University pre-enrolment in Cataluña begins on 2 June: dates and key information for securing a place

The process directly affects those taking the Selectivitat this year and will determine admission to places at the seven Catalan public universities and the Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya. It will be managed entirely online through Canal Universitats and will allow applicants to select up to eight different degree courses in order of preference.

The timetable will be particularly busy during June. Students will be able to change their choices until the 26th, even after receiving their PAU results, which are expected on 23 June. That flexibility is crucial in a context where tenths of a mark can completely change the chances of gaining admission to certain courses or campuses.

As well as choosing degree courses, some applicants will have to submit additional documentation or register for specific tests for particular courses, especially Early Childhood and Primary Education. The system therefore combines admission marks, individual requirements and different rounds of allocation that will continue throughout the summer.

The first allocation of places will be published on 10 July, starting a series of enrolments and reallocations that will continue until October to fill vacancies. In many families, these weeks are already part of the annual routine of nerves, calculating marks and decisions about where to live, study or even whether to move to another city.

The pressure to secure a place on certain courses remains particularly high in fields such as Medicine, Psychology, Engineering or degrees related to new technologies and health. Many students therefore continually check admission cut-off marks, available places and possible alternatives before finalising their preferences.

University pre-enrolment has also become one of the moments that most transforms the atmosphere in secondary schools, private tuition centres and homes in Cataluña at the start of summer. Conversations about campuses, rents, transport or first moves away from home begin to mingle with final exams and the end of a stage in life for thousands of young people.

Barcelona and other Catalan university cities are thus preparing once again for one of the year's major movements of students. Each new admissions round does more than organise academic places: it also reshapes neighbourhoods, halls of residence, mobility and the everyday life of a generation beginning to decide where it will build the next stage of its life.