Demand falls to study medicine at public universities (which remain overwhelmed)

BarcelonaIt is one of the elephants in the room when talking about cut-off grades and university mobility, and also one of the areas the Government has tackled: the management of places to study medicine at a public university in Catalonia. The main problem that has been dragging on for years is that the demand to study this degree is much higher than the number of places offered. Faced with this reality, the Generalitat presented a plan in April to increase the vacancies to train future doctors. However, in the university pre-registration for this 2026, there has been a surprising change: the demand to study medicine at a public university has decreased.

According to data collected by Unportal, this June, Catalan medical faculties have received 750 fewer applications than last academic year. In fact, the only public university offering medicine that has not seen a reduction in demand is the University of Girona (UdG), which has received 9 more applications than last academic year. In contrast, the centre that has experienced the most significant drop in demand to study medicine is the Clínic of the University of Barcelona (UB), which has received 150 fewer pre-registrations than last year, but, despite this, it remains the most sought-after centre by future doctors with up to 1,547 applications for only 200 places. In other words, at the Clínic, only one in eight applicants has managed to get in.

Applications to study medicine have also decreased at Bellvitge – also dependent on the UB – (-90), at the Rovira i Virgili University (-145), at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (-129), at the University of Lleida (-125) and at Pompeu Fabra University, with 11 fewer applications than in June last year.

Lowering of the cut-off mark

In fact, this year has also seen a generalized drop in cut-off grades, which has also been noted in medicine. If last year the last student to access the degree at Clínic (UB) had a 12.85 – two tenths more than in 2024 – this year the cut-off grade for Clínic has been 12.68. The cut-off grade for studying medicine at UPF – the second university with the highest cut-off grade for future doctors – has also decreased to 12.53, compared to the 12.65 required to access the degree in the last two years.

In the case of the medicine degree at Bellvitge (UB), the cut-off grade has dropped by only one and a half tenths (from 12.65 to 12.5), in the same way as at UAB, which has gone from 12.49 to 12.35; at UdG (12.30 this year and 12.45 last year), and at Rovira Virgili, with 12.42 compared to 12.57 in 2025.

Although the drop in cut-off grades seems insignificant, it should be taken into account that for many students, being able to enter or not the degree they apply for often depends on a difference of tenths or hundredths. In this regard, it should be noted that the selectivity this June has seen a significant slump in the grades for the mathematics exam for the science track, one of the subjects that scores highest when calculating the access grade for medicine.

This year, the average grade for this mathematics test was 4.18, the lowest score in twelve years. Following complaints about the difficulty and length of the exam from many students – several left the test in tears – but also from teachers and examiners, last week the Minister of Research and Universities, Núria Montserrat, announced that the Government has asked 15 experts to produce a comparative report on the test "to take measures". Nevertheless, the minister reiterated that the exam was in line with the content of the baccalaureate curriculum.

Interest in social sciences is growing

Beyond what has happened with medical degrees, the data from Unportal also show a change in trend that was already hinted at by the higher cut-off grades of this selectivity: an increase in interest in degrees in the social sciences branch. In fact, five of the six degrees that have experienced the greatest increase in applications are from the social area. Among the degrees with the most significant increase in demand is advertising and public relations, which among the four universities where it is offered at public price (UAB, UPF, UdG, and URV) has added 206 more applications than last year (from 673 to 843) for a total of 285 places. It should be noted here that half of the increase in demand corresponds to the degree offered at the UAB.

Still regarding the social branch, the universities with the highest growth are UPF, which has received 165 more pre-registrations than last year for the law degree; 116 more for business administration and management (ADE), and 102 for international business economics.

Putting trends aside, it is surprising that law and international relations at the UAB – the degree that this year has made the sorpasso with the best cut-off grade – has barely moved: this 2026 it has received 122 applications and last year it received 119. Physics and mathematics, which has lost its first position after four years, has received two fewer applications than last year at the UAB and ten fewer at the UB.