PAU: a proper exam?

Have you heard about the PAU? This is what we call the new EVAU, which is the test that students under twenty-five have to take in order to access any of Spain’s public universities. I assume you have heard about it, given that there have been numerous demonstrations regarding the delay in informing schools and teachers about the new exam model. Are you aware of what is going on?

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To begin with, we must highlight that students have been taking the Covid model for the past four years, which allowed them a great deal of flexibility, as they were able to choose which exercises they wanted to complete. This model made sense in 2020 when they had to sit their exams without being able to attend classes, but it is no longer justifiable. Anyway, with the new model,? the aim is to encourage students to think more critically, which is great. However, there is something that, at least in the English subject, still does not add up: the speaking and listening components. Why? Because these skills are completely absent.

With this in mind, could someone explain why on earth there is no listening part in the PAU? I could understand the difficulty of assessing speaking skills for such a large number of students, but what about listening? Should their listening skills not be tested, how will they manage in an international meeting or abroad? The ability to understand spoken texts is essential.

Furthermore, the absence of a listening comprehension section has led many schools to remove it from the curriculum. In fact, not a few schools have decided to stop practising listening exercises in class precisely because of the PAU. Incredible. To make matters worse, a significant number of high schools are dedicating the two years of Bachillerato solely to revising reading-based EVAU practice, which is absurd, and teenagers end up utterly fed up with doing endless mock exams.

From my point of view, the PAU should be just a test, not the most important one of a student’s life. Universities should stop demanding such high grades from them. Only in this way could schools focus on teaching English with all the necessary skills included. Please do not stop helping students with listening and speaking; otherwise, they will struggle in the future. Exams should be just that, exams.