Valencian Language Drags Down Students' Scores in University Entrance Exams

It was the President of the Valencian Government, Carlos Mazón, who announced during the General Policy Debate that the Department of Education would request the Ministry of Universities, led by Valencian Diana Morant, to allow students to choose between taking the exam in Valencian or Spanish in the 2026 University Entrance Exam (PAU). Now, the average scores of the exam provide further justification for this request by the Department of Education.

The average score for the Valencian exam in the June PAU was the lowest among the general phase exams, with an average of 5.583, as highlighted by the department led by Alicante's José Antonio Rovira. With these figures, the councillor believes that "the Valencian exam, besides being an additional test for students in the Valencian Community, results in a decrease in the average score of the general phase of the PAU and, consequently, in the university entrance score."

Under the current conditions, Rovira has stated that the PAU "puts students from the Valencian Community at a disadvantage, and what we want is for them to take the exam on equal terms with students from autonomous communities where one less exam is taken in the general phase."

In this regard, he has reiterated the proposal made to the Ministries of Education and Universities to amend the Royal Decree regulating the PAU. This way, students from the Valencian Community would take four exams in the mandatory phase, the same as in autonomous communities without a co-official language, instead of five.

"We are not talking about eliminating Valencian in any case, because the proposal is clear: the possibility of choosing between taking the exam in Spanish Language and Literature II or Co-official Language and Literature II." In their case, if they take both language exams, "only the highest score of the two should count towards the university entrance average score."

In fact, Rovira has recalled that the proposal made by the Valencian Government is already applied to other subjects, as students choose in the mandatory phase whether to take the exam in Philosophy History or Spanish History.

The PAU statistics also reveal that over the past four years, the average score for the Valencian exam in the ordinary session has dropped by up to 1.401 points. In 2021, maximum optionality was applied (due to Covid), allowing students to focus only on part of the syllabus. In 2025, the Ministry removed this option, returning to the full syllabus by eliminating the maximum Covid optionality.

Rovira also recalled that the Valencian Community, Catalonia, and the Balearic Islands rank at the bottom of the average score for the general phase in the PAU, with an average entrance score of 6.81, 6.75, and 6.41 respectively, according to the report published by the Ministry of Universities 'Statistics of University Entrance Exams. Year 2024'. "It is, therefore, a common situation in regions where students take one more exam," he indicated.