What to study if you don’t know what to study: where to start

Yes, it is completely normal: most people your age are not sure what they want to study, even if it looks like everyone else is.

You are asked to choose something important when you have seen very little of the world of work. You know your school subjects, but almost nothing about what a nurse, a programmer or a designer actually does on an ordinary Tuesday. It makes sense that you don’t know.

And there is good news: in Spain almost everything can be undone. You can switch Bachillerato modalidad, move from FP to university or change degree. Choosing now means taking the next step, not signing up for life.

Start with what you do when nobody makes you, because that is where the clues school subjects don’t show tend to be.

Not liking anything at school doesn’t mean you don’t like anything. Think about what makes you lose track of time: fixing things, helping a friend with a problem, editing videos, organising plans, understanding how something works, making things.

It also helps to look the other way round: what you could not stand doing every day. Hours alone at a screen, always being on your feet, talking to lots of people. Ruling things out is progress too.

Compare options by what the work is like day to day, not by the name of the degree or how it sounds.

Two degrees with similar names can lead to very different days, and two with very different names can lead to similar ones. What you will live are the tasks: whether you work with people, with data, with your hands or with ideas; whether you are in an office, a hospital, outdoors or a workshop.

A good question is: can I picture doing this on a normal Tuesday, with nothing special going on? If the answer is “yes, and I wouldn’t mind”, you are on the right track.

A test can give you useful leads, but not a verdict: it tells you what to look at, not what you have to study.

No questionnaire knows everything you know about yourself. The value is in what you do with the result: if it suggests something you hadn’t thought of, look into it; if it suggests something that doesn’t fit, ask yourself why. Both teach you something.

Be wary of any test that promises “the perfect degree for you” in five minutes, especially if it ends by offering you a paid course.

Both lead to good places: the choice depends on how you like to learn and what work you want to do, not on which one is “better”.

FP is more hands-on, includes training in companies and gets you closer to work sooner. University is more theoretical at first and is the route for professions that require it, such as medicine or architecture.

And it is not a closed choice. With an FP Grado Superior you can go on to university, and many people take that path: first they learn a trade, then they study further.

Job prospects matter, but they work better as a final filter than as a starting point: first see what you like, then which of those options have more future.

If you want to see which studies and jobs are most in demand right now, you will find it in our guide to degrees with a future.

Getting it wrong is not wasted time: it is the quickest way to learn what you don’t want, and there is almost always a way to change.

You can change degree, move from one ciclo to another, or go from FP to university. Much of what you learn will still be useful: study habits, teamwork, knowing how a sector works.

What does help is choosing with a little information, even if it isn’t perfect. That lowers the risk far more than waiting until you are completely sure.

This week, just one step: pick two or three options that spark some curiosity and find out what a working day is like in each.

You can ask someone who does that work, watch a video of a real day or talk to your tutor or the guidance department. You don’t need to decide anything yet. Just look a little closer.