Chile’s Route From Básica to PAES and Higher Education
Follow the current 8+4 school sequence, the 3°–4° Medio track choice, and the school-record and PAES factors used after secondary education.
Educación Básica
Selected stamp: Educación Básica. Choose another stamp to update the route card.
Chile’s education route combines a familiar grade progression with several local features that matter later: Educación Básica is followed by Educación Media, students encounter academic, technical-professional, or artistic differentiation near the end of secondary school, and university selection can combine PAES scores with NEM and Ranking. PAES is therefore only one part of the university route. School grades, the chosen programme, the required PAES tests, and each degree programme’s weighting formula can all change the final admission score.
From 1° Básico to 4° Medio: Chile’s Current 8+4 Route
Chile’s curriculum currently uses the sequence 1°–8° Básico followed by 1°–4° Medio. Ministry curriculum pages continue to organize learning materials across those twelve school years, with Educación Parvularia shown before 1° Básico. [a]
| Stage | Years | Typical age range | Role in the route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Educación Parvularia | Includes transition levels such as Pre-Kínder and Kínder | About 4–5 for the two transition levels | Prepares children for entry to Educación Básica |
| Educación Básica | 1°–8° Básico | Roughly 6–13 | First eight years of the current school sequence |
| Educación Media | 1°–4° Medio | Roughly 14–17 | Secondary education, including differentiated study in the final years |
| Educación Superior | Depends on programme | Usually begins after secondary completion | University, Instituto Profesional, or Centro de Formación Técnica study |
For regular entry to 1° Básico, the legal minimum is six years of age, normally reached by 31 March of the school year; a school director can admit a child who turns six later, up to 30 June, under the conditions set by the regulation. The same rule gives reference ages of four for the first transition level of Educación Parvularia and five for the second. [b]
Educación Básica and Educación Media together form Chile’s 12 years of compulsory schooling. This is why the ordinary route is better understood as a full school trajectory rather than as primary education ending the legal obligation. [c]
The 8+4 labels still matter in 2026. Chilean law contains a future 6-year Básica plus 6-year Media structure, under which today’s 7°–8° Básico and 1°–4° Medio would be renumbered as six years of secondary education. A February 2026 legal amendment moved the scheduled start of that structure from 2026 to the 2030 school year and requires a prospective study in 2028. Until that transition takes effect, treating current students as if the 6+6 numbering were already operational would be misleading. [d]
Upper-secondary choice
The 3° Medio Split: Humanístico-Científica, Técnico-Profesional, and Artística
The final two years combine common general education with a differentiated route.
The Ministry of Education describes 3° and 4° Medio as a differentiated cycle with a shared general component across the three routes. The common plan includes subjects such as Lengua y Literatura, Filosofía, Educación Ciudadana, Inglés, Matemática, and Ciencias, while the differentiated component changes according to HC, TP, or Artística. Official curriculum material also reflects Chile’s mixed provider landscape, including municipal or Servicio Local provision, particular subvencionado schools, and particular pagado schools. [e]
The track choice affects what a student studies; it does not create a closed destination. A student completing Enseñanza Media Técnico-Profesional can still sit the required PAES tests and compete for a university place. The same student can instead continue through a technical-professional higher-education route, where prior TP study may become relevant for articulation or recognition.
Two admission systems
SAE Is for School Placement; PAES Is for Higher Education
The similar acronyms refer to different stages of a student’s education.
The Sistema de Admisión Escolar is the Ministry platform used to apply to public and state-subsidized private schools participating in the system.
The Prueba de Acceso a la Educación Superior is a set of admission tests used with NEM, Ranking, and programme-specific requirements for centralized university applications.
Through SAE, families can apply online to public schools and particulares subvencionados that receive state funding. Where demand exceeds available places, allocation follows the family’s ordered preferences together with legally defined priority criteria and the system’s assignment process. Fully private particulares pagados are outside the state-subsidized school group described by SAE. [f]
This distinction prevents one of the easiest Chilean terms to confuse: SAE decides school placement within its coverage; PAES belongs to the later higher-education route. Moving through a school does not create an automatic university place, and taking PAES does not determine admission to a school.
Grades, NEM, and Ranking Measure Different Things
Annual subject or module grades use Chile’s school grading scale. A final 4.0 is the minimum passing grade.
Notas de Enseñanza Media converts the student’s secondary-school grade record into an admission score using official conversion tables.
Ranking evaluates academic performance relative to a defined educational reference group rather than simply repeating the student’s grade average.
Chile’s annual final grade for a subject or module is expressed from 1.0 to 7.0, with one decimal place, and 4.0 is the minimum passing grade. The same national rule states that Religión, Consejo de Curso, and Orientación do not affect the annual final average or promotion, and that the Licencia de Enseñanza Media is granted by the Ministry of Education. [g]
NEM is not a raw GPA pasted into a university application. The NEM score takes the secondary-school grade average and transforms it through official conversion tables. The tables differ according to educational modality, including Humanístico-Científica, Técnico-Profesional, and Formación Diferenciada Artística. Ranking is separate: it measures performance in relation to the student’s educational context. For Admission 2028, a new Ranking method is scheduled to calculate four yearly positions—R1, R2, R3, and R4—using the student’s performance at each secondary level against three earlier cohorts from the same establishment, level, and teaching type, then average the four results. [h]
NEM and Ranking should not be treated as synonyms. Two students can have school records that look similar while receiving different selection information from the two measures. NEM represents converted secondary grades; Ranking adds the student’s relative academic position within the defined school context.
PAES: M1, M2, Reading, Science, and History
PAES is a set of separate tests. For centralized university admission, applicants need valid scores in the two mandatory tests—Competencia Lectora and Competencia Matemática 1 (M1)—plus at least one elective test, Ciencias or Historia y Ciencias Sociales. Competencia Matemática 2 (M2) is added when the intended degree programme requires it. [i]
| PAES component | Role in centralized admission | What the applicant must check |
|---|---|---|
| Competencia Lectora | Mandatory | A valid score is required for the central application route |
| Competencia Matemática 1 (M1) | Mandatory | A valid score is required for the central application route |
| Ciencias | Elective | Whether the intended programme accepts or requires the Science elective |
| Historia y Ciencias Sociales | Elective | Whether the intended programme accepts or requires the History and Social Sciences elective |
| Competencia Matemática 2 (M2) | Programme-dependent | Whether M2 is listed as a requirement for the intended programme |
PAES scores use a 100–1,000 point scale. The general eligibility rule for centralized university application requires either an average of at least 458 points between Competencia Lectora and M1 or placement within the top 10% of secondary-school performance in the applicant’s school cohort. Meeting that gate makes an applicant eligible to enter the centralized process; it does not guarantee a place in a particular degree programme. [j]
M1 and M2 also serve different purposes. M2 does not replace M1, and it does not replace the elective requirement. An applicant targeting a programme that lists M2 may therefore need Competencia Lectora + M1 + an accepted elective + M2, alongside the NEM and Ranking factors used in the programme’s final weighting.
Winter PAES Can Change the Score Combination Used Later
Chile’s admission system allows applicants to use the best valid score for each PAES component across eligible sittings. PAES results remain valid for two consecutive admission processes, so the scores used in one application do not have to come from a single test session. [k]
Score combination
How Separate Sittings Can Feed One Application
The numbers below are hypothetical and show the selection logic, not an admission threshold.
In that scenario, the application would not be forced to use all three Winter scores or all three Regular scores. It can combine the best still-valid Reading, M1, and Science results. This feature makes the timing of PAES sittings part of admission planning without changing the programme’s underlying weighting formula.
Weighted selection
How a Chilean University Builds the Weighted Admission Score
PAES results and school-record scores are combined according to the percentages assigned by each degree programme.
A Worked Engineering Scenario
Suppose a programme assigns 15% to NEM, 20% to Ranking, 15% to Competencia Lectora, 25% to M1, 15% to Ciencias, and 10% to M2. These weights are hypothetical.
The official rules allow each university to set programme weightings within system minimums. M1, Competencia Lectora, an elective test, NEM, and Ranking each carry a minimum weighting of 10%; where a programme requires M2, M2 carries a minimum weighting of 5%. The same applicant can consequently obtain different weighted scores for two degrees because the programmes may place different emphasis on the same underlying results. [l]
This also separates three ideas that are easy to merge incorrectly: PAES test scores are individual test results; the eligibility threshold determines whether an applicant can participate in centralized admission; the weighted programme score is the programme-specific combination used to rank eligible applicants. A previous year’s cutoff is neither the PAES scale nor a guaranteed future admission score.
Admission 2027: The Dates and Programme Rules That Matter
For the 2027 admission cycle, the Ministry’s PAES Regular portal schedules publication of the Definitive Offer of Programmes, Vacancies, and Weightings for 24 September 2026. PAES Regular 2026 is scheduled for 30 November, 1 December, and 2 December 2026. The definitive offer is the document that matters for programme-level requirements because it identifies the final participating programmes, vacancies, required tests, and weightings. [m]
Final programmes, vacancies, requirements, and weightings are scheduled for publication.
The regular PAES application for Admission 2027 is administered across the scheduled testing days.
Eligible applicants order their university programme preferences through the central platform.
Applicants can see whether they were selected or placed on a waiting list.
The centralized application period runs from 09:00 on 4 January to 13:00 on 7 January 2027. Applicants can list up to 20 university-programme-campus combinations in strict preference order. Selection into a higher preference removes the lower preferences that follow it, so the ordering is part of the selection mechanism rather than a decorative list. [n]
Programme weights should be checked by admission cycle. A weighting used by a degree in one year should not be copied into a later application without checking the definitive offer. Vacancies, test requirements, minimum weighted scores, and participating programmes can change.
After 4° Medio
University, IP, and CFT Are Different Higher-Education Routes
The Licencia de Enseñanza Media opens more than one post-secondary direction.
Applicants to programmes in centralized admission combine valid PAES results, NEM, Ranking, programme requirements, and ordered preferences.
Admission is handled by the institution within the technical-professional higher-education subsystem rather than through the same university selection formula.
Students can enter technical higher education with the secondary-school licence and any additional access instruments required by the institution.
For the technical-professional higher-education subsystem, the official Admission 2027 portal identifies Institutos Profesionales (IP) and Centros de Formación Técnica (CFT). The base entry requirement is the Licencia de Enseñanza Media, while each institution defines its own application, admission, and enrolment procedures and may use additional access instruments. The portal also recognizes possibilities for course validation linked to prior Enseñanza Media Técnico-Profesional study or prior work experience. [o]
This makes the TP route more flexible than a simple “vocational school then work” diagram suggests. A secondary TP graduate can continue into an aligned CFT or IP programme, enter employment, or meet the requirements for university admission. Likewise, completing the Humanístico-Científica route does not force a student to enter a university.
PACE Creates an Additional Route Without Making PAES Disappear
The Programa de Acceso a la Educación Superior (PACE) provides a separate access pathway for eligible students from participating schools. For Admission 2027, pre-eligibility includes completing 3° and 4° Medio in a participating PACE school and graduating in 2026, together with the required Ranking condition. To become fully eligible, students must still sit Competencia Lectora, M1, and at least one elective PAES. PACE therefore changes the route to a place, but it should not be described as a university pathway with no PAES participation. [p]
Other special-admission routes may exist at individual institutions or for defined applicant groups. These routes should be checked separately from regular centralized admission because their eligibility rules, reserved places, documents, and selection methods are not interchangeable with the standard weighted-score process.
Three Student Routes Show Where the System Branches
Humanístico-Científica to an Engineering Programme
1°–2° Medio → Humanístico-Científica in 3°–4° Medio → Licencia de Enseñanza Media → NEM and Ranking → Competencia Lectora + M1 + Ciencias + M2 where required → programme weighting → centralized application.
EMTP to CFT or IP
1°–2° Medio → Técnico-Profesional specialization → Licencia de Enseñanza Media → institution-level CFT or IP admission → possible recognition or articulation where the programme and prior study qualify.
EMTP to Centralized University Admission
Técnico-Profesional secondary study → Licencia de Enseñanza Media → valid NEM and Ranking → required PAES combination → university programme weighting → centralized selection.
The third route is especially useful for understanding Chile’s system: Técnico-Profesional secondary education and university admission are not mutually exclusive. The school track influences the curriculum and the NEM conversion table, but students can continue along different post-secondary paths when they satisfy the relevant admission requirements.
Education Benchmark is an independent informational guide and is not affiliated with any ministry of education, school authority, exam board, university, government agency, or official ranking organization. Chilean admission calendars, programme weightings, vacancies, test requirements, school placement rules, and future curriculum changes can be revised. Students making an application or enrolment decision should confirm the applicable cycle with Mineduc, DEMRE, the relevant admission platform, and the institution involved.
Sources and Verification
- [a] 1° básico – Aprendo en Línea – ESTUDIANTE. Currículum Nacional. Ministerio de Educación — Supports the current course labels from 1° Básico through 8° Básico and 1° Medio through 4° Medio. (Reliable because it is the Ministry of Education’s official curriculum portal.)
- [b] Ley Chile – Decreto 1718 EXENTO 03-OCT-2011 MINISTERIO DE EDUCACIÓN – Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional — Supports the minimum age rule for 1° Básico and reference ages for the two transition levels of Educación Parvularia. (Reliable because it is the official legal text published through Chile’s National Congress Library.)
- [c] Ley Chile – dto 26 (25-jun-2005) M. de Educación – Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile — Supports the 12-year compulsory-schooling requirement covering basic and secondary education. (Reliable because it is an official Chilean legal source.)
- [d] Ley Chile – Ley 21806 – Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile — Supports the 2026 amendment moving the scheduled 6+6 curriculum structure to 2030 and requiring a prospective study in 2028. (Reliable because it is the official text of the enacted law.)
- [e] Currículum 3° y 4° medio – Curriculum Nacional. MINEDUC. Chile. — Supports the HC, TP, and Artística differentiated routes, common curriculum, and study-hour structure in 3° and 4° Medio. (Reliable because it is the Ministry of Education’s official curriculum source.)
- [f] Sistema de Admisión Escolar — Supports the role of SAE in applications to public and state-subsidized private schools and its preference-based allocation process. (Reliable because it is the official Ministry school-admission platform.)
- [g] Ley Chile – Decreto 67 31-DIC-2018 MINISTERIO DE EDUCACIÓN, SUBSECRETARÍA DE EDUCACIÓN – Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional — Supports the 1.0–7.0 grading scale, the 4.0 passing grade, excluded subjects, and the Licencia de Enseñanza Media rule. (Reliable because it is the official national regulation on assessment, grading, and promotion.)
- [h] Acceso Educación Superior — NEM and Ranking — Supports the NEM conversion concept, the distinction between NEM and Ranking, and the new Ranking method scheduled from Admission 2028. (Reliable because it is the official Ministry higher-education access portal.)
- [i] Prueba de Acceso a la Educación Superior (PAES): Pruebas obligatorias, electivas y M2 – DEMRE — Supports the mandatory PAES tests, elective tests, and programme-dependent M2 requirement. (Reliable because DEMRE administers the university admission tests and centralized selection process.)
- [j] Acceso Educación Superior — General PAES Information — Supports the 100–1,000 PAES scale and the 458-point or top-10% eligibility routes for centralized university applications. (Reliable because it is the official Ministry higher-education access portal.)
- [k] Acceso Educación Superior — Admisión Regular — Supports use of the best valid PAES score combination and the two-admission-process validity period for test results. (Reliable because it is the official university access portal.)
- [l] Acceso Educación Superior — University Admission Questions — Supports the minimum programme weightings for M1, Reading, electives, M2, NEM, and Ranking and the programme-based selection process. (Reliable because it is the official Ministry source for university admission rules.)
- [m] Acceso Educación Superior — PAES Regular — Supports the scheduled 24 September 2026 definitive programme offer and the PAES Regular dates for Admission 2027. (Reliable because it is the official Ministry admission-cycle portal.)
- [n] Acceso Educación Superior — Centralized Application — Supports the 4–7 January 2027 application window, ordered preferences, application limit, and 18 January result date. (Reliable because it is the official centralized university application information page.)
- [o] Acceso Educación Superior — Technical-Professional Admission — Supports the IP and CFT admission model, Licencia de Enseñanza Media entry requirement, institution-level procedures, and recognition possibilities. (Reliable because it is the official higher-education access portal for the technical-professional subsystem.)
- [p] Acceso Educación Superior — Programa PACE — Supports PACE eligibility conditions for Admission 2027 and the PAES tests required for PACE qualification. (Reliable because it is the official Ministry higher-education access page for PACE.)