Catalonia reinstates mandatory high school reading lists for 2027–2028 academic year

Mandatory reading reinstated for high schools

The Catalan Department of Education and Vocational Training will reinstate mandatory common reading lists for high school students across Catalonia starting in the 2027–2028 school year. Minister Esther Niubó announced the measure at a public school in Cornellà de Llobregat alongside the Secretary of Educational Improvement, Ignasi Giménez Renom, and the Director General of Curriculum and Professional Development, Sònia Fernández Cuenca. Under the revised policy, all first- and second-year Bachillerato students taking Catalan Language and Spanish Language will be required to read the same centralized book titles regardless of whether they study the scientific, humanistic, social, or technological track. The department has not yet published the definitive reading lists, though officials noted the titles will be drawn from the standard Catalan and Spanish literary canons. The decision reverses a curriculum policy adopted three years earlier under Spain's Lomloe education law, which had removed prescriptive book lists in favor of individual school autonomy.

Learning guide focuses on foundational skills

The announcement follows widespread scrutiny over academic performance in Catalonia, where evaluation results such as the 2022 PISA assessments recorded steep declines in core student competencies. Catalan President Salvador Illa recently addressed the issue in Parliament, acknowledging serious sample compilation errors in the 2025 PISA test ahead of scheduled discussions with political groups. To counter falling comprehension levels, spelling difficulties, and what officials described as an attention crisis among pupils, the department published an instructional guide aimed at strengthening basic learning.

“We propose an urgent return to essential practices.”

Secretary Giménez Renom supported the pivot toward core academic foundations, arguing that modern skill development requires factual grounding.

“Competencies cannot be built on a void.”

Transition timeline and curriculum background

Until the 2022–2023 academic year, Catalan education authorities maintained prescriptive second-year Bachillerato book lists covering classic works such as Lazarillo de Tormes, Nada, Tirant lo Blanc, and La plaça del Diamant. When the Lomloe curriculum took effect for first-year Bachillerato in 2022–2023 and second-year in 2023–2024, the administration eliminated the common reading requirement. University entrance examinations retained questions on the older book list through 2024 to preserve instructional continuity, but the 2025 entrance tests were the first without common literary questions.

Starting in October 2026, Education Department teams will travel to territories across Catalonia to explain the pedagogical orientations and essential learning guidelines to teaching staffs.

School reading plans and classroom measures

Beyond high school literature, the reform introduces broad non-binding recommendations for primary and compulsory secondary education (ESO) while preserving methodological autonomy for individual schools. The guidelines urge teaching teams to select common key books from fifth grade of primary through fourth year of ESO, creating an organized sequence of reading materials that grows in difficulty. In addition, all educational institutions will be required to establish a formal School Reading Plan (PLEC) by the 2027–2028 academic year, structuring reading instruction across three pillars: reading fluency, reading to learn, and reading enjoyment from early childhood education onward. The guide also encourages handwriting through summaries, essays, notes, and prepared dictations, mental calculation, oral debate, and physical reference books or dossiers over digital screens to support sustained concentration. The Catalan government also plans an upcoming executive initiative through the Consell Executiu to reinforce school libraries.