Madrid PAU Tech & Engineering II

It is a written, open-response paper: you solve problems, draw diagrams or technical sketches, and justify results. A scientific calculator and drafting instruments are allowed. The paper offers alternative questions or blocks, and you choose according to the instructions. The number of questions, the time allowed, and the scoring rules are set in the current official call published by the Comunidad de Madrid, so confirm them there before the exam.

Most candidates find it harder than a normal class test because problems combine topics and require justification, not just a final number. The mathematics is Bachillerato level, but the pace and the need to show method make it demanding. If you can solve standard problems without notes and explain each step, you are in good shape. Weak candidates usually lose marks on units, sign conventions, and incomplete reasoning rather than on advanced theory.

Retake rules, the number of sittings per year, and any validity period for scores are set by the official call and can change. Do not rely on memory or on what a friend did two years ago. Check the current information on the Comunidad de Madrid PAU website or ask your school's orientation department, which tracks the annual resolution. Plan your preparation assuming you may need to sit it again.

The official call fixes the total duration and any internal structure. In practice, divide the available time by the number of questions you choose and keep a few minutes at the end to check units, signs, and whether you answered what was asked. Do not spend too long on one difficult problem: a well-justified partial solution on the next question often scores more than a perfect answer to one.

Start with the topics that reward routine practice: DC circuits, mechanisms, and static equilibrium. They build confidence and appear in many problem combinations. Then move to materials and structures, where selection and justification carry weight, and finish with automation, control, and technical drawing, which need vocabulary and precision. Leave time for full papers, because integrating topics is the skill the exam tests.

Forgetting units or mixing them, ignoring sign conventions in equilibrium and circuits, drawing diagrams without labels, and writing only the final number without method. Another frequent error is answering a question that was not asked because the candidate skimmed it. Read the whole paper first, mark the alternatives you will attempt, and write down the data and the formula before calculating.

You need to be accurate and standard-compliant, not artistic. Expect to produce or interpret views, sections, and dimensioned sketches, and to use standard symbols correctly. Practise with drafting instruments so lines, proportions, and labels are clean. In problems, a clear free-body diagram or circuit sketch often earns method marks, so treat drawing as part of the answer, not decoration.

The Comunidad de Madrid publishes the Bachillerato curriculum and the current PAU model, including the structure of the paper and the instructions, on its official education website. Your school can also provide the current resolution. Use those documents as your reference for content and logistics, and treat this page as independent study support, not as an official source.