Catalonia is the autonomous community that penalizes spelling mistakes the most among students taking the Spanish language and literature selectivity test (EBAU), according to a comparative study carried out by the Escuela de Todos association. This contrasts with the language exams in Aragon, La Rioja and the Basque Country, which do not provide for specific discounts for specific spelling errors. “In the case of La Rioja and Aragón, an overall assessment is carried out, and in the case of the Basque Country there is only some type of indication on linguistic correctness in the written expression exercise, with a weight of 2 points in the entire test,” the study states.
The differences in the spelling corrections in the selectivity tests serve to Escuela de Todos to verify that selectivity does not guarantee access under equal conditions in all the universities of the single Spanish university district. The association defends that there be a test with single standards throughout Spain and, therefore, has urged the Popular Party to coordinate a single test in the autonomous communities in which it governs (11 of 17). But the association, as the director expressed this morning, has not been successful in her proposal.
The association has prepared an analysis of three selectivity subjects (mathematics, Spanish, history) that studies the degree of compliance with the common framework required by the Ministry of Education and the differences in structure and evaluation criteria. And, with the complexity expressed by its authors, they specify that there are exams that are easier than others.
Specifically, in some communities spelling mistakes hardly penalize, or almost nothing in accentuation errors (in 10 autonomies). However, others are more demanding. “In Spanish language and literature, there can be up to 6 points of difference due to spelling errors,” indicates the study. “A student who obtained a 10 in content on the test and made 5 spelling errors, in the Balearic Islands would keep his grade and in Extremadura, he would fail.”
In this sense, Catalonia is the one that penalizes the most (0.1 per error). No maximum discount is established, repeated errors are penalized, spelling and accentuation errors are discounted equally, and, in principle, lexical, grammatical and punctuation errors are penalized in the same way as spelling errors.
However, the authors point out that it is the community that forces students to write a shorter text (330 words). This is because there are questions with multi-option answers and questions with semi-closed answers whose maximum length is established in the statement.
Extremadura is another case in which with a 9 in content and more than 5 fouls, it would be suspended.
In Castilla La Mancha and Murcia, 3 points are lowered for 5 spelling errors but, from that figure, they do not deduct any more. On the other hand, Andalusia and Navarra lose 0.25 points for every 5 errors.
