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More than 17,000 young people applied for the second phase of the national competition for access to higher education, which ended on Wednesday, 2,696 fewer applicants than last year.
According to data from the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES) updated today, 17,114 students applied for one of the almost 16,000 places.
Last year, higher education institutions received 19,810 applications during the second phase, 2,696 more than this year.
The reduction in the number of candidates had already been recorded in the first phase, with less than 50 thousand students enrolled, a figure much lower than that recorded in recent years and only compared to 2018.
At the end of the first phase, only 43,899 were placed (12.1% less than last year) and many were now able to try again to enter higher education.
There are now 15,923 vacancies up for grabs, the overwhelming majority of which are places for which there were no candidates during the 1st phase (11,513), in addition to 4,401 places for which students were placed but did not end up registering, and another 20 additional vacancies.
The results will be announced on September 14th, followed by a 3rd phase, between September 23rd and 25th, with the remaining places.
Last week, the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation considered that the decrease in placed students "is worrying" and is related to "the change in exam rules", which made it mandatory to take three national exams to finish the 12th year and at least two exams to apply for higher education.
Even so, the minister refused to change the rules for completing secondary education and accessing higher education, but admitted that there could be "a major national discussion" in the future to rethink changes, recognizing that some higher education institutions located in the interior were greatly affected by the decrease in students.