Selectivity 2026: official dates of the PAU exams in Catalonia

Selectivity 2026 in Catalonia (PAU) will be held, as usual, in two sittings: an ordinary sitting in June and an extraordinary sitting in September. Knowing in advance the dates of Selectivity 2026 in Catalonia is key to planning the exams, university pre-registration and the start of a new academic stage.

In this updated guide, we explain when Selectivity 2026 takes place in Catalonia, what the dates of Selectivity 2026 are for each sitting, how the PAU works and what you should take into account if you are going to start university next academic year.

Selectivity 2026 in Catalonia, also known as PAU 2026, will be held in two official sittings, with dates that differ from those of most autonomous communities.

Knowing the date of the 2026 Selectividad exam in advance is essential for organising exams, enrolment and the steps to be taken before starting university.

These are the Selectivity 2026 dates in Catalonia (PAU 2026 dates) for each sitting:

These Selectivity 2026 dates in Catalonia apply both to second-year Bachillerato students and to students taking the PAU to improve their grade or access university through other routes. Even so, it is always recommended to consult the Catalan University Access Portal, as the official calendar may include specific adjustments or indications depending on the student’s profile.

No. If you are wondering when Selectivity 2026 takes place, you should know that it is not held on the same dates throughout Spain, as each autonomous community sets its own calendar within the general framework of the University Entrance Examination (PAU).

In most regions, the ordinary sitting of Selectivity 2026 will take place in early June, while the extraordinary sitting will be held in late June or July. In the case of Catalonia, as is usually the case, the dates are different: the exams are held a few days later in June and the extraordinary sitting remains in September.

Selectivity 2026, also known as PAU 2026, is structured in two distinct phases: a compulsory phase and a voluntary phase. Both are used to calculate the access grade and, in the case of the voluntary phase, to improve the admission grade for certain university degrees.

Compulsory phase

The compulsory phase is common to all students and consists of four exams corresponding to core Bachillerato subjects:

• Spanish Language and Literature II
• History of Spain or History of Philosophy
• Foreign Language II (English, French, German, Italian or Portuguese)
• One subject linked to the Bachillerato specialisation studied

In the case of autonomous communities with more than one official language, such as Catalonia, students must also take an exam in Catalan Language and Literature II, so the total number of compulsory exams is five.

Voluntary phase

The voluntary phase is optional, but it is key for students who want to improve their grade and access degree programmes with a high cut-off mark. In this phase, students may take exams in a minimum of two and a maximum of three subjects, different from those in the compulsory phase.

The weighting of each subject depends on the university and the degree programme applied for, as it is directly related to university cut-off marks. For this reason, although it is possible to take only one subject in the voluntary phase, it is recommended to take advantage of it if the chosen degree has a high cut-off mark or strong demand.

The Selectivity 2026 exams (PAU 2026) continue the line of changes introduced in recent years, with an increasingly competency-based approach and less focus on memorisation. The aim is to assess students’ ability to understand, apply and reason about the content learned during Bachillerato.

In general, the 2026 Selectividad exam maintains the main changes introduced in previous editions:

• A single exam model per subject, although with some internal optionality in certain exercises.
• Greater weight given to competency-based questions, which in many subjects account for at least half of the exam.
• A duration of 90 minutes per exam, with breaks between tests.
• To achieve the highest grade, students will need to correctly answer questions covering between 75% and 80% of the syllabus for each subject.

In addition, PAU 2026 continues to apply common marking criteria across all autonomous communities:

• Each answer will be assessed according to how well it meets the requirements of the question.
• Coherence, cohesion, grammatical, lexical and spelling accuracy, as well as presentation, will account for at least 10% of the final grade, depending on the subject and the criteria established by each assessment committee.
  

These changes reinforce an exam model that prioritises critical thinking, maturity and students’ reasoning ability over purely memorisation-based learning.

If you are studying the second year of Bachillerato or a Higher Vocational Training Cycle and plan to take Selectivity 2026 (PAU) to start a university degree next academic year, it is essential to know the registration and enrolment deadlines.

In Catalonia, the PAU is organised in two sittings:

• Ordinary sitting, held in June.
• Extraordinary sitting, held in September.

Registration and enrolment deadlines vary depending on the student’s profile. In general, the calendar is usually organised as follows:

• Registration for the exam for second-year Bachillerato students in Catalonia: from 10 to 17 February 2026.
• Enrolment for second-year Bachillerato students: from 19 to 27 May 2026 (both inclusive).
• Enrolment for students who have already completed their Baccalaureate or equivalent: from 5 to 11 May 2026 (both dates inclusive)
• Enrolment for students who hold a higher technical qualification or equivalent, or who are currently studying for one and have passed all the theoretical modules of the course, or who are studying for a higher vocational training qualification and have passed the teaching part of the professional modules that make up the training course: from 19 to 27 May 2026 (both dates inclusive).
• Free enrolment, if you have already completed your secondary education or equivalent in previous years, or if you come from outside Catalonia or from foreign education systems: from 5 to 11 May 2026 (both dates included).

The extraordinary call for applications, scheduled to take place in Catalonia in September, has a single enrolment period for all student profiles. This period runs from 21 to 23 July 2026 (both inclusive). 

The final registration and enrolment dates for Selectivity 2026 in Catalonia are published each year through official channels. For this reason, it is recommended to always consult the official information on PAU enrolment in Catalonia before starting the process.

Registration and enrolment for Selectivity 2026 (PAU) in Catalonia are carried out online through the University Access Portal, the official platform set up to manage the entire process.

To begin the process, it is essential to register in advance on the portal and create a user account with a password. Once logged in, students can access the section corresponding to the University Entrance Examinations (PAU) and follow the steps indicated according to their academic profile.

In general, the registration process for Selectivity 2026 in Catalonia consists of the following steps:

1. Accessing the University Access Portal and creating a user account, if one does not already exist.
   
2. Selecting the sitting (ordinary or extraordinary) in which you wish to participate.
   
3. Choosing the subjects for the compulsory phase and, if desired, the voluntary phase.
   
4. Reviewing academic and personal details, which in many cases are already recorded in the system.
   
5. Paying the corresponding fees, depending on the student’s personal situation (standard, reduced or exempt fee).
   

Once the process is completed, the portal allows students to check the status of their enrolment, verify that the registration has been completed correctly and download the necessary receipts.

To register and enrol for Selectivity 2026 (PAU) in Catalonia, in most cases it is not necessary to submit additional documentation, as students’ academic data are usually already recorded in their University Access Portal profile.

However, there are some cases in which specific documentation is required.

Students who completed Bachillerato outside Catalonia

If you completed Bachillerato outside Catalonia and wish to register under open enrolment for Selectivity 2026, you must provide one of the following documents, depending on your academic situation:

• An official document with university access grades, if you have passed the Bachillerato evaluation test for university access.
• An academic certificate of Bachillerato with the final grade, if this test has not been taken or passed.

Students from foreign education systems

If you come from a foreign education system and meet the requirements for the recognition of your studies as equivalent to Spanish Bachillerato, you must submit:

• A credential recognising the Spanish Bachillerato qualification, or
• A conditional registration slip proving that the process to recognise foreign non-university qualifications or studies has been initiated.