Grading Engine

OPERATE THE SYSTEM

Grading Engine — DepEd Order 8 & MATATAG

Grading (school/grades) is where teachers encode marks and the school head releases them. Under the hood is a small, config-driven grade engine that runs both Philippine grading policies — DepEd Order 8, s.2015 and MATATAG DepEd Order 010, s.2024 — from the same code, because the weights and transmutation rules are stored as data, not baked into the program. This page explains the class record, how a grade is computed, and the release governance that decides when a grade becomes visible.

The class record

Everything in grading revolves around one unit: a class record, which is a combination of section + subject + term. You pick all three; the page loads that section's enrolled roster for the current school year, together with the grading scheme and weights that apply to that subject at that grade level.

For each learner you encode three percentage scores, all on a 0–100 scale:

Saving the class record hands those three scores to the engine, which applies the resolved weights and transmutation rule and stores each learner's weighted scores, initial grade, and final quarterly grade. A class record is editable only while its status is draft — once it moves down the release pipeline it locks (see Release governance below).

---

Two policies, one engine

The Philippines is mid-transition between two assessment policies, so ERPat School runs both side by side. Which one a class uses is decided by the grading scheme resolved for that subject group, grade level, and school year — not by a global switch.

The default policy for a fresh install is set by the school_default_grading_policy setting (do8_2015 or matatag_do10_2024) on the School Settings page, but the grade a learner actually gets is always driven by the specific scheme matched to their subject and grade — see the Schemes reference tab on the Grades page for the full list.

DO8 example weights by subject group

Under DepEd Order 8, the WW / PT / QA weights differ by subject group. These are the well-known DO8 buckets, seeded as reference data:

---

How a grade is computed

For each learner, the engine turns the three percentage scores into a single whole-number grade in five short steps:

1. Start with the three percentage scores

   Written Work, Performance Task, and Quarterly Assessment, each 0–100.

2. Weight each score

   Multiply each percentage score by its component weight (e.g. WW × 0.40). This gives three weighted scores.

3. Add them into the initial grade

   Sum the three weighted scores. The total is the initial grade (a raw number before transmutation).

4. Transmute to the final grade

   Apply the scheme's transmutation rule — the DO8 transmutation table, or MATATAG's final = 60 + 0.40 × initial — to map the initial grade to the final quarterly grade.

5. Round, floor, and cap

   DepEd grades are whole numbers: the result is rounded, floored at 60 (never lower), and capped at 100.

A worked example

A Grade 8 Mathematics class (a Science / Math subject group under DO8, so weights are 40 / 40 / 20). A learner scores WW = 80, PT = 85, QA = 90:

The learner's quarterly grade for that subject is 90 (Outstanding). The same three scores under a different subject group — or under MATATAG — would weight differently and transmute differently, which is the whole point of keeping the scheme in configuration.

---

Descriptors & passing

Every final grade carries a DepEd descriptor, and the passing mark is 75. These are fixed by policy:

These descriptors also print per subject on the SF9-style report card, and the passing threshold of 75 is what drives a card's Promoted or Retained remark.

---

Release governance

A grade is not visible the moment a teacher types it. It travels a short, ordered approval pipeline, and there is no skipping stages. Each transition is recorded in the grade-approvals history with the person, the time, and optional remarks.

Draft → Submitted

The encoder submits the class record for release. Requires school_grade_release. Grades stay hidden from families.

Submitted → Approved

The school head approves the submitted grades. Requires school_grade_approve.

Approved → Released

The head releases. This locks the grades, is audited (release_grades, critical severity), and is the moment the grades become visible to report cards and the portals. Also requires school_grade_approve.

The Schemes reference tab

The Grades page includes a read-only Schemes tab so you can see exactly which policy and weights govern each subject. Each row lists:

---

Common issues

“This class record is locked”

The class is no longer draft — it has been submitted, approved, or released, so scores can't be edited. Grades are editable only while draft. If a correction is genuinely needed after submission, that is a governance decision for the head, not an edit.

“No scheme” when you try to save

No grading scheme is configured for that combination of grade level, subject group, and school year, so the engine has no weights to apply. An administrator adds/enables the scheme (see the Schemes tab and Administration) before grades can be encoded for that class.

“Pick a section, subject, and term”

All three parts of the class record are required before the roster and scheme can load.

I can submit but not approve (or vice-versa)

By design — you hold one side of the segregated permissions. The other stage belongs to a different person. This is the segregation of duties, working as intended.

Related pages