Carlos Magro (Madrid, 1969) is president of the Open Education Association. He works as an independent professional in innovation, technology, and educational policies and has been responsible for the Scientific Culture program of the Ministry of Education of the Community of Madrid. His latest book is AI and Education. A Relationship with Seams (Trama Editorial). He speaks to ARA at the Poblenou campus of Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), on the occasion of 35 years of teaching at the university.

Major setback in this year's university entrance exam mathematics test. This Tuesday, the average scores for all subjects were announced, and in the case of scientific mathematics, the average was 4.18: a failing average and, moreover, the lowest average since 2014, when it was a flat 4. In fact, in the last twelve years, the average for this subject has only been a failure on three occasions: this year (4.18), 2024 (4.87), and 2014 (4). Therefore, mathematics continues to be one of the PAU's nightmares, after the average score dropped by almost two points compared to last year (6.12).

Her name is Laura Tallada Fàbrega, she is from Banyoles and she did her baccalaureate at the public high school Pere Alsius i Torrent. Furthermore, she is the one who achieved the highest score in the PAU exams this 2026. With a 9.9, Laura wants to study humanities; specifically, she wants to enroll – and will be able to – in the double degree in translation and interpretation and applied languages at Pompeu Fabra University. "Since I was very young, I have liked languages and reading has been quite important in my life. Therefore, I have always valued the humanities," she tells ARA by phone from Menorca, where she has taken a trip with friends to celebrate the end of her baccalaureate.

"I have an average of 9 throughout high school and this has been the worst exam of my life," assured one of the students last week after leaving the exam – which some described as "terrible" – in mathematics of this year's PAU. Next to her, her teacher assured that this year's test "was affordable, but it asked things differently than how it had been done in class" and also said that nerves had to be taken into account. While waiting to see what happens with the grades of this exam, this scene can be an example of how the difference between the average high school grade and that of the general phase of the PAU is further away each year.

Unlike last year, in this year's university entrance exams (PAU) there will be no major changes either in the format of the exams or in the correction criteria. The exams on June 9, 10, and 11 will be marked by an unprecedented context, both due to the Pope's visit and the open conflict between teachers and administration which, according to the Government, will not affect the selectivity. Also because it will be the first edition in which mobile phone detectors and electronic devices will be used to prevent students from cheating. This Friday, more details have emerged on how these devices will be used, which can detect radio frequency signals from a mobile phone or any device with wifi or Bluetooth connection, such as a wireless microphone or a smartwatch. There will be them in all universities, but not in all classrooms. They will be randomly distributed and, in case of suspicion, the exam proctor may request that one be brought.

A significant change is coming to the university admissions process in Catalonia. Starting in 2027, the extraordinary sitting of the University Entrance Exams (PAU) – for those who did not pass the June exams or wish to improve their scores – will no longer be held in September but in July. This Friday, the board of the Inter-University Council of Catalonia (CIC) – the coordinating body between the Catalan Government and the twelve Catalan universities – agreed that 2026 will be the last year in which the PAU resits are held in September. With this change, Catalonia aligns itself with the rest of Spain's autonomous communities, as it was the only region that still held the university entrance exams in September. According to a statement from the Department of Research and Universities, the measure follows the same approach already applied to other educational levels (primary, secondary, and upper secondary), where extraordinary exam sessions are not held in September. In fact, nowadays, university degrees don't offer resits in September either. Furthermore, the government also argues that one of the main positive effects of the agreement is that it will allow pre-registration and September course assignments to be brought forward by a few weeks, and therefore, university enrollment can be finalized earlier. In addition, one of the most important changes will be that all students will be able to start university at the same time – in mid-September – regardless of whether they passed the first or second sitting of the university entrance exams. Finally, the CIC also argues that, if students take the resit exams, they will have a much more recent understanding of the subjects because they will have taken the entrance exams just a month before, and "this temporal proximity can contribute to better academic performance." In the last extraordinary sitting of the University Entrance Exams (PAU) in September, 8,237 students registered, representing 18.5% of the total number of students registered in the ordinary sitting in June, in which 44,388 students registered. Peace 2026

Regarding next year's university entrance exams (PAU) – those of 2026 – the regular session will be held on Tuesday, June 9, Wednesday, June 10, and Thursday, June 11, while the resit session will take place on Wednesday, September 2, Thursday, September 3, and Friday, September 4. As for the content and marking criteria, there will be no changes; they will remain the same as those used in the last exams.

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Choppy sound, overlapping speeches, and constant "I can't hear you," "I can't hear you," "I can't understand you." This was the situation experienced by the nearly 700 teachers who logged on last week to the information session about the evaluation criteria for the Catalan language exams in preparation for the university entrance exams next June. Beyond the meeting's technical problems, several teachers complained that the session's content was less enlightening than expected and that some of the criteria introduced in last year's university entrance exams "don't make sense." According to teachers from DocentsCAT—which includes more than a hundred Catalan language teachers—and the Pere Quart Collective—the group of teachers who have been advocating for Catalan literature in the classroom for the past ten years—two aspects particularly concern them: the large number of people Required readings have been removed from the curriculum And the fact that the syntax exercises don't stipulate that it's necessary to use the new grammar of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC).

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