Catalonia's Department of Research and Universities has launched an urgent review of this year's scientific Mathematics exam in the university entrance exams (PAU), after average scores fell to their lowest point in a decade. The move follows widespread student criticism and a sharp rise in formal complaints, with the exam's length and difficulty at the center of the controversy.
The regional government has commissioned 15 independent experts to analyze the 2026 Mathematics exam. Their review will compare it with previous years and similar exams from other Spanish regions, and will also consider the alternative 'incidence' test. The Department said the review began at the end of June but became public only this week. The exam's average score dropped to 4.18, down sharply from 6.12 last year, and more than 21,000 formal complaints were filed, over 2,000 specifically about the Mathematics test.
Students said the exam was more complex and too lengthy to complete within the allotted time. The Department acknowledged their concerns. In parliament, regional minister for Research and Universities Núria Montserrat Pulido said the test's calculation load and duration were problematic, while maintaining that its content matched the curriculum. Montserrat Pulido, a biologist and bioengineering researcher born in Barcelona in 1978, has held the ministerial post since August 2024. Chemistry, but, saw the largest increase in complaints, nearly doubling from the previous year.
The dispute comes amid wider concern about mathematics performance in Catalonia, although school-level international assessments and university entrance exams measure different things. A secondary analysis of the 2023 PISA results reported a Catalan mathematics score of 440, compared with the OECD average of 463, placing Catalonia 12th among Spain's 17 autonomous communities in that comparison. The report described the difference as equivalent to about two school years; the PISA figures do not measure the PAU exam or explain its 2026 results.
Each of the 15 experts was asked to submit a detailed report. Raúl Fernández, a university professor and president of the Federación de Entidades de Profesores de Matemáticas de Cataluña (FEEMCAT), noted that the Catalan exam required more deductive reasoning than Galicia's more calculation-focused test, an approach that demanded more time from students. Fernández also called for a more collaborative exam-setting process, saying that relying on a single author for such high-stakes tests is risky.
The Department has not said when it will fully analyze the expert reports or what changes might follow. Any adjustments are unlikely to affect this year's results but could influence the format or process for future exams. Meanwhile, a survey of PAU examiners across 35 subjects rated the Mathematics test's alignment with the curriculum at 8.19 out of 10, despite the controversy. Meetings with subject coordinators are underway to discuss possible improvements.
The Consell Interuniversitari de Catalunya has also adopted a change to the 2027 PAU calendar, moving the supplementary examination from September to July. That scheduling decision is separate from the Mathematics review and does not, by itself, determine whether the examination format will change.
The episode reflects broader tensions in Spain over regional education standards and exam fairness. Similar disputes have arisen elsewhere, including the recent funding disagreement between Catalonia and Madrid over public transport cards, which also highlighted the complexities of regional policy differences. For more on regional policy clashes, see this report on Catalonia's rejection of Madrid's transport card funding proposal.
Spain's PAU exams, known as Selectividad, are a critical gateway to university admission and are set independently by each autonomous community. This decentralized approach can produce differences in exam content and difficulty, fueling debates about equity and student mobility. Catalonia's review has renewed scrutiny of how regional variations affect educational outcomes and access to higher education across the country.
