” is not in any order. The budget of work is “a guiding reference only”, and teachers “are afforded flexibility to manage instructional pacing” (DO 009, para. 25), so a pacing plan should not become a new form (DO 016, para. 21). The items on clinics, the canteen and health commodities come from the school health issuances, among them DepEd Memorandum No. 059, s. 2026, not from the Learning Systems orders.

The Opening Block

From the checklist alone. “Conduct classroom walkthroughs within the first 2 weeks” fixes a time that DO 016 does not; the order encourages “frequent, non-rated” walkthroughs at any time (para. 33). “Activate FLP for identified learners” rests on the existing FLP orders, since the omnibus FLP policy has not been issued. The Opening Block guide covers these weeks.

The Instructional Block

DO 017 still speaks of quarters, and no issuance says how the rule reads under three terms. Four checks spaced through the year satisfy the text either way.

The End-of-Term Block

Term 2 of SY 2026-2027 departs from the ten-day model. Its End-of-Term Block runs from December 7 to 18, 2026, with nine class days. Report cards go out on December 15, INSET falls on December 17 and 18, and the Year-End Break from December 19 to 31 is the wellness break of learners and teachers (DO 009, Annex B).

At year end

The curriculum implementation guide shows how these checks fit a school’s monitoring calendar, and instructional supervision covers the walkthroughs and coaching.

What changes for teachers, and what a school head may no longer require

For teachers, the reforms move work out of paperwork and into the term’s structure. Plans need only the four ILAW elements and are reviewed for alignment, not completeness (DO 016, paras. 10, 11 and 32). Formative assessment shapes teaching but “shall not be used for grade computation” (DO 015, para. 15). The summative load has ranges, and “Formal written examinations shall be limited” in Grades 1 to 3 (DO 015, paras. 23 and 24). Teachers get protected wellness days and fixed INSET days (DO 009, paras. 21 and 24). Some extra roles count as teaching load: Hinga check-ins (DO 014, para. 69) and the coordination and monitoring of work immersion, field exposure and arts apprenticeship (DO 023, para. 8.u and para. 31).

Teachers have duties too. They may not submit fully AI-generated lesson plans (DO 016, para. 23), may not put learners’ personal data into AI platforms (DO 015, para. 37), and must archive their plans (DO 016, para. 37.e). The teacher workload guide covers the six-hour load and ancillary tasks these rules build on.

The support materials DepEd released

The Learning Systems Strand and the Bureau of Learning Delivery (BLD) published a set of materials with the orders. None is an issuance. Each supports an order, and where one differs from its order, the order governs.

The budgets of work and the exemplars are references. DO 009 tells regional and division offices to “refrain from prescribing a set number of days” per competency (para. 25), and DO 016 lets teachers adapt any exemplar to their learners (para. 22). The guides to these materials are DepEd Pedagogy Cards: 50 Teaching Strategies by Key Stage, the ILAW samples and the E-Class Record and SF9 guide.

The Flexible Learning Program: announced, not yet issued

As of November 14, 2026, DepEd has issued no order or memorandum setting the FLP’s own guidelines. Its list of orders ends at DO 023, s. 2026, and its list of memoranda at DM 064, s. 2026. The Learning Systems Strand lists the FLP among the seven reforms with no order number beside it.

What DepEd has announced. A policy briefer dated April 13, 2026 describes the planned “Omnibus Policy Guidelines on the Implementation of the Flexible Learning Program”:

• The FLP, “Formerly the Alternative Delivery Modes (ADM)”, becomes one framework for six arrangements in the formal system: the Open High School System, Night High School, Rural Farm School, Homeschooling, School-Initiated Intervention and Rotational Learning.
• Four modalities: in-person, modular distance, online distance and blended learning.
• Learner profiling with a Learner Access Survey, an Independent Learning Readiness Test and a Family, Individual, Community, and School Analysis Tool.
• Learning facilitators who sign a Statement of Undertaking. A teacher serves as one only when “no suitable options” are left, temporarily and with incentives.

These are announcements. They bind no school until DepEd issues the guidelines.

What governs FLPs now.

• DO 014 defines FLPs as “DepEd general education schooling programs deliberately designed to address the needs of learners at risk of dropping out”, separate from emergency learning (para. 6.d).
• DO 015 applies the same assessment purposes and standards to FLP learners. Delivery and format may adapt; weights and grading rules may not (Annex A, paras. 17 to 20). Learners with prolonged absences may be endorsed to an FLP (Annex D, para. 22.b).
• DO 009’s five-day cap on alternative delivery does not apply to FLP modalities (para. 32), and DO 017 lets senior high schools use FLPs to meet the SSHS hours (para. 24).
• DepEd Memorandum No. 050, s. 2026 (August 25, 2026) releases a Program Support Fund of ₱387,020,000 from the FY 2026 FLO-ADM funds to the regional offices for FLPs and learning continuity (item 1). It names five FLPs: homeschooling, night high school, open high school, rural farm schools and school-initiated interventions (Encl., para. 4.a). Rotational Learning is not among them.
• The program orders already issued stay in force, such as DO 001, s. 2022 on homeschooling.

The FLP guide follows the program in full.

What this means for school heads

1. Work from the orders, not the summaries. Keep DO 009, DO 014, DO 015, DO 016, DO 017 and DO 023 at hand. Where a checklist, worksheet or summary differs, follow the order and say so to the teachers. This is strand 1.3 of the PPSSH, policy implementation and review; see Domain 1, Leading Strategically.
2. Build the school calendar first. Place every activity in its block before the year starts and before each term, so contests, health services and celebrations do not take class hours.
3. Keep the LSCP current. Update it each term, keep the call tree working, and stock a week of printed materials per learner for a shift to Hinay during class hours (Domain 2, Managing School Operations and Resources).
4. Review plans for quality, not completeness. Accept any ILAW-aligned format, coach from walkthroughs, and protect teachers’ time to plan (Domain 3, Focusing on Teaching and Learning). The Learning Action Cell guide shows how LAC sessions can carry collaborative planning.
5. Use the first summative test. Remediation can start in Week 5, through ARAL and classroom interventions; do not wait for the End-of-Term Block. The ARAL guide covers the program’s rules.
6. Set up the Awards Committee early and apply the 90-and-80 threshold for the Academic Excellence Award.
7. For senior high school, offer only approved electives, plan class programs to the SSHS hours, and, in pilot schools, formalize every placement by MOA before deployment.
8. Keep the records the orders name: class records and assessment evidence for at least one school year, lesson plans at the school, LSCP updates and incident reports each term, and for pilot implementers the consolidated work immersion report after the year.

How the NASH may test this

The items below are original practice items, scored 3 (Relational), 2 (Multistructural), 1 (Unistructural) or 0 (Prestructural). An option that breaks a rule scores 0.

Question 1

Indicator 3.4.2, Learner achievement and other performance indicators. Career Stage 2, Situational, Moderate.

You are the school head of a rural elementary school. In Week 5 of Term 3, results of the first summative test show that 14 of the 32 learners in a Grade 5 class have not yet mastered the mathematics competencies it covered. Their adviser plans to hold remedial sessions for them in the End-of-Term Block so that the class keeps pace with the budget of work. What is the most appropriate action?

• A. Have the adviser reteach the whole class for the next two weeks before moving on, since the budget of work lets teachers adjust their pacing.
• B. Have the adviser begin after-class remediation for the 14 learners this week, grouping them by the skills that the test showed they missed.
• C. Keep the remedial sessions for the End-of-Term Block as the adviser planned, and send the parents of the 14 learners a note on their results now.
• D. Tell the parents of the 14 learners that their children may be retained, so that the learners take the coming tests more seriously.

Answer and explanation: Question 1

Best answer: B. Points: A = 1, B = 3, C = 2, D = 0.

• A (1 point, Unistructural). It responds to the results and uses the pacing flexibility the calendar allows, but it slows all 32 learners and does not target the 14 who need help.
• B (3 points, Relational). It uses the test results to group the learners who need support and starts targeted remediation within the term, after classes, as the remediation and ARAL rules provide.
• C (2 points, Multistructural). It targets the right learners and informs parents, but it waits weeks when the remediation rules call for timely support starting as early as Week 5.
• D (0 points, Prestructural). It threatens retention after one test. In Grade 5, retention follows the final grades and only after more than two learning areas are failed, and promotion and intervention are not to “serve as punitive measures”.

Why. This aligns with Career Stage 2 expectations because the school head uses learning outcomes to start a data-based intervention. DO 015, s. 2026 says remedial interventions “shall begin as early as Week 5 following the first ST”, through classroom interventions or ARAL (para. 68), and DO 009, s. 2026 schedules ARAL sessions after classes two to four times a week in the Instructional Block (para. 13). The 2-point option has the right learners but misses the timing that makes the intervention useful.

Indicator 3.4.2: Utilize learning outcomes in developing data-based interventions to maintain learner achievement and attain other performance indicators.

Sources: DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026, paras. 62, 67 and 68; DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026, paras. 13 and 25; DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020.

Question 2

Indicator 1.3.1, Policy implementation and review. Career Stage 1, Conceptual, Moderate.

A DepEd orientation worksheet tells teachers that the Academic Excellence Award needs a general average of 95 with no final grade below 85. DepEd’s order on classroom assessment and awards sets 90 and 80. Which statement best explains how the school should decide?

• A. Apply the order’s 90 and 80 for now, but hold the awards list until the division confirms, since the worksheet may reflect a newer decision.
• B. Apply the worksheet’s 95 and 85, since orientation materials released by the Central Office take the place of the order that they explain.
• C. Let the school’s Awards Committee choose between the two, since the committee develops the criteria and rubrics for the awards in the school.
• D. Apply the order’s 90 and 80 and report the worksheet’s figures to the division, since materials that explain an order cannot change it.

Answer and explanation: Question 2

Best answer: D. Points: A = 2, B = 0, C = 1, D = 3.

• A (2 points, Multistructural). It names the right threshold, but it treats an unissued “newer decision” as possible law and holds back awards the order already grants.
• B (0 points, Prestructural). It reverses the weight of the documents. A worksheet is not an issuance and cannot change an order, and the higher bar would deny awards to qualified learners.
• C (1 point, Unistructural). It knows the committee’s role, but the committee’s criteria must align with the order, which already fixes the threshold.
• D (3 points, Relational). It applies the order’s rule, gives the reason that support materials cannot change an issuance, and has the error corrected through the division.

Why. This aligns with Career Stage 1 expectations because it shows an understanding of how policy is implemented: the issuance in force decides school practice. DO 015, s. 2026 grants the Academic Excellence Award for a general average of 90 or higher with no final grade below 80 (para. 75; Annex H, para. 4), and its Awards Committee develops criteria and rubrics “aligned with this Order” (Annex H, para. 9). The 2-point option names the right rule but treats the worksheet as a possible rule and delays the awards.

Indicator 1.3.1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of policy implementation and review to ensure that school operations are consistent with national and local laws, regulations and issuances.

Sources: DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026, paras. 75 and 87, Annex H, paras. 4 and 9; DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020.

Question 3

Indicator 2.5.2, School safety for disaster preparedness, mitigation and resiliency. Career Stage 2, Situational, Difficult.

You are the school head of an integrated school in a coastal town. At 10 a.m., the mayor suspends classes as a typhoon approaches; roads are still safe for travel, and you set the school’s learning continuity level at Hinay, which is expected to last through tomorrow. Learners are still in school and have received no learning packets. The Grade 7 term examination is set for tomorrow, and 20 Grade 12 learners are at their work immersion partner today. What is the most appropriate action?

• A. Keep the learners in school until their parents fetch them, and have the teachers prepare learning packets to hand out once classes resume.
• B. End today’s work immersion, move the examination, and report the level on the dashboard within 12 hours, then send learners home and prepare packets for them later.
• C. Send learners home with a week of printed materials and kits, end today’s immersion, move the examination, and report the level on the dashboard within 12 hours.
• D. Give the Grade 7 term examination this afternoon so the schedule holds, then dismiss all learners and report the school’s level to the division.

Answer and explanation: Question 3

Best answer: C. Points: A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, D = 0.

• A (1 point, Unistructural). It attends to the learners’ safety on the way home, but it leaves them without materials, leaves the Grade 12 learners at work and makes no report.
• B (2 points, Multistructural). It ends the immersion, moves the examination and reports on time, but it sends learners home without the week of printed materials the level requires before dismissal.
• C (3 points, Relational). It connects every duty the level triggers: materials and kits before dismissal, no work immersion, examinations only on in-person days, and the 12-hour report.
• D (0 points, Prestructural). It keeps learners in school to take an examination after classes were suspended. Periodical examinations are given only on in-person Hayo days and must be rescheduled when a suspension affects them.

Why. This aligns with Career Stage 2 expectations because the school head manages school safety so that instruction can continue. DO 014, s. 2026 requires “a week’s worth of printed materials and emergency learning kits” before learners go home when no resources were given out (para. 47), bars work immersion on Hinay, Hinga and Hinto days (para. 71), has examinations rescheduled (para. 70), and requires the report “within the first 12 hours” (para. 44). DO 022, s. 2024, which DO 014 complements, has a school whose classes are suspended after they have begun “send everyone home, if it is safe to do so” (Sec. III, para. 5.a). The 2-point option misses only the materials, which keep learning going while learners are home.

Indicator 2.5.2: Manage school safety for disaster preparedness, mitigation and resiliency to ensure continuous delivery of instruction.

Sources: DepEd Order No. 014, s. 2026, paras. 12, 44, 47, 70 and 71; DepEd Order No. 022, s. 2024, Sec. III, para. 5.a; DepEd Order No. 023, s. 2026, para. 24.b; DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020.

Nothing in this guide reproduces or predicts examination content.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Flexible Learning Program already a DepEd order?

No. As of November 14, 2026, DepEd has issued no order or memorandum with the FLP’s guidelines. FLPs run under DO 014’s definition, DO 015’s assessment rules for FLP learners, the existing program orders, and the funds released by DM 050, s. 2026.

When did the DLL and DLP stop being allowed?

At the end of Term 1 of SY 2026-2027, September 15, 2026. DO 016, s. 2026 allowed the old formats “until the end of the first term” and full implementation “beginning the second term” (para. 43), which started on September 16, 2026 (DO 009, s. 2026, Annex B).

Do Grades 2 and 3 get descriptive grades this school year?

No. In SY 2026-2027, only Kindergarten and Grade 1 use descriptive grading. Grades 2 and 3 keep numerical grades with the adjusted transmutation table, Grade 2 moves to descriptive grades in SY 2027-2028 and Grade 3 in SY 2028-2029 (DO 015, s. 2026, paras. 55 to 58).

Must private schools follow the three-term calendar?

No. DO 009, s. 2026 applies to public schools and CLCs; private schools “may adopt” it if they keep the required class days and opening date (item 3; paras. 5 and 6). Private senior high schools may keep two semesters if they meet the SSHS hours (DO 017, s. 2026, para. 20).

Which work immersion rules apply to Grade 12 this school year?

In the SSHS pilot schools, DO 023, s. 2026, once it takes effect 15 days after publication (items 3 and 6). Grade 12 learners on the 2016 curriculum keep Work Immersion in its 80-hour subject slot, its minimum, with longer delivery models (DO 021, s. 2019, Annex 2, para. 57), under DO 30, s. 2017 as amended, which DO 009 names (para. 30), until DO 023 takes effect and repeals it. DO 023 reaches non-pilot schools only in SY 2027-2028, and as of November 14, 2026, no issuance says which protocols apply to these learners after the repeal, so ask the SDO in writing before deploying them.

Sources

DepEd orders

• DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2026, Guidelines on the Implementation of the Three-Term School Calendar in Basic Education, April 16, 2026: items 4 to 6; paras. 5 to 42; Annexes A and B.
• DepEd Order No. 014, s. 2026, Guidelines on Learning Continuity in Emergencies, June 4, 2026: items 3 and 4; paras. 4 to 105; Annex B.
• 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, June 4, 2026: items 3 to 7; paras. 5 to 87; Annexes A, D and H.
• DepEd Order No. 016, s. 2026, Guidelines on Lesson Planning and Learning Design, June 4, 2026: items 3 and 4; paras. 3 to 46; Annexes A and B.
• DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2026, Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum, June 4, 2026: items 2 and 4; paras. 6 to 37; Annexes C, D and D.2.
• DepEd Order No. 023, s. 2026, Guidelines on the Strengthened Senior High School Work Immersion, Field Exposure (Off Campus), and Arts Apprenticeship, November 10, 2026: items 2 to 6; paras. 1, 6 to 8, 12 to 31 and 36.
• DepEd Order No. 003, s. 2026, Foundational Guidelines on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Basic Education, February 20, 2026: Sec. VI.
• DepEd Order No. 010, s. 2024, Policy Guidelines on the Implementation of the MATATAG Curriculum, July 23, 2024: Encl., para. 8.
• DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020, National Adoption and Implementation of the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads, September 7, 2020: indicators 1.3.1, 2.5.2 and 3.4.2.
• DepEd Order No. 012, s. 2025, Multi-year Implementing Guidelines on the School Calendar and Activities, April 15, 2025: item 4; Encl., para. 24 (repealed).
• DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2025, Revised Basic Education Enrollment Policy, June 13, 2025 (amended by DO 009, s. 2026).
• DepEd Order No. 022, s. 2024, Revised Guidelines on Class and Work Suspension in Schools During Disasters and Emergencies, December 23, 2024: Sec. III, para. 5.a.
• DepEd Order No. 021, s. 2019, Policy Guidelines on the K to 12 Basic Education Program, August 22, 2019: Annex 2, paras. 57 and 60 (Annex 2 amended by DO 017, s. 2026).
• DepEd Order No. 018, s. 2020, Policy Guidelines for the Provision of Learning Resources in the Implementation of the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan, July 20, 2020 (definition replaced by DO 014, s. 2026).
• DepEd Order No. 30, s. 2017, Guidelines for Work Immersion, and DepEd Order No. 39, s. 2018, Clarification and Additional Information to DepEd Order No. 30, s. 2017 (both repealed when DO 023, s. 2026 takes effect).
• DepEd Order No. 42, s. 2016, Policy Guidelines on Daily Lesson Preparation for the K to 12 Basic Education Program (repealed).
• DepEd Order No. 36, s. 2016, Policy Guidelines on Awards and Recognition for the K to 12 Basic Education Program (repealed).
• DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2015, Policy Guidelines on Classroom Assessment for the K to 12 Basic Education Program (repealed).
• DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2022, Revised Policy Guidelines on Homeschooling Program, January 21, 2022.

DepEd memoranda

• DepEd Memorandum No. 012, s. 2026, Full Implementation of the Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum in School Year 2026-2027, February 27, 2026: items 3 to 5.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 036, s. 2026, Pilot Implementation of the Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum for Grade 12 in School Year 2026-2027, May 28, 2026: items 4 and 5; Encl., paras. 4, 16 and 36.
• Memorandum OM-LS-2026-247, Clarifications on Time Allotment, Class Programming, and Learning Resources for the Strengthened Senior High School (SSHS) Curriculum, Office of the Undersecretary for Learning Systems, June 16, 2026: items 1 and 2; Annex A.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 050, s. 2026, Implementing Guidelines on the Release, Utilization, Monitoring, and Reporting of the Program Support Fund for Flexible Learning Programs under the FLO-ADM Fund Source, August 25, 2026: items 1 and 2; Encl., para. 4.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 052, s. 2025, Guidelines for the DepEd-PCORP Pilot Implementation of the Enhanced Senior High School Work Immersion Program in Selected Schools (repealed when DO 023, s. 2026 takes effect).
• DepEd Memorandum No. 059, s. 2026, Guidelines on the Delivery of School Health Services for School Year 2026-2027, September 26, 2026: para. 3.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 060, s. 2026, Guidelines on the Implementation of the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program in Mathematics, September 28, 2026: item 2; Encl. 1, item 16.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 064, s. 2026, Anticipatory Action, Preparedness, and Protective Measures for the 2026–2027 Super El Niño, October 26, 2026: Encl., Secs. 4.2 and 5.2.2.

DepEd support materials (Learning Systems Strand and Bureau of Learning Delivery, SY 2026-2027)

• Learning Systems Strand Policies (policy summary of the seven reforms).
• 3-Term Calendar Checklist for School Heads; Learning Systems Reform Policies: Orientation for School Heads (worksheets); Learning Systems Reform Policies: Orientation for Teachers (worksheets and handouts).
• Omnibus Policy Guidelines on the Implementation of the Flexible Learning Program, policy briefer, April 13, 2026; Guidelines on the Strengthened Work Immersion, Field Exposure, and Arts Apprenticeship, policy briefer, April 10, 2026.
• Guide to Learning Systems Updates (DepEd’s online guide): three-term budgets of work, lesson exemplars, SSHS curriculum guides and learning resources, Lesson Plan Guide, five ILAW guides, Pedagogy Cards (Bureau of Learning Delivery), Guides to the Opening Block for Key Stages 1 to 4, updated SF9 and E-Class Record templates.

Learning Systems reforms, SY 2026-2027

• DepEd Learning Systems Reforms: SY 2026-2027 Guide (this post)
• DepEd Three-Term School Calendar 2026-2027: DO 009 Guide
• DepEd Opening Block: The First Weeks of Term 1
• From Curriculum to Lesson: Unpacking and Budget of Work
• DepEd ILAW Lesson Plan, DO 016, s. 2026: School Head’s Role
• ILAW Lesson Plan: How to Write One, With Samples
• DepEd Pedagogy Cards: 50 Teaching Strategies by Key Stage
• DepEd Grading System, DO 015, s. 2026: School Head’s Role
• DepEd E-Class Record and SF9 for SY 2026-2027
• DepEd Learning Continuity in Emergencies: DO 014, s. 2026
• DepEd Flexible Learning Program (FLP) Explained
• MATATAG Curriculum and Strengthened SHS in SY 2026-2027
• Strengthened SHS Electives: Full List by Cluster
• Work Immersion Guidelines 2026: DepEd Order No. 023, s. 2026

Written by Mark Anthony Llego for NASH Reviewer. Sources: DepEd Orders No. 009, 014, 015, 016, 017 and 023, s. 2026; DepEd Order No. 003, s. 2026; DepEd Order No. 010, s. 2024; DepEd Memoranda No. 012, 036, 050, 059, 060 and 064, s. 2026; Memorandum OM-LS-2026-247; DepEd Order No. 021, s. 2019; the repealed orders named above; and the Learning Systems Strand’s orientation materials for SY 2026-2027.