Valeria Fragola tops Madrid's university entrance exam with 13.99 score, discovered result via TikTok, plans to study Medicine

Surprise announcement in a TikTok video

Valeria Fragola arranged to meet her friends at a park on the morning of 11 June, when the 2025/2026 PAU results were released. They planned to film the typical reaction clip that circulates on social media after the exam, comparing each student's predicted notes to the actual ones. Fragola insisted on first confirming whether she had gained access to her chosen degree before continuing the recording. Once her friends checked and stared at her in astonishment, she calculated her score and realised she had achieved the best result in the entire Comunidad de Madrid.

I say what I think I got and my friends tell me the note I actually obtained. The first thing I asked was whether I got into the degree programme. If I hadn't made it, I wasn't going to continue with the video. They looked at me as if to say 'Wow, Valeria!' Then I calculated the score and I was blown away. I am very happy.

Top score and academic precision

Fragola earned a 9.99 in the PAU's general phase, one tenth of a point ahead of three other candidates from the IES Ramiro de Maeztu in Madrid, the IES Laguna Joatzel in Getafe and the Colegio Amanecer in Alcorcón. Her Bachillerato average stood at a perfect 10. The combined admission score reaches 13.99 out of a maximum of 14, effectively securing access to virtually any degree programme she chooses. She finished the exams feeling optimistic and, despite the pressure of the process, described the PAU as similar to her Bachillerato exams but with even more preparation time.

Study discipline: ten hours a day, no social media

To maintain focus, Fragola installed an application that blocked her mobile phone and tracked an average of ten hours of daily study in the weeks leading to the exam. She emphasised planning and consistency as her core strategy, creating a weekly checklist and reserving the last week solely for review. Her grandmother Paquita, a teacher for 41 years, taught her to read before she could walk; Fragola recalls identifying the letters on car number plates and traffic signs as a toddler.

The key is planning and consistency. Simply with perseverance, going over the material and doing many exams from previous years.

Family influence and medical ambition

The student has already decided to pursue Medicine at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, drawn by the institution's reputation for preparing students for the MIR residency exam. Her father, Claudio Fragola, is an ENT doctor at the Ramón y Cajal Hospital and a PP health councillor in Boadilla del Monte; his evident enjoyment of his profession influenced her choice. Her mother, Raquel Raso, who directs the Employment Office in Majadahonda, admitted she would have preferred her daughter to choose Mathematics, noting that Medicine is "a very demanding career and not very well paid in Spain". Valeria has also considered Aerospace Engineering or Physics as fallback options, but Medicine remains her clear priority. In a few weeks she will travel with her friends on an Interrail trip before the academic year begins.

Madrid PAU results show improvement in Mathematics

Overall, 95.1% of the 38,864 candidates in the Madrid region who sat the exams passed, maintaining the high success rate of recent years. The average mark in the Mathematics exam rose from 5.6 in the previous year to 6.7 in 2026, a notable increase in a subject that often generates complaints from both students and teachers.

I can't believe it and I'm very happy. I want to study Medicine. Little by little I'll see which speciality I want to do.