Education Ministry publishes changes to high school: sciences are merged and research work is worth half

BarcelonaThis is now official: this is the last year that first-year high school students will study physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and environmental science separately. The Department of Education published the amendment to the decree that governs how subjects are organized in high school on Monday. This confirms the changes that have been explained for over a year and which have been opposed by various teachers' groups. The curriculum changes will be implemented starting next year, 2026-2027, due to a request from the Spanish government urging the Generalitat to have their qualifications recognized in case of geographical mobility.

Fusion of sciences

One of the main changes to the high school curriculum will be to the science subjects in the first year. Starting in September 2026, physics (3 hours) and chemistry (3 hours) will no longer be offered separately, but will be combined into a single 4-hour subject. The same will happen with biology (3 hours) and geology and environmental sciences (3 hours), which will become part of a single 4-hour subject. However, all of this can be supplemented with four new annual electives of two hours per week, which will be "extensions" of physics, chemistry, geology, and biology. This change has been strongly criticized by science teachers, who have grouped themselves under the platform "Science in Danger" and who recently accused the Government of "to destroy the scientific education of an entire country" and to comply with the changes imposed by Madrid "without any pedagogical criteria."

Research work loses importance

Another significant change in this amendment will focus on the research project (TR), one of the most distinctive components of the Catalan baccalaureate. While this project currently accounts for 10% of the final baccalaureate grade, starting next year it will count as a separate subject. This means its weight will be halved, as a subject typically contributes around 4% or 5% to the final grade, depending on the number of elective subjects offered by each school and whether these are term-based or year-long. Furthermore, the amended decree also stipulates that, starting in the 2026-2027 academic year, second-year baccalaureate students will be able to choose a second foreign language as an elective, in addition to the one already offered as compulsory.

As previously detailed, the modification of the high school curriculum will not affect literature subjects. A year ago, many voices in the educational and cultural world protested vehemently, arguing that the initial request sent by the Spanish government stipulated that Catalan and Castilian literature would cease to be required subjects (compulsory in the humanities track) and would instead become optional subjects. Shortly thereafter, the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, announced that the Catalan Government had agreed with the ministry to "protect" the literatures and, therefore, that they will continue to be optional subjects as beforeFinally, in the modifications published this Monday, it is observed that literature remains compulsory in the humanities track of high school, with 4 hours per week for each subject in the second year. The Ministry of Education has also opted not to implement other changes requested by various teachers' groups. Taking advantage of the amendment to the decree, Catalan language teachers had insisted on reinstating the third hour of Catalan in high school, which was lost years ago. The Philosophy Teachers' Platform had also sought a way to reconcile the Spanish government's demand with the possibility of philosophy gaining an additional hour, ultimately reaching three. However, the government has chosen not to accept these changes. In Monday's statement, the Secretary for Educational Improvement, Ignasi Giménez, explained: "The objective was to apply the minimum changes to the curriculum in order to adapt the decree to state regulations, since we are talking about a 2022 curriculum that is only now being implemented." He also argued that they believe "it was a time to provide stability for teachers and not to apply more changes than are strictly necessary."