What is the Baccalaureate and what are the admission requirements?
In Spain, the Baccalaureate is a voluntary stage consisting of two academic years (normally from 16-18 years of age) and is the final period of schooling before higher education, whether university or vocational training.
It aims to provide students with the education, intellectual and human maturity, knowledge and skills they need to develop social functions and integrate into the world of work with responsibility and competence.
Students that want to study the Baccalaureate in Spain must have a compulsory secondary education diploma or a plastic arts, design or technical-sports diploma.
What is the Baccalaureate and what are the admission require
In Spain, the Baccalaureateis a voluntary stage consisting of two academic years (normally from 16-18 years of age) and is the final period of schooling before higher education, whether university or vocational training.
It aims to provide students with the education, intellectual and human maturity, knowledge and skills they need to develop social functions and integrate into the world of work with responsibility and competence.
Students that want to study the Baccalaureate in Spain must have a compulsory secondary education diploma or a plastic arts, design or technical-sports diploma.
New types of Baccalaureate in Spain with the LOMLOE educational law
With the application of the new educational law known as the LOMLOE in December 2020, the number of different types of Baccalaureate on offer in Spain increased to five (sciences and technology, humanities and social sciences, arts – music and performing arts, arts – plastic arts, image and design and the general baccalaureate).
With this change, greater importance is given to artistic education and a new type of Baccalaureate was created in Spain —the general baccalaureate — for those who have not yet decided what they would like to study.
An improved education system with a Baccalaureate designed to adapt to students needs
Following the introduction of the new educational law, the Baccalaureate is more flexible and allows each student to design a study plan for the last two years of their school life that is perfectly suited to their needs.
There are eight core subjects that are compulsory for all five Baccalaureates and others that are specific to each type. One of these specific subjects is compulsory, and students also choose a further two optional subjects from the range available at each school or in each region.
Types of Baccalaureate by attendance
There are also different attendance options available to study the Baccalaureate in Spain:
- In-person Baccalaureate: This option requires students to attend classes in person at an authorised centre. This is the most well-known option.
- Distance Baccalaureate: Attendance is not required, but students must study the syllabus of a regulated system on their own and take the exam in person at a later date.
Evening Baccalaureate: This is an alternative to in-person classes that requires in-person attendance, but in the evening.
- Free Baccalaureate: The person who decides to study the Baccalaureate is entirely responsible for preparing the exam, although a preparation course is recommended.
How is the Baccalaureate assessed in Spain?
In Spain, assessment of the Baccalaureate is regulated by the Spanish education system, which establishes that students will only have successfully completed the training period when they have passed all the corresponding subjects or have failed a maximum of two.
In the latter case, students must retake and pass the first-year subjects that they have failed in the second year. However, in the event that students have failed some subjects at the end of the second year, they will not have to retake the entire year, just the subjects that they have failed.
Admission requirements for the Baccalaureate in Spain
To study the Baccalaureate in Spain, students must have a compulsory secondary education diploma or have completed an intermediate vocational training course. If the student comes from another country, they must have validated their diploma corresponding to this educational stage.
Various options are open to students once they finish their Baccalaureate studies. Firstly, they can continue their academic education with a university degree. If they decide to take this path, they will have to take a university entrance exam known as the EBAU in Spain. Alternatively, they can opt for an advanced vocational training course.
What type of Baccalaureate should I choose?
When choosing which path to follow at the Baccalaureate stage, students must be aware of all the different options so they can select the one that best suits their future interests: the academic branch if they are thinking about doing a university degree in Spain or abroad, or a vocational training programme.
What’s more, we mustn’t forget that this isn’t the only option available to students in our country. In Spain, there are other foreign educational programmes that can be studied to gain admission to university and that are recognised by the education authorities, such as the British system, Bachi-bac, the High School Diploma or the International Baccalaureate.
The International Baccalaureate Diploma is the most widespread foreign system in Spain, with 111 public and private authorised centres (source). All students studying this diploma take six groups of subjects: studies in language and literature, language acquisition, individuals and societies, sciences, mathematics and the arts.
In addition to these subjects, the programme has three core elements: theory of knowledge, the extended essay and creativity, activity, service (CAS).
Student are assessed internally within the school and externally in exams that are held simultaneously around the world. Both processes are subject to rigorous quality controls that ensure that the results are assessed and compared fairly at the international level.
Studying the Baccalaureate at the Best Schools in Spain
As the Best Schools in Spain are authorised as a foreign school and have the flexibility to build a study profile that includes the International Baccalaureate programme and the High School Diploma, we offer students a large variety of options for this educational stage that allow them to select the components of their personal profile and start university with an endorsed diploma under their belt.
Moreover, these programmes aim to develop other human qualities beyond merely academic content: a global mindset, critical thinking and service initiative. Following one of these other programmes opens up a huge field of opportunities for our students and their aspirations often reach further than studying in Spain, in the best institutions.
In a world that these youngsters already perceive globally, studying in other countries, systems and cultures — a challenge for which they have been fully prepared — is a perfectly feasible option.
