What to do after ESO: FP or Bachillerato?

With the ESO title you have four paths: Bachillerato, FP Grado Medio, Artistic Education and Sports Education.

Bachillerato lasts two years and is the most common route to university. It has four modalidades: Ciencias y Tecnología, Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales, Artes and General.

FP Grado Medio also lasts two years. You learn a specific trade (electrical work, nursing care, IT systems, cooking, office administration and many more) and it includes a period of training in a company. When you finish you get the Técnico title.

Artistic Education (for example, Art and Design, music or dance) and Sports Education (sports coach in a specific sport) are more specific paths, and some also ask for their own entrance test.

You can also start working once you are 16, but continuing to train, even at your own pace, leaves you more options later.

Neither is better in general: the better one is the one that fits how you learn and where you want to go.

Bachillerato suits you if you are drawn to a specific university degree, if you like studying a range of subjects, or if you don't know yet what you want and would rather gain time with a broad base.

FP Grado Medio suits you if you learn best by doing, if a trade already attracts you, or if you want a qualification to work with soon. And choosing it doesn't take you away from university: it only changes the path to get there.

Yes: with the Técnico Superior title you can enter any university degree without sitting the PAU.

Your access mark is your average from the course, from 5 to 10. If the degree you want has a high cut-off, you can sit only the PAU subjects that weigh for that degree and add up to four more points, just like students coming from Bachillerato.

Some universities also recognise credits from the course in related degrees, so part of what you studied can count towards the degree. Ask the university you are interested in.

If you are torn between the two, the useful question is what you want to have in two years: a trade to work with, or a base to keep studying.

Grado Medio gives you a professional title and first contact with companies, and lets you go on to a Grado Superior. Bachillerato gives you a broader base and lets you choose between university and Grado Superior.

If you want to reach a Grado Superior, you can do it by either path. Through Grado Medio you arrive with practice and company experience; through Bachillerato, with a broader theoretical base.

They are hard in different ways: Bachillerato asks for more theory and exams, and FP asks for more practice, consistency and hands-on work with things or people.

If memorising is hard for you but you learn well by doing, FP usually feels more manageable. If you enjoy reading, reasoning or studying on your own, Bachillerato tends to fit better. The difficulty depends mostly on whether what you study interests you.

Less than it seems: there is only one ESO title and it opens every path, whatever subjects you chose.

What you choose in 4º does help you prepare. If you are thinking of Bachillerato de Ciencias, it is worth taking the more academic maths and a science; if you are thinking of FP, the more practical subjects can help you try things out. But it doesn't lock you into anything.

You still have paths: FP Grado Básico and the Grado Medio access test.

Grado Básico lasts two years, teaches you a trade and, when you finish, also gives you the ESO title. From there you can move on to a Grado Medio.

If you don't have the title, from age 17 (turning 17 in the year of the test) you can sit the Grado Medio access test. And as an adult you can always get your ESO at an adult education centre.

Admission windows usually open between June and July, and each region (comunidad autónoma) sets its own dates.

In FP, when there are more applications than places, they are ranked by your average mark, so your ESO record counts. Some courses fill up fast, so apply to several in your order of preference. For Bachillerato, if you stay at the same school, you are usually asked to enrol at the end of 4º.

You can change course: no path after ESO is final.

If you start Bachillerato and see it isn't for you, you can move to a Grado Medio. If you do a Grado Medio and want to study more, there is Grado Superior and then university. Many people end up where they wanted by a path they didn't imagine at 16. What matters is choosing the next step, not the whole path.