The EBAU 2024, that of the transition towards a new selectivity still full of unknowns, is already launched. On Thursday the registration period for the next June exams concluded, which in La Rioja will once again be the earliest in Spain. The days … 3, 4 and 5, the general and specific phases of the university entrance exam are scheduled with a model that comes from the pandemic and that has not changed although it is considered buried.
In the 2019/2020 academic year, that of confinements and uncertainties, a more lax EBAU was developed that ended with an average grade of 7.18. From that academic period onwards, the averages shot up above 7.5: 7.548 in the 2020/2021 academic year, 7.604 in 21/22 and 7.503 in the last call, with some centers such as the IES D’ Elhuyar, Maristas or Dukes of Nájera who touched 8.
These figures represent a significant jump compared to historical records that, until a decade ago, did not reach 7 and which since then and until the outbreak of the coronavirus were around between 7.1 and 7.2.
More and more options for students, who can choose between different questions adapting them to their knowledge, allow us to understand this increase, which has not only been registered in La Rioja, but in the rest of the communities. And that has raised the bid for the places by many degrees, almost turning them into an upward auction that has no ceiling.
On June 3, the between 1,400 and 1,500 students who appear at the EBAU (the Ministry is still managing the exact data after the recent closing of registration) will have to face a test with small variations compared to that of the 2022/2023 academic year.
The most significant is that until now there were four common tests for everyone, the so-called general phase: Spanish Language and Literature II, Foreign Language and History of Spain. In this selectivity, these four exams will follow, but Riojan students will be able to choose between History of Spain and History of Philosophy.
Furthermore, after the implementation of the Lomloe, which this year should correspond to a new university entrance test that has not yet arrived, students, especially those in the Baccalaureate of Arts, will have the option of taking the Musical Analysis, Performing Arts and Artistic drawing. Those of the general modality, those of Sciences and Technology or those of Humanities and Social Sciences will also have more variants.
In addition to the general phase, the specific phase is maintained, with a minimum of two exams that correspond to subjects of the Second Baccalaureate modality, the rejected one between History of Spain or History of Philosophy, and a second foreign language.
Easels in classrooms
Adaptation to these subjects entails the appearance of a new scenario to examine. In the old IESComercio in Logroño, a classroom with easels and water intakes has been adapted so that high school arts students can take Artistic Drawing assessments.
Everything is prepared logistically and also in terms of content. “Since the beginning of the course, the UR has been working with the coordinators of each area to define the tests and their general structure,” explains Miguel Ángel Fernández, deputy minister of Education, Universities and Vocational Training. The last details will be resolved in these ten days that students spend studying and reviewing before facing a test that can mark their life path.
