The best of the PAU wants to study literature: "Catalan Philology and Medicine must have the same validation"

BarcelonaHer 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.

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 plea in favor of the humanities: "I believe they are as necessary as science, and 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 score has started the summer with her friends in Menorca – "I've been lucky to have them with me always. 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 keep learning. "I want to advance with languages, especially with Chinese," she explains. Also, one of her passions is doing theater at the Aula de Teatre in 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 Col·legi Sant Josep in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia; Tomàs Alfonso Torralbo, from the Institut Torre del Palau in Terrassa; Joan Torrecillas, from the Liceu Politècnic in Sant Cugat del Vallès, and Martina Gutiérrez, from the Institut Vallès in Sabadell.

In fact, Martina explains to this newspaper that she also wants to study literature and also wants to dedicate herself to the publishing world: "I'm hesitating between English studies or modern languages and literatures, and both options are offered at the University of Barcelona," she explains. "What I like about humanities and literature is that they are something very human and very much our own. I really like communicating through literature... Books and how messages from so long ago are still important today and still have significance," reflects the still-adolescent. She also explains that one of her hobbies is writing: "I haven't written for a while now, but I like to write short stories to de-stress."\n

The degree with the highest cut-off mark

On the other hand, Tomàs, who also got 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 tell score]", he explains from his home in Terrassa. Son of two high school teachers, he admits that the weeks before the PAU were tough. "It was very stressful, because I spent the day studying and it was days of a lot of pressure, but it was worth it," he celebrates. He also explains that he "freaked out" with the grade because, like many of this year's students, 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 if 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, 9.6, was achieved by Lucia Garcia, from the Institut Els Planells in Artesa de Segre.