Who Can Take the NASH? Eligibility Rules Explained

Not every teacher can sign up for the National Assessment for School Heads (NASH). DepEd decides who takes each batch, and for fiscal year (FY) 2025 it set out the rules in DepEd Memorandum (DM) No. 069, s. 2025.

This guide covers who was eligible for the FY 2025 batches, the qualifications behind those rules, and the people who no longer need the NASH at all. If you are new to the assessment, start with What Is the NASH? DepEd’s Assessment for School Heads.

The qualification standards for School Principal I

The NASH exists to prepare candidates for the School Principal I position, so eligibility starts from that position’s qualification standards (QS). DM 069 reproduces the revised QS from DO No. 019, s. 2025, which adopts Civil Service Commission Resolution No. 2500471 (May 28, 2025):

School Principal I qualification standards (DO No. 019, s. 2025)

Requirement	What DepEd asks for
Education	A master’s degree in Education, Educational Management or Educational Leadership; or a master’s degree in a relevant learning area with at least 9 units in Management
Experience	5 years of teaching experience, plus 1 year of relevant experience in learning area coordination, subject area supervision, school management and operations, or instructional supervision
Training	32 hours of training in curriculum, pedagogy, school management and operations, or instructional leadership, acquired within the last 5 years
Eligibility	RA 1080, as amended (Teacher)

Two clarifications from DO No. 034, s. 2025 help here:

• Head teacher experience counts as teaching experience. For School Principal positions, it can count toward the five years of teaching, on top of the separate year of management or supervision experience. This recognition is subject to validation and approval by the Civil Service Commission.
• Training must be recent. The five-year window for training applies to Teacher, Master Teacher and School Principal positions alike, to keep training up to date with curriculum and pedagogy changes.

Who could take FY 2025 Batch 1

Batch 1 targeted personnel who already met the amended QS for School Principal I, specifically:

• Head Teachers,
• Assistant School Principals, and
• Teachers-in-Charge.

DM 069 explains how DepEd chose the first takers. A nationwide survey, the Profiling of Prospective School Principals, ran in February and March 2025. From its results, DepEd prioritized people who met all three of these conditions:

1. They hold a position affected by the Expanded Career Progression System (for example Head Teachers and Assistant Principals) or are incumbent school heads serving as Teacher-in-Charge.
2. They meet the revised QS for School Principal I under DO 19, s. 2025.
3. They have not yet passed the NQESH or the Principal’s Test.

DepEd published a list of Batch 1 takers. People who met all three conditions but were missing from the list could still submit documents through the same process.

Who could take FY 2025 Batch 2

Batch 2 opened the NASH to a wider group. DM 069 lists:

• Head Teachers and Assistant School Principals, whether or not they meet the QS for School Principal I;
• FY 2021 NQESH Category C takers;
• FY 2023 NQESH Category B and C takers; and
• other personnel who qualify under the new CSC-approved QS.

DM 097, s. 2025 added one more group: Head Teachers and Assistant School Principals who took Batch 1 and landed in the With Developmental Areas competency level could choose to take Batch 2.

A later memo from the Office of the Undersecretary, DM-OUHROD-2025-3318 (November 17, 2025), gave the Batch 2 instructions:

• It clarified that Head Teachers, Assistant School Principals, FY 2021 NQESH Category C takers, and FY 2023 NQESH Category B and C takers could take Batch 2 regardless of whether they meet the School Principal I qualification standards.
• Everyone else had to meet the new CSC-approved qualification standards.
• Personnel from the Central and Regional Offices had to meet the qualification standards and apply through the Schools Division Office where they were previously assigned or had rendered service.
• Applications went through an Online Application System, with registration from December 8, 2025 to January 5, 2026, and an assessment fee of ₱720.00.

Batch 2 itself was moved twice: to March 29, 2026 by that memo, then to May 17, 2026 by DM-OUHRODI-2026-0789 (March 16, 2026).

Who checks your eligibility

Your Schools Division Office (SDO) does. Under DM 069, the SDO’s Human Resource Management Officer (HRMO), together with other personnel the Schools Division Superintendent assigns, evaluates every applicant’s documents against the parameters above. If an applicant does not meet all of them, the SDO disapproves the application to take the NASH.

So if you are unsure whether you qualify, talk to your division HRMO before the application window. Neither DepEd’s central office nor this site can confirm individual eligibility.

Who does not need the NASH

DO 034, s. 2025 settles a question many incumbents asked. Incumbent School Principals no longer need to pass the school head assessment, or to submit a Certificate of Rating, when they apply for reclassification or promotion to a higher School Principal position. This covers principals who were appointed:

• before the Principal’s Test, NQESH and NASH were introduced;
• while the Principal’s Test, NQESH or NASH were in use;
• during the period when only regional assessments such as the National Qualifying Examination for Principals (NQEP) were held; or
• based on School-Based Management (SBM) assessment criteria.

The HRMO validates this from the records in your 201 file. The NASH matters for first appointment to a School Principal position, not for principals moving up from there. The NASH and DepEd’s Expanded Career Progression explains why.

What the memos do not say

The FY 2025 rules were written for those two batches. DM 069 does not set rules for later years, and no issuance in our sources announces an FY 2026 NASH schedule yet. Expect each new batch to come with its own memorandum, possibly with different priority groups. When it does, we will update this guide.

Key points

• Eligibility starts from the School Principal I qualification standards: a relevant master’s degree, 5 years of teaching plus 1 year of relevant experience, 32 hours of recent training, and teacher eligibility.
• Batch 1 was for Head Teachers, Assistant School Principals and Teachers-in-Charge who already met those standards and had not passed the NQESH or Principal’s Test.
• Batch 2 widened the field to Head Teachers and Assistant Principals regardless of QS, and to earlier NQESH Category B and C takers.
• Your schools division office decides whether you may take it.
• Incumbent School Principals no longer need the NASH to move up.