First university entrance exams with anonymously stated language preference begin

Over 40,000 students in Catalonia began to sit for their university entrance exams (proves d'accés a la universitat, or PAU) on Tuesday morning at 9 am.

Taking place over three days, this is the first year that students will have to indicate their language preference – Catalan, Spanish, or Aranese – on an anonymous form that they will have to take to each exam.

"Nothing changes with this system: teachers have never known which student took an exam in Catalan and which student took it in Spanish because they don't have their names on them," Gemma Geis, Catalonia's universities minister, said on Tuesday morning in an interview with Rac1 radio station, adding that "over 90% of students choose to take their exams in Catalan."

Legal standoff

Last year, a few hours before exams were set to begin, the Catalan high court ruled that Catalan could not be the default test language, with tests in other languages only available upon request. 

As such, students were asked to raise their hands to indicate which language they preferred to do their exams in, and an overwhelming majority chose Catalan.

But because the court then stated that the preferential use of Catalan was discriminatory and that students should not have to express their language choice publicly, this time around they will have to fill out a language preference form that will have to be placed on their desks and be visible to the person handing out exams. 

PAU exams

Most of the 40,557 students taking the PAU exams at the 60 test centers across Catalonia this year will have completed their pre-university 'batxillerat' studies exclusively during the pandemic.

PAU exams are divided into two sections: one which is mandatory and consists of the subject matters all students must be tested in, such as Catalan language and literature, Spanish language and literature, or history, and an elective; and another which is not obligatory but can be done to raise grades, especially for students hoping to enroll in more competitive undergraduate courses.