Over 40,000 students start higher education courses
The academic year gets under way for 41,164 students on 12 September as they start baccalaureate, vocational training and higher education courses around the 101 publicly operated post-compulsory education centres. There are 50 more groups this year, particularly on vocational training courses, an option where demand is increasing.
In all, there are 64 centres offering baccalaureate courses, 34 offering vocational training and four art schools. In addition to the options offered last year, there are two new vocational training centres: the Institut de Gastronomia i Restauració de Barcelona and the Institut d’FP Sanitària Sant Pau. There are also more options at the Institut Hospital del Mar FP Sanitària, in C/ Almogàvers, including specialisms in medical spheres and the field of socio-cultural and community services. The Institut Picasso, in the Zona Nord, will also be offering vocational training courses for the first time.
The number of vocational training courses has grown by 22 groups, prioritising specialities in great demand in the medical field and in gastronomy and restaurants. This is the case with nursing auxiliary and care courses, where there are an additional seven groups.
Other notable changes include a new baccalaureate group taking a two-year course the socio-educational field, offered by the Institut Miquel Tarradell, with options linked to the spheres of education and social intervention; the dual qualification between the lnstitut Verdaguer and the Institut Hospital del Mar FP Sanitària, consisting of a three-year course combing the baccalaureate qualification with the vocational training qualification in Pharmacy and Parapharmacy.
The addition of these two new publicly operated centres means there are now 30 vocational training centres out of the 35 specified in the Master Plan for Vocational Training in Barcelona.
Be_Pro model
The new centres correspond to the Be_Pro vocational training model, which opts for grouping together all the courses in the same field at large centres near professional and manufacturing networks in the same sector, and channelling initial training, ongoing training and occupational training for professionals.
Besides baccalaureate and regular and higher vocational training cycles, specialist courses have also begun, along with specific training cycles (IFE), training and insertion programmes (PFI), the specific access course for regular and higher vocational training cycles, plus cycles in visual arts and design.
