Peru · University admission · Explained in English
Peru's university admission exams, explained in English
Getting into a Peruvian university usually means sitting that university's own entrance exam, in Spanish, often more than once. For a family who reads English more comfortably, or who is new to Peru, the system can look like a maze of acronyms. This page lays it out from the universities' own pages: how admission works, what UNI, PUCP, the Universidad de Lima and San Marcos ask for, the dates of the current cycle, and what an IB or English-medium student can do.
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The short version
Peruvian universities admit students through their own competitive entrance exams, held in Spanish, usually twice a year for intakes starting around March and August; most also run a pre-university centre and special routes such as one for IB Diploma holders. This page explains UNI, PUCP, Universidad de Lima and San Marcos from their own pages. Modern Age Coders does not prepare students for these exams as an academy: we teach the mathematics and reasoning beneath them, live online and in English, in a group or one to one, at flexible hours.
Maths behind the exams
Three courses for the mathematics admission exams lean on
Not admission courses. These build the algebra, reasoning and problem solving that every university's maths section draws on, taught in English.
Each university runs its own competition for a fixed number of places. There is no single national exam like the SAT, and a place at one university says nothing about another.
The legal frame
PUCP quotes Peru's University Law, Ley 30220, in its admission guide: admission is by public competition for places defined in advance, at most once per academic cycle, and the competition consists of a knowledge exam as the main compulsory process, with an optional assessment of aptitudes and attitudes alongside.
In practice that means each university publishes its own rules, its own subjects and its own calendar. A student applying to three universities may sit three different exams.
Two intakes a year, and many routes
Universities name their intakes by year and half: PUCP's 2027-1 starts in March 2027, UNMSM's 2026 process had two stages, 2026-I and 2026-II, and UNI's 2026-2 ordinary exam ran in August 2026.
Alongside the ordinary exam, most universities offer other routes: an exam for students still in 5° de secundaria, the university's own pre-university centre (CEPRE-UNI, CeprePUCP, CEPUSM at San Marcos, the Centro de Estudios Preuniversitarios at the Universidad de Lima), and routes for IB Diploma holders or top school students.
Peru also has a large private industry of academias preuniversitarias, independent cram schools that prepare students for these exams. We are not one, and nothing here is advice to choose any route. We describe what the universities publish and teach mathematics in English. For a full picture of a 5° de secundaria year, including school and coding, our Spanish page for 5to de secundaria may help.
Four universities
What do the UNI, PUCP, Universidad de Lima and San Marcos exams test?
Four of the most searched universities, set side by side from their own admission pages. Each is in Lima; each sets its exam in Spanish; each changes details between cycles, so the university's page always wins over this one.
Admission at four Lima universities, from their own pages
University
Main exam
What it covers
Scoring and rules we could verify
UNI (Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería)
Ordinary exam: three in-person papers on three days (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
Paper 1: academic aptitude and humanities. Paper 2: mathematics. Paper 3: physics and chemistry
Applicants must have finished secundaria; direct entry also through CEPRE-UNI
PUCP (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú)
Academic evaluation, by route: La Primera Opción (still in 5°), Evaluación del Talento (school leavers), CeprePUCP
Knowledge from secundaria, with special emphasis on reading comprehension and mathematics
No calculators allowed on campus for written evaluations
Universidad de Lima
Examen de escolares, one in-person test, for 5° de secundaria students (admission 2027-1(A))
Mathematical reasoning (sciences) and reasoning and reading (humanities, including Spanish grammar)
Points for correct answers, points subtracted for wrong ones, blanks score nothing; two marked options count as wrong; no calculators
UNMSM (San Marcos)
Admission 2027-I, already examined; results published
Programmes grouped in five areas, from engineering to health sciences
Rules for 2027-I need a bank payment receipt to download, so we could not read them
Sources, read on 8 and 9 November 2026: UNI, Admisión 2026-2 page and FAQ (admision.uni.edu.pe); PUCP, Guía del postulante (admision.pucp.edu.pe); Universidad de Lima, Guía del postulante 2027-1(A); UNMSM, Oficina Central de Admisión portal, 2027-I results site and the 2027-I constancia schedule (admision.unmsm.edu.pe), and UNMSM's statement on gob.pe. UNSA in Arequipa could not be reached when we tried, so it is not covered.
UNI: maths and science heavy
Two of UNI's three papers are mathematics or physical sciences, which fits an engineering university. A student who is fluent in algebra and comfortable with physics problems starts with an advantage that cannot be crammed in a month.
PUCP and U de Lima: reading and maths
Both put reasoning with numbers and reasoning with text side by side. At the Universidad de Lima the humanities part explicitly assesses Spanish spelling and grammar, which matters for a student educated mostly in English.
San Marcos: a public university with five areas
UNMSM's 2027-I schedule groups its programmes into engineering, basic sciences, humanities and social sciences, economics and management, and health sciences. Its engineering list includes software engineering, computer science and artificial intelligence engineering.
Dates
When are the admission exams for 2027 entry?
The dates below come straight from the universities' pages as we read them in November 2026. Some had passed; some were weeks away. A date without a year is printed the way the university printed it.
Admission dates published for the 2026 to 2027 cycle
University
Route
Date
Status on 9 November 2026
UNI
Ordinary exam, Admission 2026-2
10, 12 and 14 August 2026
Held
UNI
Next ordinary exam shown
16, 18 and 20 February (year not stated)
Shown on the 2026-2 page
UNMSM
Admission 2027-I
Admission letters handed out 2 to 5 November 2026
Exam held; results published
Universidad de Lima
Examen de escolares 2027-1(A)
Sunday 15 November 2026, 7:00; results 19:00 the same day
Upcoming
PUCP
La Primera Opción, 5° de secundaria
Academic evaluation 29 November 2026
Upcoming
PUCP
Diploma de Bachillerato route
Interviews until 28 January 2027
Open
PUCP
Evaluación del Talento, school leavers
Academic evaluation 21 February 2027
Coming
Universidad de Lima
First day of classes, 2027-1
Monday 29 March 2027
Fixed
Sources as in the table above, read on 8 and 9 November 2026. UNI's page, still titled 2026-2, lists "16, 18, 20 de FEBRERO" without a year; it is probably the 2027-1 exam, but the page does not say so. The UNMSM dates are from its 2027-I admission-letter schedule, published in October 2026. The Universidad de Lima also announces a further competition, 2027-1(B), in March 2027.
Two things stand out. First, several of these exams fall while the student is still in 5° de secundaria, in November, alongside the end of the school year; the 2026 school year ran until 18 December 2026 under MINEDU's calendar. Second, students who miss one route often have another a few months later, so a single result rarely closes every door. Each university decides who it admits; we have no part in that and make no promise about it.
Language
Are Peru's admission exams in Spanish, and can classes in English help?
They are in Spanish. Classes in English help with the mathematics and the reasoning, which are the same in any language, but they are not a substitute for reading Spanish fluently in an exam.
Where English helps
Mathematics is a large share of every exam above: a whole paper at UNI, a stated emphasis at PUCP, a full reasoning area at the Universidad de Lima. A student who understands algebra and geometry deeply, in whatever language, carries that into a Spanish paper.
Students at English-medium, Cambridge and IB schools in Peru often learn their maths in English already. For them, strengthening it in English is natural, and the university route via the IB Diploma, below, may matter more than the ordinary exam.
Where it does not
The humanities and reading sections test Spanish itself. The Universidad de Lima's guide says its reading area assesses spelling and the grammatical rules of Spanish, and PUCP emphasises reading comprehension. Those need Spanish practice, which we do not provide.
We say this plainly because the alternative, implying that English classes prepare a student for a Spanish exam, would be untrue. We teach mathematics in English; a student's Spanish reading needs its own work.
Most exams also ban calculators: the Universidad de Lima lists them among prohibited items, and PUCP does not let candidates bring them onto campus. A student used to doing arithmetic on a calculator at school should practise by hand well before the exam. That is one area where our teaching transfers directly.
Should you guess?
When wrong answers lose points, should a student guess? A lesson in expected value
The Universidad de Lima's guide says each correct answer earns points, each wrong answer subtracts points, and a blank changes nothing. Its guide does not say how many points a wrong answer costs, so the numbers below are invented for the lesson. The reasoning is what matters.
The question (ours)
A test question has five options, one correct. A correct answer earns 1 mark. Suppose a wrong answer loses some fraction of a mark: nothing, a quarter, or a half. If you have no idea, should you guess? And what changes if you can rule out one or two options?
The tool is expected value: the average mark a guess would earn if you made the same guess many times. If it is positive, guessing gains marks on average; if negative, it loses them.
The working
With k options left, a blind guess is right with probability 1/k and wrong with probability (k − 1)/k. So the expected mark is 1/k × 1 − (k − 1)/k × penalty.
With five options and a penalty of a quarter, that is 1/5 − 4/5 × 1/4 = 0. A blind guess neither gains nor loses on average. Eliminate one option and it becomes 1/4 − 3/4 × 1/4 = 1/16, a small gain.
Version 1: expected marks, as exact fractionsPython
from fractions import Fraction
def expected(options_left, gain, loss):
# average mark for one guess among the options still standing
p = Fraction(1, options_left)
return p * gain - (1 - p) * loss
gain = 1
for loss in (Fraction(0), Fraction(1, 4), Fraction(1, 2)):
row = [expected(k, gain, loss) for k in (5, 4, 3, 2)]
print("penalty", loss, "->", [str(x) for x in row])
It prints penalty 0 -> ['1/5', '1/4', '1/3', '1/2'], penalty 1/4 -> ['0', '1/16', '1/6', '3/8'] and penalty 1/2 -> ['-1/5', '-1/8', '0', '1/4'], for 5, 4, 3 and 2 options left.
Version 2: how many options must go before guessing pays?Python
for loss in (Fraction(1, 4), Fraction(1, 2)):
k = 5
while expected(k, gain, loss) < 0:
k -= 1
print("penalty", loss, ": guessing stops losing marks once", k, "options remain")
Run after Version 1, it prints penalty 1/4 : guessing stops losing marks once 5 options remain and penalty 1/2 : guessing stops losing marks once 3 options remain.
The lesson students should take away is not "always guess" or "never guess". It is that the size of the penalty decides how much you must know before a guess is worth it. With a heavy penalty, a guess only breaks even once two options are ruled out; with no penalty at all, as in ONEM's early stages, you should always answer. Before any exam, find out the scoring rule from the official guide and do this calculation once, calmly, instead of in the exam hall.
We use Fraction rather than decimals for a reason we show students. Rewrite expected with ordinary floats (p = 1 / options_left) and the break-even case with three options and a penalty of a half comes out as -5.551115123125783e-17, a hair below zero. Version 2 then decides three options are not enough and prints 2 instead of 3: wrong advice from a rounding error. Exactness is part of the mathematics, not decoration.
IB and English-medium
What can an IB or English-medium student do?
Look carefully at the routes beyond the ordinary exam. Two of the four universities publish an admission route for holders of a Bachillerato diploma, which covers the IB Diploma.
Routes for IB Diploma holders, as the universities publish them
University
Route
What the guide says
Universidad de Lima
Diploma de Bachillerato Internacional
Admits an applicant who has obtained the Diploma and applies within three years
PUCP
Diploma de Bachillerato
Interviews until 28 January 2027 in the second call; Bachillerato courses can be recognised for up to 23 university credits
Sources: Universidad de Lima, Guía del postulante 2027-1(A); PUCP, Guía del postulante; read on 8 November 2026. MINEDU reported on 17 April 2026 that 2,502 students in Peru obtained the IB Diploma in 2025. We found no IB route on the UNI or UNMSM pages we could read, which is not proof that none exists.
For IB students
A strong Diploma, and especially a strong maths grade, can open a route that avoids the ordinary exam at these universities. The IB marks the Diploma and the university decides on the route; we play no part in either.
Our Spanish-language page for an IB maths tutor in English explains how we teach Analysis and Approaches and Applications and Interpretation to students in Peru.
For English-medium students in general
The Universidad de Lima lists an English evaluation in its post-admission calendar, still marked "por confirmar" when we read it; English is clearly expected at university, even if the entrance exam is in Spanish.
Students heading to a Peruvian degree often meet programming early, whatever their field. Our page on programming courses for university students, in Spanish, covers what helps alongside a degree.
What we offer
What do Modern Age Coders classes do, and not do, for admission?
We teach mathematics and reasoning, live and in English. We do not run an admission course, see papers in advance, or promise anyone a place.
What we do
Teach algebra, functions, geometry, number and problem solving from the reason up, by hand, without calculators where the exams forbid them. Explain each method in English until the student can explain it back.
What we do not do
Teach Spanish reading or grammar, history or the humanities sections, physics or chemistry for UNI's third paper, or anything specific to one university's secret format. Pre-university centres and academies do that work.
What we will not say
That our classes get anyone into a university. Each university runs its own competition and decides its own results. A student who understands maths well has a better chance in any maths section, and that is all we claim.
We are not connected with UNI, PUCP, the Universidad de Lima, UNMSM or any other university, or with any academia. Our mentors are based in India and teach in English only. If you are weighing coding as well as maths for the year after school, our overview for Peru lists every course by age.
Lima times
What time would classes be in Peru?
At an hour your family chooses. Peru runs on UTC minus 5 throughout the year, never changing its clocks, and India runs on UTC plus 5:30, so the gap is ten hours and thirty minutes all year. These rows are only conversions.
From Peru time to India time
Peru time
India time
How a 5° de secundaria student might use it
06:00
16:30
An early hour before school, in exam season
07:00
17:30
A Sunday timed practice at an exam-morning hour
14:30
01:00, next day
After a school half-day, by arrangement
17:00
03:30, next day
Late afternoon, one to one
20:30
07:00, next day
A short evening review
Time zones from the IANA database: America/Lima, UTC minus 5, unchanged since Peru last used summer time in 1994; Asia/Kolkata, UTC plus 5:30. INACAL's official clock for Peru agreed when checked on 8 November 2026. We converted the hours ourselves.
Several admission exams start early: the Universidad de Lima's school-leaver exam began at 7:00 on a Sunday. Practising at that hour for a few weeks helps a student think clearly at the time it counts. A class needs a computer, a stable connection and paper for working by hand.
Our stages
Maths readiness for admission-style papers: our stages
These are our own stages, not a university's. They describe mathematical readiness, not admission chances.
Readiness stages (ours)
Stage
Usually
The student can
Why it matters
1. Hand arithmetic
3° de secundaria
Work fractions, powers and roots without a calculator
Most exams ban calculators
2. Algebra
3° and 4° de secundaria
Rearrange, factorise and solve without slips
Every maths section rests on it
3. Functions and graphs
4° de secundaria
Read and sketch linear, quadratic and exponential graphs
Common in aptitude questions
4. Geometry and trigonometry
4° and 5° de secundaria
Use angle, area and triangle facts in unfamiliar figures
Heavy in engineering exams
5. Reasoning
5° de secundaria
Spot a pattern, test a case, estimate before calculating
Rewards understanding over memory
6. Exam judgement
Final months
Decide when to answer, skip or guess under a scoring rule
The expected-value lesson above
For parents
Stage 1 is often the surprise: students who use calculators daily lose time on arithmetic by hand.
After each class you receive a short note on what was secure and what was not.
For students
Read the scoring rule first. It decides how you should answer.
If you can explain a method in one sentence, you can rebuild it under pressure.
Further courses
Nine more courses for the years around admission
Live and in English, with one mentor throughout, in a group or one to one.
I
Mathematics
4° and 5° de secundaria
UAE / MATHS / 01
Statistics and probability
Data and chance, increasingly common in aptitude sections.
A weather forecasting site with live conditions for any location.
by Krish
Fees
Fees for maths classes from Peru
We charge in US dollars by card. The bank that issued your card converts each charge into soles at its own rate on the day, so the soles total can vary slightly from month to month.
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Questions families ask
Peru's university admission exams: questions and answers
Are the classes in Spanish?
No. Our classes are live, online and taught only in English. The admission exams themselves are in Spanish, so a student also needs Spanish reading practice, which we do not teach. What we teach is the mathematics and reasoning, which are the same in either language.
Is there one national university entrance exam in Peru?
No. Each university runs its own admission competition. PUCP's guide quotes Ley 30220: admission is by public competition, at most once per cycle, with a knowledge exam as the main compulsory part. A student applying to several universities usually sits several exams.
What does the UNI exam cover?
UNI's ordinary exam is three in-person papers on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday: academic aptitude and humanities, then mathematics, then physics and chemistry. Its 2026-2 exam was held on 10, 12 and 14 August 2026. Applicants must have finished secundaria.
Does the Universidad de Lima take marks off for wrong answers?
Its 2027-1(A) guide says each correct answer earns points and each wrong answer subtracts them, while unanswered questions neither add nor subtract, and marking more than one option counts as wrong. The guide does not state the size of the penalty.
Can an IB Diploma help with admission?
At some universities. The Universidad de Lima has a route for IB Diploma holders who apply within three years, and PUCP has a Diploma de Bachillerato route and can recognise Bachillerato courses for up to 23 credits. Each university decides; check its current guide.
When are the San Marcos exams?
UNMSM's 2027-I exam had already been held by November 2026; its admission letters were handed out from 2 to 5 November 2026. Its 2027-I rules can only be downloaded after a bank payment, so we could not read them. Check the university's admission office for the next process.
Do your classes prepare students for a specific university?
No. We are not an academia preuniversitaria and we are not connected with any university. We teach the mathematics that every maths section relies on, in English, and we never promise admission.
When are classes in Peru time?
Any day, any time, flexible: choose a batch, or for a very personalised plan choose 1-on-1 at the hour that suits your family. Peru is on UTC minus 5 all year and India on UTC plus 5:30, so 17:00 in Lima is 03:30 the next morning in India.
Can calculators be used in these exams?
Not in the ones we could check. The Universidad de Lima lists calculators among prohibited items and PUCP does not allow them onto campus for written evaluations. Practising arithmetic by hand is therefore part of good preparation.
How are fees paid?
By card, in US dollars; your bank converts each charge to soles, so the amount can shift a little from month to month. The first class is free and needs no card details.
In the free class a mentor works through a short calculator-free set of our questions with your child: algebra, a geometry figure and one reasoning problem. You then hear which stage they are at and what to strengthen first. We will not predict an admission result.
If you prefer to read first, How we teach describes our classes in detail, and our courses page lists every syllabus.
All classes are live, on video, taught from India in English. Write to us on WhatsApp in English for a quick answer.
Want a class sooner? Book a priority demo
A priority demo is a full class of about 45 to 60 minutes. After the class the mentor sends a written skill report and a personal learning roadmap on WhatsApp. If you enrol, the demo fee is adjusted against your first month's fee. Share your demo Order ID with us on WhatsApp and we take it off.
