The University Access Assessment (EvAU) tests in the Community of Madrid started this Monday marked by the “absolute normality” with a slight preference among students of History of Spain over History of Philosophyan election in the mandatory phase that constitutes one of the main novelties of this year.
A total of 39,244 Madrid students face a new EvAU between this Monday and until Thursday – the first in Spain along with those from Rioja – in the six public universities of the region, with changes in the subjects to be examined, such as the choice between History of Spain and History of Philosophy, twelve new subjects in different specific modalities and new exam formats, including artistic tests with easel included.
The first of the exams that were taken this Monday was the Spanish Language and Literature exam.in which the students were asked about Naturalism and Realism, and they had to comment on a journalistic article by Antonio Jiménez Barca about the sleep quality of Spaniards and a text by the psychiatrist Marian Rojas Estapé, as stated by the students themselves when they left the test.
This is the article ‘Spain sleeps little and badly’, by Jiménez Barca and published in “El País” on June 25, 2023, and a fragment of the book ‘How to make good things happen to you’ (Espasa, 2018), by Dr. Rojas Estapé.
Of these 39,243 students, the majority, 12,902, will take the test at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), 2.01% more compared to the previous year. Its vice-rector of Students at the Complutense University (UCM) and president of the organizing committee of the test in the Community, Rosa de la Fuente, has stressed from the Ciudad Universitaria campus, in the capital, the “absolute normality” with which Exams have begun first thing in the morning, despite the “logistical challenge” posed by the changes developed this year.
The Minister of Education, Science and Universities of the Community of Madrid, Emilio Viciana, agreed on this, and from Móstoles he stressed that at the moment “no incident” has been detected.
Viciana has supervised the development of the tests on the campus of the Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC) in this town, where she has highlighted the good level of organization of the different public universities in the unique district of Madrid.
De la Fuente has also pointed out the slight advantage in choosing, as a mandatory exam subject, History of Spain over History of Philosophy, which, however, “is lagging behind.” Specifically, of the Baccalaureate students taking the exam this Monday at the Complutense, 3,955 have chosen History of Spain, compared to 3,274 who have preferred History of Philosophy. For those who come tomorrow, Tuesday, the difference will be 3,350 for the first and 2,926 for the second.
Subjects
In the case of the Community of Madrid, students have the option of taking exams in both subjects, one of them in the compulsory phase and another as an optional one, the vice-rector explained in a press conference.
The Complutense University has made nearly 1,200 adaptations for the exams of students with some type of special need, 715 of them in the different centers and around 500 with dyslexia, functional diversity or chronic illness, for which a space has been adapted the Faculty of Dentistry.
All students with specific educational support needs may benefit from adaptations in format and correction to guarantee equity in each of Madrid’s public universities.
In the case of schoolchildren with dyslexia, they will be evaluated mainly on the basis of content and shorter than usual length of answers or unusual presentation will not be penalized. They will also be provided with extra paper, since in many cases the font size is large and the directionality is irregular. And they may request the reading of the questions by the members of the court.
People with disabilities may take the exams in Braille, with an adapted format and special font type and size, or with adaptation of graphic representations, among other possibilities. And be accompanied by a specialist technician (interpreter guide, sign language interpreter, etc.), ask for help from a member of the court or request the reading of the statements, among other facilities at your disposal.
Apart from the UCM, another 9,690 students will take the exam at the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM), 5,655 at the Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M), 5,335 at the University of Alcalá (UAH), 4,173 at the Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC) and Finally, 1,488 at the Polytechnic (UPM).
On this first day, students face the core subjects in the Science and Technology modality; on Tuesday to those of Arts, General and Humanities and Social Sciences, while Wednesday and Thursday will be the turn of the electives.
Friday the 7th will be the day to resolve incidents or cases in which an applicant has not been able to take an exam due to time coincidence. Those registered who cannot attend due to exceptional and duly accredited circumstances will be able to take advantage of the extraordinary call, which will be held between July 2 and 4, without being penalized in the admission processes.
As some students have recognized before entering their exam at the Complutense Campus, the logical nerves of this appointment are alleviated by the “good preparation” that they have been developing for this day throughout the Baccalaureate and have underlined the importance of “relax the day before” and give your mind a rest to be able to face the test in a better situation. “The more nerves, the worse,” one of them stressed.
