Commissioned by Barcelona City Council and compiled by the Institut Metròpoli, the study shows a clear improvement in educational equity. Among its conclusions: students in situations of social and economic vulnerability have improved their results in recent academic years by an average of 6%, and school segregation has been reduced, coinciding with the launch of the 2019 Shock Plan Against School Segregation by the Barcelona Education Consortium and the Admissions Decree of 2021.

The report also shows an increase in enrolments for further education and training beyond secondary school, particularly vocational training (FP), combined with a reduction in school drop-out rates.

It also indicates that recent years have seen an increase in access to early pre-school education, along with an increase in places offered around the network of municipal nursery schools. There has also been more participation in extra-curricular activities outside the school sphere.

More places at municipal nursery schools

On paper, schooling for infants up to the age of three rose from 18.5% in the 2013-2014 school year to 26.3% for the 2024-2025 school year. This is due to the demographic drop, as well as the increase in places in the network of Municipal Nursery Schools (EBM), which has opened ten new schools in the last decade, creating a thousand new places. Even so, the demand covered by the network stood at between 65 and 66% during the 2024-2025 school year.

Improvement in academic results by students in vulnerable situations

Although the standard test results (Basic Skills Tests, PCB and PISA) have worsened in general in Catalonia and Barcelona in all skills, the city achieved significantly better results than the Catalan average, particularly in primary schools. Students in vulnerable situations have improved their results by 6% on average compared to the 2020-2021 academic year.

Fewer school dropouts and less school segregation

Access to education beyond secondary schools is up, particularly training cycles. This is linked to the reduction in school dropout rates compared to a decade ago and applies in Catalonia (14.8% of young people from 16 to 24) and Barcelona (7.7%). The number of students retaking school years has also been reduced and the number of students graduating in compulsory secondary education (ESO) has increased.

At the same time, school segregation dropped significantly from 2020-2021 to 2023-2024, falling from 0.49 to 0.39 in pre-school and primary, and from 0.44. to 0.34 in secondary education.

Subsidies for extra-curricular activities strengthened

In terms of education outside of class time, subsidies for extra-curricular activities stand out, with 22,278 awarded in the Summer Holidays Campaign, 17,534 for extra-curricular sports and 1,887 for Education Afternoons. This support has helped regain access to extra-curricular activities following the fall caused by the pandemic.