The new Baccalaureate of Excellence will be implemented in an institute in Palma and will also reach Mahón and Ibiza

PalmThe Government will launch a new Baccalaureate Excellence Program (PEB) that will begin operating in a newly created center in Palma, named IES Llorenç Villalonga, and which will also have a presence in Ibiza and Menorca through specific classrooms. The initial offer will be divided into two training pathways: one oriented towards Science and Technology and another focused on Humanities and Social Sciences. According to the Minister of Education and Universities, Antoni Vera, the future institute in Palma will be approved shortly by the Governing Council and, provisionally, will be installed in the Sa Riera building of the UIB.

In the rest of the territories, the program will be activated with specific spaces within the IES Joan Ramis i Ramis, in Maó, and the IES Algarb, in Ibiza. In this first phase, Palma will concentrate two lines of Baccalaureate excellence, while in Menorca and Ibiza it will begin with one classroom per island. The total initial offer will be 130 places: 70 in the Balearic capital and 30 in each of the other two islands.

Students will be able to choose between the two initial modalities, with flexibility to combine content from both. Later on, the program plans to expand with an artistic branch linked to visual arts and design. The minister has emphasized that this itinerary is designed for students with high abilities and good performance, with the aim of deepening knowledge and fostering critical thinking, effort, and talent.

New Extraordinary Awards for ESO

As a novelty, the Ministry of Education will promote this year the Extraordinary Awards for ESO, which will be held on May 28. The tests will include exercises in mathematics, English, a historical commentary in Catalan, and a scientific test in Spanish. The tests will be carried out in various centers in the Islands: IES Santa Maria de Ibiza, CEP de Formentera, IES Manacor, IES Emili Darder de Palma, IES Joan Ramis i Ramis de Maó, and IES Can Peu Blanc de sa Pobla. To participate, one must have completed all of ESO in Spain, be enrolled in the 4th year of ESO in the Balearic Islands, and have a minimum average of 9.35 in the 3rd year of ESO.

A commission made up of secondary school teachers will be responsible for designing and correcting the tests. In total, eight students will be awarded, with a grant of 500 euros per person. Access to the excellence baccalaureate program will be prioritized: first, the winners of the awards; then, participants who have obtained at least an 8; and, finally, students with a minimum grade of 8 in the 4th year of ESO.

Registration process and methodology

Families will receive all information through the GestIB platform, regarding both the awards and the new baccalaureate. Registration for the awards can be processed between May 4 and 13, while pre-registration for the excellence program will be open from June 1 to 10.

The educational model is based on research, student autonomy, and the development of analytical, synthetic, and rigorous expression skills. Depending on the modality, laboratory activities, essay writing, text commentary, or creative projects are foreseen. The teaching staff who will impart these studies must have at least five years of experience as a civil servant, and positions will be assigned through a specific and temporary competition on secondment.