Test scores show Catalan students perform better in spoken Spanish than Catalan

Final-year primary and secondary school students in Catalonia scored higher in spoken Spanish than in Catalan, according to test results published on Tuesday.

Around 40% of pupils reached a "good" level in both languages in oral assessments taken by sixth-grade primary and fourth-year secondary pupils in May.

However, 3.4% of sixth grade pupils "did not reach the standard" in Catalan vocabulary, compared to 0.8% in Spanish.

Similarly, 4.8% of four-year secondary school students "did not reach the standard" in Catalan vocabulary, compared to 1.4% in Spanish.

Students were orally assessed on vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, fluency, non-verbal communication, interaction, cohesion, and appropriateness.

The test results were classified into four levels: did not reach the standard, satisfactory, good, and excellent.

The number of students achieving a "good" rating was similar in both languages: 38‑46.1% for Catalan and 37.7‑47.2 % for Spanish in primary school, and 37.2-45.3% for Catalan and 34.9-47.2% for Spanish in secondary school.

However, the gap was evident in the number of students achieving "excellent." For example, while 36.4% of sixth-grade students reached this level for Spanish vocabulary, it drops to 23.1% for Catalan. 

The same happens with grammar: 37.2% were graded excellent in Spanish compared to 28.2% in Catalan.

A similar situation occurs with fourth-year secondary school pupils. Some 52.1% were marked "excellent" in Spanish pronunciation, compared to 36.7% in Catalan.

For vocabulary, 24.2% of students achieved "excellent" in Catalan, versus 35% in Spanish.

Education minister Esther Niubó said during a parliamentary session that the overall test scores showed "positive" results, with students achieving a "high average level and pockets of excellence." 

She added that the findings "show we are moving in the right direction."