Overview
- The PAU ordinary session has started in Madrid on Monday, June 1, with most other regions holding exams on June 2–4 and roughly 300,000 candidates expected to sit the tests in early June.
- Regional exam bodies are deploying radiofrequency and other device detectors, carrying out stricter searches at venues and demanding physical ID documents to locate unauthorized phones or wearable tech.
- Sanctions for cheating remain severe: students caught with forbidden devices face immediate expulsion, a zero on the exam and possible annulment of their PAU results.
- The test format is consolidated into 90‑minute, competency‑focused exams with a single model per subject and heavy weight on open tasks, while correction rules now allow orthography penalties up to 2 points in Spanish language, 1.5 in foreign languages and about 1 in other written subjects.
- Regional timetables and contingency measures differ: Madrid plans results and appeals in mid‑June, Valencia publishes scores June 12 under 100% services‑minimums during a teacher strike, and Catalonia schedules later result and appeal windows; rising registrations and high nota de corte pressure make these measures consequential for students seeking competitive degrees.