The NASH and DepEd’s Expanded Career Progression

The National Assessment for School Heads (NASH) is tied to a bigger change in how teachers move up in DepEd: the Expanded Career Progression (ECP) System. Understanding that system explains who needs the NASH, why, and what it does for a teacher who wants to lead a school.

Two career lines

The ECP System was established by Executive Order (EO) No. 174, s. 2022. DepEd implements it through DO No. 024, s. 2025, which was later amended and clarified by DO No. 034, s. 2025.

The system separates two paths:

the Classroom Teaching (CT) Career Line, for Teachers I to VII and Master Teachers I to V; and
the School Administration (SA) Career Line, for School Principals I to IV.

DO 034 lists the salary grades: Teacher I to VII at salary grades 11 to 17, Master Teacher I to V at 18 to 22, and School Principal I to IV at 19 to 22.

DO 034 also describes the system as merit- and competency-based: promotion depends on meeting qualification, performance and competency standards, “rather than on automatic advancement derived solely from length of service, professional training, or education attainment.”

Why the school head assessment is required

DM No. 069, s. 2025 lists three policies that make passing a school head assessment a condition for becoming a principal:

Section 17(c) of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of EO 174, s. 2022. A Master Teacher I who wants to move into school administration may be promoted or reclassified into the SA Career Line, provided they have passed the DepEd-administered school head assessment.
Section 7.4.3 of DepEd-DBM Joint Circular No. 001, s. 2025. For School Principal positions in the SA Career Line, passing the school heads assessment or its equivalent is required, subject to DepEd guidelines.
Item 27 of DO 021, s. 2024, which amends DO 007, s. 2023 on recruitment, selection and appointment. First appointments to School Principal positions, through natural vacancy or reclassification, require passing the DepEd-administered school head assessment.

DM 069 adds that only those who passed the NQESH, the Principal’s Test, or another school head assessment DepEd may require in the future are eligible for first appointment to School Principal positions. Since 2025, that assessment is the NASH.

Where Head Teachers and Assistant Principals stand

Head Teachers and Assistant School Principals are among the positions most affected by the ECP System. DepEd responded in three ways:

They were prioritized for the NASH. DM 069 put holders of positions affected by the ECP, such as Head Teachers and Assistant Principals, at the front of Batch 1, and opened Batch 2 to them regardless of whether they met the School Principal I qualification standards.
They are treated as on-stream candidates. DM 097, s. 2025 cites item 34.c of DO 24, s. 2025, which regards incumbent Head Teachers and Assistant Principals as on-stream candidates for the SA Career Line during the three-year transition period. That is why those who landed in With Developmental Areas in Batch 1 could retake the NASH in Batch 2.
Their experience counts. Under DO 034, Head Teacher experience counts as teaching experience, and for School Principal positions it can count toward the five years of teaching required on top of the year of management or supervision experience. This is subject to Civil Service Commission validation and approval.

DO 034 also covers Head Teachers in secondary schools who are retitled to equivalent Teacher or Master Teacher positions. If they choose to keep working as Department Head, they may do so until they leave the position; only then is a Master Teacher designated as Department Head.

Who does not need the NASH

The assessment requirement is for first appointment to a School Principal position. DO 034 states that incumbent School Principals no longer need to pass the school head assessment, or submit a Certificate of Rating, when applying for reclassification or promotion to higher School Principal positions. This applies whether they were appointed before or during the Principal’s Test, NQESH or NASH era, under regional assessments such as the NQEP, or based on School-Based Management criteria.

DO 034 explains the reason: these principals already perform “the full range of duties, responsibilities, and competencies expected of a School Principal.”

What the NASH result does for you

Passing the NASH at the right competency level makes you a prospective candidate for an entry-level School Principal position, subject to the qualification standards and DepEd’s hiring guidelines. It does not appoint you. You still apply through the regular recruitment, selection and appointment process. How the NASH Is Scored: The 65-Point Rule explains how your competency level is decided.

If your result is With Developmental Areas, you first complete NEAP’s Professional Development Interventions and a Work Application Plan certified by your Schools Division Superintendent. NASH FY 2025 Results: Batch 1 and Batch 2 in Numbers explains each level.

The transition period

DO 034 refers repeatedly to a three-year transition period for the ECP System, during which some performance requirements for teacher promotion are relaxed. It states that this relaxation ends after February 24, 2028. The transition provisions in DO 034 are about teacher performance requirements; they do not remove the school head assessment requirement for first appointment as principal.

Key points

The ECP System (EO 174, s. 2022) separates a Classroom Teaching career line from a School Administration career line.
First appointment to School Principal requires passing the DepEd school head assessment, now the NASH.
Head Teachers and Assistant Principals were prioritized and are on-stream candidates during the transition period.
Incumbent School Principals do not need the NASH to move up within the School Principal ranks.