At Montessori Palau Girona we are celebrating, as our pupil Aida Maria Ginés Juanals has been awarded one of the Extraordinary Baccalaureate Prizes, organised by the Department of Education of the Government of Catalonia.

These awards, now in their 27th edition, serve as an incentive for pupils and official recognition of the achievements of students who demonstrate particularly outstanding academic performance at this stage of their education. To be eligible for this award, Aida had to meet a series of minimum requirements, such as having completed and passed both years of the Baccalaureate and having achieved an average mark of 8.75 or higher. Furthermore, on 25 June, she had to sit three exams in which she demonstrated her ability to reason and argue, deduce and induce, synthesise, relate knowledge from different subject areas, connect ideas, transfer learning, adapt her language and vocabulary to the requirements of the tests, and express herself clearly and correctly, amongst other skills. These tests consisted of a critical essay on a topic of general interest relating to social, historical or cultural issues; an exam in the foreign language studied during the Baccalaureate (in this case, English), in which they had to present their point of view on a topic; and a test corresponding to one of the specialised subjects they had studied during the Baccalaureate.

The exams are marked out of a total of 40 marks, and the minimum score required to obtain an Extraordinary Baccalaureate Award is 34 marks. In total, a maximum of 48 awards were granted amongst the 441 students who sat the exams. In Aida’s case, she achieved a score of 35.5 marks.

Receiving this award will provide her with the following benefits: official recognition on her academic record; exemption from paying university fees for the first year; a free standard course at an Official Language School in Catalonia; a placement at a research centre or an institution related to her field of interest; and the opportunity to compete for the National Baccalaureate Awards.

Congratulations, Aida!