[1] Host nation Brazil has been guaranteed one quota place automatically, while two invitational positions are distributed by the UIPM once the rest of the qualifiers are announced and thereby decided.
[1] The initial distribution of berths to the athletes based on competition results occur between January and August 2015.
Twenty places are determined by the continental championships: one each from Africa and Oceania, five from Asia, eight from Europe, and five from the Americas with a maximum of one quota per NOC (winners from NORCECA and South America, and top three from the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada).
The remaining seven will be awarded based on the pentathlon's world rankings, unless a reallocation of unused berths have been invoked before the deadline.
[1] Individual athletes may qualify in any of the following methods, ensuring that an NOC may enter up to a maximum of two in each event.