Efforts to make Spain¡¯s university entrance exams more consistent will not solve access inequalities without more systemic attempts to address barriers disadvantaged students face, critics say.

The rectors¡¯ association Spanish Universities (CRUE) has?created ¡°common guidelines¡± for the University Entrance Exam (PAU), also known as the Selectividad, which the majority of domestic students must sit to access public universities. The exam makes up 40 per cent of applicants¡¯ final entrance score; the remaining 60 per cent is determined by their grades in the post-16 school period, known as Bachillerato.

Disparities in the current system were felt to be too wide that students in some areas benefitted over others. But the exam content necessarily differs across the country¡¯s 17 autonomous regions because they ¡°don¡¯t all have the same curricula,¡± said Sonia Madrid C¨¢novas, vice-rector for studies at the University of Murcia and a member of the CRUE working group that worked on the guidelines. ¡°We cannot have the same exam, because we don¡¯t teach the same content.¡±

Moreover, ¡°the specific design of the PAU is developed by regional examination boards, composed of representatives from public universities, regional education authorities and Bachillerato teachers,¡± said Carlos Magro, president of the Asociaci¨®n Educaci¨®n Abierta (Open Education Association). ¡°It is inevitable that the exams differ from one region to another.¡±

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¡°We had the difficult but important job of giving all Spanish students the same opportunities in the exam,¡± Madrid C¨¢novas said. ¡°We have prepared a model which is coherent and fair, but also fully respects regional differences.¡±

According to the new guidelines, competency-based questions should comprise 25 per cent of the exam, while CRUE has also determined core knowledge blocks and specific evaluation criteria. The guidelines further advise on marking criteria concerning form and language; for instance, they standardise penalties for spelling errors.

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While CRUE expects the new guidelines to come into place for the 2026 exam season, they are not binding: they must be accepted by each regional government. ¡°We¡¯re expecting to have the final answer in one or two months, because the students need to know in September what kind of exam they¡¯re going to sit,¡± Madrid C¨¢novas said.

The Murcia vice-rector told THE that the ¡°mixed model¡± entrance system, combining both school grades and entrance exam scores, helps mitigate the unfair advantage obtained by students attending ¡°very good high schools, where they have all the support" and which may grade students more generously.?

Others disagree. Even if the CRUE guidelines are adopted, said Magro, the PAU will continue to ¡°consistently benefit students from more privileged backgrounds while disadvantaging those who have faced systemic barriers since early childhood¡±.

¡°The PAU does not correct the disparities that arise along the educational path, disparities largely shaped by socio-economic status and cultural capital, such as the educational level of parents,¡± Magro said. By the time students sit the entrance exam, he said, socio-economic disadvantage may have already impacted both their ¡°academic performance and perceived possibilities for their future¡±.

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At university, ¡°there is a marked over-representation of students with highly educated or professionally qualified parents¡±, he said,?citing enrolment data from the 2019-2020 academic year indicating that almost two-thirds of students had at least one parent with higher qualifications.

Calling for equitable university access to be treated as an ¡°urgent priority¡±, Magro?said: ¡°This goal cannot be achieved by focusing solely on the PAU. We need to reflect on and intervene in what happens long before students reach Bachillerato.¡±

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com