What Is The Upu System And Is It Fair

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KINIGUIDE | Every year, tens of thousands of keen SPM, STPM, matriculation, foundation, and diploma graduates pin their hopes on the centralised public university admissions system (UPU) to secure a place in local universities.
However, the process has often left students confused and frustrated over rejections despite high scores, placement in courses they never applied for, or a lack of transparency in the selection process.
Malaysiakini unpacks how the UPU system works and why controversies continue to surface.
What is the UPU?
Established in 1972 as the Unit Pusat Universiti, UPU was rebranded multiple times before its current name (Unit Pengambilan Pelajar) and position under the Admission Management Division (BPKP) for public higher education institutes under the Higher Education Ministry’s Higher Education Department.
According to the ministry’s website, BPKP is tasked with managing and coordinating admissions into public higher education institutions - namely public universities, polytechnics, community colleges, and public skills training institutes.
Higher Education Ministry, PutrajayaWhile the first three decades since its inception saw the UPU imposing ethnic quotas within public universities to provide bumiputera households with greater access to tertiary education, the government abolished such race-based admissions in 2002.
However, some programmes and entry pathways remain primarily reserved for bumiputera students only.
Some universities also offer potential students a “direct intake” pathway, which typically requires students to pay significantly higher fees compared to those admitted via the partly government-subsidised UPU route.
Who can apply under the UPU?
The UPU is open to several categories of applicants:
SPM leavers: For diploma, foundation, or matriculation pathways.
STPM, matriculation, and foundation leavers: For degree-level entry.
Diploma holders: Depending on the field, they can apply for degree-level entry (sometimes with credit transfers).
The UPU system also designates a separate route for students from four groups: Orang Asli, B40 income households, athletes, and the disabled.
Admissions from students in such categories are processed without having to compete in the primary merit system, but are subject to the fulfilment of admission requirements and availability of places.
How does the application process work?
Having received their SPM/STPM/matriculation/foundation/diploma results, students will submit a list to the UPU’s online system consisting of a minimum of six and up to 12 programme choices, ranked from most to least preferred.
Students with their SPM resultsAn evaluation process will then be carried out based on academic performance (90 percent) and extracurricular activities (10 percent). The calculated score - or merit - is then pitted against other applicants for the same course.
Results are usually announced mid-year, while unsuccessful applicants can submit online appeals within a stipulated period.
What determines if students get their first choice - or any placement at all?
In a Sept 9 statement, the Higher Education Department said 78,863 candidates were successfully offered places at public universities to pursue their bachelor’s degree.
The candidates were selected from among 109,866 eligible applicants who applied through the UPU system.
Students’ chances of securing their first-choice programme under the UPU system depend on a mix of factors, including competition, entry requirements, and policy considerations.
Highly sought-after courses such as medicine and law have only a limited number of seats compared to the flood of applicants each year, which means that even students with excellent results may lose out if demand far exceeds supply.
Medical studentsMinimum subject requirements for varying courses also play a crucial role, as applicants who do not meet certain subject thresholds are automatically filtered out, regardless of how impressive their overall results may be.
How are merit scores calculated across different education pathways?
While the ministry insists that the merit formula is applied consistently, the exact process by which scores are calculated, ranked, and matched against course quotas remains unclear.
The UPU system does not publicly disclose the precise conversion tables for different qualifications (such as how STPM grades are weighted against matriculation or foundation CGPAs), nor does it publish the minimum merit scores required for each programme in a given year.
Some have also highlighted that course quotas, the balancing of science and arts streams, and the allocation of seats across racial or regional lines are not openly explained, further fuelling perceptions of unfairness.
DAP lawmaker Lim Guan Eng previously suggested that a single, standardised examination be set up for STPM, matriculation, and foundation students to ensure fair competition in the fight to secure higher education spots.
DAP lawmaker Lim Guan EngIn a recent parliamentary written reply, the Education Ministry noted that while the proposal has the potential to streamline the admission system into public universities, its implementation would require careful consideration as it involves multiple ministries, differing academic structures, and varied assessment methods.
Different paths, same race
Although STPM and matriculation follow different curricula and assessment methods, their graduates ultimately compete in the same pool for places under the UPU admissions system.
STPM, a two-year programme also known as Form Six, is often described as one of the most academically demanding pre-university qualifications in the country.
STPM students sit for centralised exams that are benchmarked against international standards, with grading based on subject papers similar to those in A-Levels. With a broad syllabus and stringent examinations, STPM results are recognised not just locally but also by universities abroad.
In contrast, matriculation is a one- or two-year course where, instead of centralised national exams, students are assessed through a CGPA that combines coursework, assignments, and examinations.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim speaking at a matriculation college in Penang, August 2023A bumiputera quota also applies for matriculation. However, Putrajaya last year announced that all students - regardless of race - who obtain 10As and above in SPM will be guaranteed a place in any matriculation programme.
The programme is structured as a fast-track pathway into local public universities, with fewer places abroad accepting it as an entry qualification.
Every UPU admissions cycle, complaints emerge from STPM students who claim that despite strong results, they lose out on slots for competitive programmes, with places instead seemingly disproportionately filled by matriculation graduates.
On the surface, it may appear that there are more STPM students than those from matriculation.
A common statistic cited in this discourse is that in 2023, there were 41,548 STPM graduates, while 25,239 students enrolled for matriculation. Malaysiakini was unable to find how many graduated from matriculation that year.
However, according to data from the Education Ministry - as obtained by PKR MP Sim Tze Tzin - the percentage of matriculation students who graduated with a perfect CGPA was 16 percent, while for STPM it was just 3.09 percent.
Not only that, but the data also indicated that the number of matriculation students who were accepted into high-demand courses was disproportionately higher than that of STPM graduates.
The higher percentage of top scorers from matriculation is perceived to be due to its more lenient grading system and less rigorous assessment compared to STPM, which is considered to be “harder” with more strenuous examinations.
The disparity between the number of matriculation graduates getting into top courses also inadvertently means more bumiputera students get into such courses, due to the racial quota system in matriculation.
Beyond these two groups, diploma and foundation graduates also feed into the system, vying for the same degree seats.
Foundation programmes, often run by public universities themselves, are tailored as direct pipelines into specific faculties, while diploma holders can sometimes transfer credits into related degree programmes.
The gripes that won’t go away
The UPU system has also courted backlash from high-achieving students - including those with straight As or near-perfect CGPAs - who claim they were denied places in their first-choice programmes and instead offered unrelated courses they never applied for.
Such complaints have often boiled over into public outcry. In several past admission rounds, well-performing students took to social media after being rejected from medicine or dentistry programmes, only to be offered places in courses such as forestry, agriculture, or arts, which they had not included in their applications.
The cases often go viral, intensifying pressure on the Higher Education Ministry to defend the system’s fairness.
Geography also plays a role, as students from urban schools often have better access to information and guidance to meet UPU deadlines, while those in rural areas risk being left behind.

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