The best of the PAU wants to study humanities: "Catalan philology and medicine must have the same validation"

BarcelonaHer name is Laura Tallada Fàbrega, she is from Banyoles and she did her high school at the public institute Pere Alsius i Torrent. Furthermore, she is the one who got the highest grade in the PAU exams of this 2026. With a 9.9, Laura wants to study humanities; specifically, she wants to enter – and she will be able to – 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 very 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 high school.

She explains that "it's not that I have completely rejected science," but that anything related to language, art, and culture interests her more. In fact, she makes a clear argument in favor of the humanities: "I believe they are as necessary as science, and that they should have the same prestige," she claims. And she adds: "Studying Catalan philology or medicine should have the same validation. All are very necessary degrees for our society."

Laura also explains that, although she is very clear about what she wants to study, she does not yet know what she wants to do in the future. "First I would like to try a bit of everything and then decide. For now, perhaps what interests me most is literary translation and everything related to the publishing world," she explains. The girl with the best PAU grade has started the summer with her friends in Menorca –"I have been lucky to have them always with me. They are very intelligent, they have always motivated me to study and I see them as an example," she celebrates–, but she wants to take advantage of the summer to continue learning. "I want to improve my languages, especially Chinese," she explains. Furthermore, one of her passions is doing theater at the Aula de Teatre de Banyoles, but she accepts that next academic year she will have to move to Barcelona to study and will have to put it aside.

Behind Laura there are four more students who have achieved a 9.8, all of them in the province of Barcelona. They are Enric Sánchez, from the Sant Josep School in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia; Tomàs Alfonso Torralbo, from the Torre del Palau Institute in Terrassa; Joan Torrecillas, from the Liceu Politècnic in Sant Cugat del Vallès, and Martina Gutiérrez, from the Institut Vallès in Sabadell.

is to write: "I haven't written in a long time, but I like writing short stories to de-stress."

The degree with the highest cut-off markhobbies is writing: "I haven't written for a while now, but I like to write short stories to de-stress myself".

The degree with the highest cut-off mark

In contrast, Tomàs, who also scored a 9.8, is opting for a scientific degree. "I want to do the double degree in physics and mathematics at the UAB [the studies with the highest entry score]," he explains from his home in Terrassa. The son of two high school teachers, he admits that the weeks before the PAU were tough. "It was very stressful because I spent all day studying and it was days of a lot of pressure, but it was worth it," he celebrates. He also explains that he was "blown away" by the grade because, like many students this year, he was disappointed with the mathematics exam. "I thought I had done badly because it was a very long exam. I finished it, but I wasn't at all sure I had the answers right... In the end, luckily, it seems I did," he recounts somewhat shyly.

Finally, in the province of Tarragona, the best score was 9.7, achieved by Miquel Edo, from the Institut Baix Camp in Reus. And the best grade in Lleida, a 9.6, was obtained by Lucia Garcia, from the Institut Els Planells in Artesa de Segre.