The Government of Aragon will renew the Xcelence Aragón program for the 2026/27 academic year through an agreement with Fundación Ibercaja and Fundación Bertelsmann. The initiative aims to strengthen academic and career guidance for secondary school students and their connection to the labor market.
Xcelence Aragón program strengthens career guidance in secondary education
The agreement extends the collaboration launched in the previous academic year and will remain in force until the end of the 2026/27 school year. It is aimed at publicly funded non-university schools offering Compulsory Secondary Education.
Xcelence Aragón seeks to equip students with the skills to manage their career paths and improve the guidance provided at schools. The program aligns with the Gatsby Benchmarks quality framework, a public-policy reference for career guidance in the United Kingdom that was updated in 2024.
The initiative also calls for greater contact between students and the professional world through educational placements, company visits and talks led by professionals. To organize these experiences and assess the quality of guidance, schools will expand their use of the xcelence.es and empresasqueinspiran.es platforms, promoted by Fundación Bertelsmann.
Schools consolidate the role of Academic and Career Strategies Coordinator
The program strengthens the role of the Academic and Career Strategies Coordinator (CEAP) at participating schools. This person will be responsible for the strategic planning of guidance services and will coordinate the interventions and stakeholders involved in the process.
The Department of Education, Science and Universities will appoint a person responsible for coordinating the program, managing schools’ participation and organizing training activities. It will also promote best-practice seminars for teachers and CEAPs.
Fundación Ibercaja and Fundación Bertelsmann provide resources to connect schools and businesses
Fundación Ibercaja will contribute a school-business coordinator, provide its facilities for the planned activities and organize awareness-raising events. These efforts will seek to encourage local companies to join the guidance platform.
For its part, Fundación Bertelsmann will make its tools and technology platforms, methodological materials and monitoring data available to the program, tracking the progress of participating schools in Aragon.
