Stage · Thai national ladder
Three years in which school marks and admission papers run on separate tracks, and a student has to keep both.
Upper secondary is the only stage in the Thai ladder where a student is measured twice by two bodies that do not talk to each other. The school produces the cumulative grade average that the admission system reads. The central admission system produces its own papers, written by different people, sat on fixed national dates, and covering material the classroom teacher is not obliged to have finished. A student who is excellent at one and careless about the other loses in exactly the same way as a student who is careless about both.
The stream chosen at the start of Matthayom 4 has already decided which subject papers are reachable. What remains open is how many to sit and which foreign language, and the second of those is quietly an admission decision: the foreign-language papers other than English share a single time slot, so a candidate takes one of them and no more. A student who has spent three years on Japanese and then discovers the faculty wanted Chinese cannot sit both.
The dates cluster into a single term. For the current cycle the general and aptitude papers fall at the very end of January, the medical aptitude paper two weeks later, and the subject papers in the middle of March, all on paper rather than on screen. That compresses the whole of Matthayom 6 into one long run-up, and it is why the useful preparation year is Matthayom 5, when there is still a semester that is not already spoken for.
Matthayom 4
The stream is already chosen, so the work is keeping the cumulative grade average intact from the first semester. It is cumulative, which means the first year counts as much as the last.
Matthayom 5
Which subject papers to sit, and which single foreign-language paper. This is the last year with room to add a subject rather than defend one.
Matthayom 6, first semester
The portfolio round opens first, in August, well before any paper is sat. A portfolio is assembled over years and submitted in weeks.
Matthayom 6, second semester
The general and aptitude papers at the end of January, the medical aptitude paper in February, the subject papers in March, then the rounds that use them.
Families plan the final year as one push towards March. The admission calendar does not work that way: the portfolio round opens in August of the year before the papers are sat, and a portfolio cannot be built in the month it is due. Students who treat Matthayom 4 and 5 as the years before the real work usually find that the two things they cannot recover late are the cumulative grade average and the portfolio.
School subjects and admission papers are taught as separate pieces of work, because they are set by separate bodies and reward different things.
Upper Secondary M4–M6
View programmeEnglish for Secondary
Opening soon
O-NET Matthayom 6
View programmeTCAS Overview
View programmeTGAT1 English Communication
View programmeTGAT2 Critical and Logical Thinking
Opening soon
TGAT3 Future Workforce Competencies
Opening soon
TPAT1 Medical Aptitude
View programmeTPAT2 Arts Aptitude
Opening soon
TPAT3 Science, Technology and Engineering Aptitude
Opening soon
TPAT4 Architecture Aptitude
Opening soon
TPAT5 Education Aptitude
Opening soon
TCAS A-Level Mathematics 1
Opening soon
TCAS A-Level Mathematics 2
Opening soon
TCAS A-Level Physics
Opening soon
TCAS A-Level Chemistry
Opening soon
TCAS A-Level Biology
Opening soon
TCAS A-Level Social Studies
Opening soon
TCAS A-Level Thai
Opening soon
TCAS A-Level English
Opening soon
POSN Olympiad
Opening soon
Thai Language
Opening soon
Mathematics
Opening soon
Science and Technology
Opening soon
Social Studies, Religion and Culture
Opening soon
GED
View programmeAs many as the chosen faculties actually require, and no more. Each paper has to be prepared to a standard, and a candidate carrying an extra paper out of caution usually pays for it in the papers that count. Read the requirement lists of the specific programmes first, then count backwards.
Not for the central admission system. It was dropped from that selection from the TCAS65 cycle, and it has been voluntary since the 2563 school year. It is still run, now as digital testing, and some schools still enter their cohorts. Treat it as a school matter rather than an admission one.
Some families move to a high-school equivalency route and apply through a university's international programme instead. That is a genuine road with its own timetable and its own English requirement, and it is decided on, not fallen into. It has its own page rather than a paragraph here.
Every external figure on this page carries its source. Edulom has not yet taught a student in Thailand, so there are no figures here about us.
TCAS70 examination dates: TGAT and TPAT2–5 on 30 January to 1 February 2570, TPAT1 on 13 February 2570, A-Level papers 13–15 March 2570 with registration 14–20 January 2570
mytcas.com and the TCAS70 calendar summary published by PPTV, April 2026
For TCAS70 the TGAT, TPAT and A-Level papers return to paper-based delivery
eduzones.com, 26 April 2026
O-NET at Matthayom 6 for the 2569 school year is delivered as Digital Testing on 10–13 January 2570
สทศ. schedule published via สช., opec.go.th
We will say honestly whether we can cover it yet, and what a first session would work on.
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