Catalonia PAU History of Art exam-day guide
Catalonia PAU History of Art · Prepare for the day ahead.
Your checklist
Official ID document (DNI, passport, or equivalent)
Bring the original document, not a photocopy. The PAU is administered by the Catalan university access authorities (the Generalitat's university access office and the universities), and identity is checked at the door. Confirm with your centre or the provider which documents are accepted if yours is a foreign or residence document.
Exam admission document / registration receipt
Print or download the admission slip showing your assigned seat and the list of subjects you registered for. The exact format and whether it must be printed is set each year - confirm with the provider.
Know your assigned building, room, and call time
The PAU is held at assigned university or school venues, not necessarily your own school. Check the venue and the reporting time in advance and plan the route, since late arrival can mean losing your place - confirm the late-arrival policy with the provider.
Blue or black ballpoint pens (at least two)
Answers are handwritten on official answer sheets. Bring spare pens in the same colour; avoid pencil for final answers unless the subject instructions say otherwise. Confirm whether correction fluid or pencil is permitted.
Pencil, eraser, and a small sharpener
Useful for rough work and for any diagrams. Do not rely on pencil for text the examiner must mark.
Wristwatch (non-smart)
Exam rooms may not have a visible clock, and phones are not allowed on the desk. A plain analogue or digital watch without connectivity is the safe choice.
Clear water bottle and a light snack
Sessions can be long and multiple exams may run on the same day. Food and drink rules vary by venue - confirm with the provider what is allowed at the desk.
Printed or handwritten summary sheet of key works, authors, and periods
For History of Art, memorise a compact list: for each major work know author, title, date, style/period, location, and two or three formal or iconographic features. Use the sheet for the last review only; leave it outside the exam room.
Leave your phone switched off and stored away
Smartphones, smartwatches, and any connected device must not be on your person or desk during the exam. Even a device that is off but visible can be treated as a rule breach - confirm the exact device policy with the provider.
Review the official exam structure and marking for History of Art
Know in advance how many questions or options the paper offers, whether there is a choice between works or periods, and how the marks are distributed, so you can allocate time before you start writing. The exact structure is published each year - confirm with the provider.
Check the language of the paper
In Catalonia, PAU papers are typically offered in Catalan and Spanish, and the choice is usually made at registration. If you need a particular language version, sort it out before exam day - confirm with the provider.
Plan for travel, weather, and a backup alarm
Set two alarms and arrange your transport the day before. Summer heat and public-transport delays are common; arriving early is always safer than arriving on time.
Plan the day
Switch from learning new material to consolidating. Build a one-page grid of the works on your syllabus: author, title, approximate date, style, location, and the three features you would mention first. Test yourself by covering the columns and reciting from memory. Re-read the official instructions for the History of Art paper so the choice structure and mark allocation are automatic. Confirm your venue, reporting time, and the list of subjects you are registered for. Prepare your ID, admission document, pens, and watch in one bag so nothing depends on the morning.
Do at least one timed run-through under exam conditions: choose a work, spend the planned minutes writing a structured commentary (identification, formal analysis, iconography/function, context and style), then check it against your grid. Practise the format the paper actually uses, whether that is a commentary, a definition or term question, or a comparison - confirm the current format with the provider rather than assuming.
Do a light review only: your grid, the list of periods in chronological order, and the vocabulary you tend to forget (for example architectural terms, pictorial techniques, or stylistic labels). Check the venue route and travel time, lay out clothes and your bag, charge nothing you will need to bring (phones stay home or off), and set alarms. Eat normally and sleep - a tired candidate loses more marks through misreading questions than through missing facts.
Eat breakfast, take your ID, admission document, pens, pencil, watch, water, and snack. Arrive at the venue well before the call time and find your room. Keep your summary sheet outside the exam room or put it away before entering. Once seated, read the whole paper before writing: note the choice options, the mark weights, and the suggested time per section, and write a short plan in the margin of each answer.
Allocate time by marks, not by interest. For each work commentary: identify the work and author, describe what is visible (composition, materials, light, space), explain iconography or function, and place it in its historical and stylistic context - then stop and move on. Answer the question actually asked, use art-historical vocabulary precisely, and keep handwriting legible. If a question offers a choice, pick the one you can support with specific detail, not the one you vaguely recognise. Reserve the final minutes to check that every required question is answered and numbered correctly.
Rules to check
Bring original photo ID and your admission document; without them you may be refused entry or asked to complete additional identity checks. Confirm the accepted documents with the provider if yours is not a standard DNI or passport.
Electronic devices - phones, smartwatches, tablets, earbuds - must be switched off and out of reach for the whole session. Do not keep a phone in a pocket; a visible or vibrating device can be treated as misconduct.
Do not bring unauthorised notes, printed summaries, or annotated books into the exam room. Your summary sheet is for review outside the room only.
Follow the invigilators' instructions on seating, starting and stopping writing, and leaving the room. Do not communicate with other candidates once the paper is distributed; talking, passing materials, or looking at another candidate's paper is misconduct.
Breaks, toilet visits, and whether you may leave early are set by the venue and the exam regulations - confirm the exact rules with the provider and with your invigilator at the start of the session.
Scoring is anonymous and based on the official marking criteria for each question; write in the language version you registered for, and make sure your answers are clearly numbered and attributed to the correct question.
If you believe there is an error in the paper or a problem during the exam, raise it with the invigilator immediately and follow the official complaint procedure - confirm the procedure and deadlines with the provider.
Academic integrity rules apply: any attempt to gain or give an unfair advantage can lead to annulment of the exam or of the whole PAU session. Confirm the specific consequences in the current regulations with the provider.