The Baccalaureate modality that is skyrocketing in the Balearic Islands

PalmaThe general Baccalaureate continues to gain ground in the Balearic Islands. Four academic years after its implementation, this modality has gone from 518 students in the 2022-2023 academic year to 1,795 this 2026-2027 academic year. This represents an increase of 246.5% and means that the number of students has multiplied by 3.5. In just four years, the Balearic educational system has added 1,277 students taking this option. The growth has been sustained since the modality was launched following the approval of the LOMLOE. The first year there were 518 enrolled; in 2023-2024, the figure increased to 968; in 2024-2025, it reached 1,165, and last year there were already 1,402. This year, the total has climbed to 1,795, 28% more than the previous year.

The general Baccalaureate is an alternative to the traditional paths of Science and Technology, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Arts. It is designed especially for students who, upon finishing secondary school, are not yet clear about which academic path they want to follow. Instead of forcing them to choose a specific field, it offers interdisciplinary training that combines subjects from different areas and allows them to postpone a decision that, for many adolescents, comes at a time when they have not yet defined their professional future.

Mallorca concentrates the growth

Mallorca concentrates the majority of students in this modality. The island has gone from 461 students in the 2022-2023 academic year to 1,555 this year, an increase of 1,094 students. Currently, it accounts for 86.6% of those enrolled in the Balearic Islands. In Ibiza, the number of students has increased from 34 to 107 since the first year, while Menorca has gone from 22 to 124. Formentera is the only island where this year's figures remain below those of the last academic year: it has gone from 22 students in 2025-2026 to nine this year. Menorca also records a slight decrease, from 129 to 124 students. In contrast, Mallorca and Ibiza continue to increase.

The expansion of the modality has been accompanied by an imbalance between men and women. Data disaggregated by sex for the 2025-2026 academic year showed that men represented 58.2% of those enrolled in the Balearic Islands: 816 students, compared to 586 women. This difference had already become visible during the first years. In 2022-2023, men represented 55.5% of the student body in Mallorca, while in Ibiza women were still the majority. Three years later, the male presence had increased on all the islands, with especially marked differences in Ibiza and Formentera. This predominance is noteworthy because, in the Baccalaureate as a whole, women continue to represent the majority of the student body. Data included in the 2025 Education Yearbook placed their share at 54.72%. Therefore, the profile of the general Baccalaureate student body contrasts with the overall distribution of the post-compulsory stage.

The attractive factors of the General stream are that it attracts students who do not identify with traditional modalities or who prefer not to have to make an academic decision so soon. The erroneous perception has also been detected that the General Baccalaureate is less demanding than the rest, when its particularity is to combine areas of knowledge; not to lower the academic level.

However, the data confirm that the general baccalaureate has gained ground in the Balearic Islands exponentially in just four academic years. With 1,795 students this year, this modality, designed for students who do not yet want to choose a specific field, is becoming strong. Sustained growth indicates that more and more students are opting for this path, which combines subjects from different areas and allows them to reach the end of the stage with a less specialized itinerary. After all, it was born to respond to one of the great fears of families and teachers: at 15 or 16 years old, students are too young to have to decide with such precision what their academic and professional future will be. The General Baccalaureate gives them two years of margin.