Teaching Hall 2026: The compass that guides students toward their future

Around the booths at the Education Fair, nerves and anticipation are always a mix. Groups of students, backpacks slung over their shoulders, crowd the counters, stacking brochures and comparing cut-off scores on their phones. Parents are also there, taking notes with them to try and clarify the big dilemma looming over the visit: what will I study next year?

This year, the scene will once again unfold at the Montjuïc venue of Fira de Barcelona. From March 18 to 22, the Education Fair will celebrate its 35th edition with over 200 exhibitors and the entire range of post-compulsory education options in the country concentrated in one space. But beyond the numbers, the organizers want to emphasize one key idea: to transform this vast catalog of educational opportunities into a truly useful resource for young people, families, and teachers.

The Education Fair is Catalonia's leading educational event. It brings together the full range of post-compulsory education options each year: university degrees, vocational training programs, baccalaureate courses, arts programs, language courses, and international programs. More than just a showcase of educational opportunities, it has become a vital space for academic and career guidance, where students, families, and teachers can gather information and get answers to their questions before making decisions.

"We want to reaffirm our key role as guides for the country's youth, offering facilitating tools to both them and the professionals or family members who help and advise them throughout this process," says Ángel Celorrio, director of the Education Fair, who is new to the position. "We try to put ourselves in the shoes of these 15- to 18-year-olds who have to make decisions, and offer them not only information, but also a guiding experience that helps them find their own path," he continues.

An experience beyond the Salon

To this end, the trade fair has decided to broaden its scope and strengthen its support mechanisms. The goal is for the visit to be more than just a stroll among stands, but the culmination of a process that begins weeks in advance. From mid-January, the website will activate the Orienta Kit. Your living roomWith guides and materials designed to work at home on the different training options, and the Impulsa't platform, which allows you to explore the academic offer in advance and arrive in March with a more focused choice.

During the fair, the initiative will offer personalized consultation services, workshops, and guided tours, as well as a triage system to expedite answers to frequently asked questions and optimize visitors' time. "We want to optimize the time spent at the fair, so we've devised a kind of triage system," explains Celorrio. "Young people with simpler questions will be able to access answers more quickly, which will reduce the pressure on the individual guidance service," he adds.

But the challenge is significant. In recent years, educational opportunities have expanded and diversified like never before. Vocational training is experiencing sustained growth and has gained social prestige; universities are incorporating new degrees and double degrees; micro-credentials and hybrid pathways that combine technology, creativity, and business are proliferating. In fact, academic trajectories are no longer linear or singular: it is increasingly common to change paths, complement studies, or redefine one's direction mid-career. In this scenario, deciding is not just about choosing a course of study, but about positioning oneself in a constantly evolving job market.

Tailor-made guidance is key.

If anything demonstrates the paradigm shift, it's the sustained increase in demand for personalized guidance. In the previous edition, the more than 200 group activities held over five days—including talks, workshops, and guided tours—and the nearly 90 individual support points set up by the Department of Education and Vocational Training, the Department of Research and Universities, and the Fair itself, resulted in the participation of over 40,000 people. This figure confirms a clear trend: visitors don't just want information; they want guidance.

In individual advising sessions, the most frequent questions revolved around Vocational Training programs and university access routes through this pathway; elective subjects in high school and the weighting system; cut-off scores; changes in academic pathways once studies have begun; updates to University Entrance Exams; and pre-registration deadlines. Questions about the recognition of qualifications from international students also increased, reflecting an increasingly diverse educational community.

"To navigate this ocean of options without getting lost, the Fair transforms into an ecosystem of guidance," Celorrio explains. "Our role is to filter and organize all these offerings so that students see not only options, but solutions, and to guide them through the decision-making process," he adds.

The Education Fair is organized by Fira de Barcelona in collaboration with the Department of Education and Vocational Training and the Department of Research and Universities of the Government of Catalonia. The event will take place at the Montjuïc venue, in Halls 1 and 2 and in Plaça del Universo. Opening hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; on Saturday, it will close at 8:00 p.m., and on Sunday it will close at 2:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online, with general admission prices of €7.50 and discounts for school groups and holders of the Carnet Jove (Youth Card). On Wednesday afternoon, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., a reduced sensory experience will be available to facilitate a more accessible visit.