Monitoring the university admissions process in Spain

Abstract

The examinations taken by high-school graduates in Spain and the role of the examination in the university admissions process are described. The following issues arising in the assessment of the process are discussed: reliability of grading, comparability of the grades and scores(equating), maintenance of standards, and compilation and use of the grading process, and their integration in the operational grading are proposed. Various schemes for score adjustment are reviewed and feasibility of their implementation discussed. The advantages of pretesting of items and of empirical checks of experts' judgements are pointed out. The paper concludes with an outline of a planned reorganisation of the higher education in Spain, and with a call for a comprehensive programme of empirical research concurrent with the operation of the examination and scoring system.