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The Spanish Bachillerato

The Spanish Bachillerato is a two-year programme, typically for 16 to 18-year-old students on completion of their mandatory secondary education (ESO). It aims to provide students with the training, intellectual and personal maturity, knowledge and skills they need to gain access to higher education, as well as achieve a competitive and responsible role in the world of work.

The Spanish Bachillerato (LOMLOE) offers five different types of Baccalaureate:

  • Health sciences
  • Science and technology
  • Social sciences
  • Humanities
  • Arts

First year of Bachillerato

All students must take the core subjects, including Spanish language and literature, foreign language (mostly English), maths (Applied maths or Science maths) or Latin, philosophy and, in some Spanish regions, their regional language (Galician, Basque, Catalan). Depending on the baccalaureate type they choose they have to take some core subjects: physics, chemistry, biology, technical drawing and design, or Latin, economics, geography. Then they choose among other supplementary subjects like IT, arts, French, among others, to complete between ten and 11 subjects per year. Some schools offer religious studies.

Second year of Bachillerato

Students must follow the path they chose in Bachillerato 1. 

Spanish history is added to core subjects. According to the region, philosophy may be optional or not. 

At the end of the two years, students who pass all subjects will receive their Bachillerato diploma, accepted worldwide. However, if they want to go to university, they must take a university admission exam, the Selectividad. Their admission mark will be accounted as 60% from the Global average mark from the two years at baccalaureate and 40% from the exam results. The exams are set by regional universities following the same design nationwide, with slight differences according to the region. Marks can be used to apply to any university nationwide. All Spanish universities must include a “pass” mark in their Admissions Policies.