Selectividad moves to single practical exam

Spain’s university entrance exam did not suddenly switch in 2026 to one practical paper. The big change was approved in June 2024 and first applied in the June 2025 sitting. (boe.es) (educacionfpydeportes.gob.es) Under that model, each subject has a single exam format, minimum common correction rules and a more uniform structure across Spain’s regions. The Education Ministry called the 2025 PAU the most homogeneous in the exam’s history. (educacionfpydeportes.gob.es) The practical shift is real, but it is narrower than some headlines suggest. At least 25% of each test must be competency-based, meaning students have to apply knowledge, analyze material or solve tasks rather than only recall facts. (educacionfpydeportes.gob.es) The exam is also not becoming an all-multiple-choice test. Open and semi-constructed answers together must account for at least 70% of the score in each exercise. (educacionfpydeportes.gob.es) Spelling is still graded. The common rules say coherence, cohesion, grammar, vocabulary and orthography must count for at least 10% of each exercise’s mark. (educacionfpydeportes.gob.es) What changed in practice is the cap on penalties outside language subjects. In one regional set of general criteria for 2024-25, the first two spelling mistakes were not penalized and the total deduction for writing and presentation errors could not exceed one point. (educa.jcyl.es) Students still sit four exams in regions without a co-official language and five in regions with one. Each paper lasts 90 minutes, and the university access grade still combines 60% Bachillerato marks with 40% from the PAU. (educacionfpydeportes.gob.es 1) (educacionfpydeportes.gob.es 2) For 2026, the live issue is harmonization, not a fresh legal overhaul. CRUE, the association of Spanish university rectors, said in May 2025 that it was building common subject guidance for the 2026 exams with more than 570 university and secondary-school specialists. (crue.org) That work aims to make subject-by-subject exam guidance more consistent nationwide while still leaving regions room to manage their own tests. CRUE said the process started in 2024 and was meant to improve equity between territories. (crue.org 1) (crue.org 2) The 2026 calendar is already fixed at the national level. A January 2026 resolution set the legal deadlines for holding the ordinary and extraordinary sittings and publishing provisional results. (boe.es) So the cleanest way to read the story is this: Spain’s PAU already moved to a more practical, more standardized format in 2025, and 2026 is about tightening the common guidance around it. (educacionfpydeportes.gob.es) (crue.org)