The real ICS exams: what they actually say
We downloaded the seven official papers the ICS publishes, read them question by question and counted. This guide is the result: the real format, the real weight of each syllabus block, and the merit arithmetic, with every figure cited.
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What is inside
Twelve sections, twelve practical conclusions and eight tables with the figures from every paper. All with their source in a footnote.
- 01How this guide was made
- 02The recruitment round, in real numbers
- 03How a post is won: 100 + 50
- 04How many questions? The honest answer
- 05Do wrong answers subtract?
- 06The finding: the transversal syllabus is a sliver of the paper
- 07Where the questions really are
- 08The merit arithmetic (sit down for this one)
- 09Language requirements
- 10Where the official past papers are
- 11What all of this means for how you study
- 12Sources, method and limits
The summary, right here
We do not hide the content behind the form. This is the substance of the guide; the PDF has it developed, with all the tables, links and notes.
1. The round, in real numbers
The resolution opening round 100-2025, published in the Official Gazette on 26 June 2025, advertises 6,037 posts across 74 categories. Nursing (A2-129) has 1,713; Nursing Assistant (C2-159) has 757, of which 75 are reserved for people with a recognised disability. The “around 4,000 posts” figure repeated online is a third-party aggregate, and it is wrong.
2. It is not a 100-question paper
The rules fix no question count: each category's board decides it in a minute shortly before the exam. Across the seven published papers the test has run from 50 to 100 questions. What is always 100 is the points of the examination phase — plus the 2018 nursing paper, which was 76 + 24, which is where the confusion comes from.
| Category | Round | Paper sat on | Test (1st exercise) | Practical (2nd exercise) | Total questions | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing | Stabilisation (round code 100) 3 | 02.06.2024 | 70 | 25 (3 cases) | 95 | 2 h |
| Nursing | Open competition 2018 5 | 12.05.2019 | 76 | 24 (3 cases) | 100 | 2 h |
| Nursing | Internal promotion 2016 7 | 11.06.2017 | 50 | 20 (candidate picks 1 of 2 cases) | 70 | not stated in the document |
| Nursing | Open competition 2015 8 | 19.06.2016 | 100 | — | 100 | not stated in the document |
| Assistant | Stabilisation (round code 100) 4 | 2024 | 60 | 20 (2 cases) | 80 | 1 h 40 min |
| Assistant | Open competition 2018 6 | 02.06.2019 | 59 | 21 (3 cases) | 80 | 90 min |
| Assistant | Open competition 2015 9 | 19.06.2016 | 80 | — | 80 | not stated in the document |
Note: Each row is read off the cover and criteria page of the corresponding official PDF. The published 2015 papers contain only the test section.
3. Two exercises, both eliminatory
The examination phase is 100 points in two exercises: a knowledge test (50 points) and practical cases (50 points). Under the rules in force both are eliminatory and you need at least 25 points in each. They do not offset: 45 on the test and 20 on the practical is not 65, it is out. Every question has four options and one correct answer; blanks and double marks do not count.
4. The finding: the transversal syllabus is 3–10 % of the paper
This is the figure that changes how you study. On the most recent nursing test, only 4 of 70 questions were transversal. And six transversal themes — framework statute, basic statute of public employees, occupational risk prevention, equality, quality and PDCA, office software — got not one question in the nursing papers of 2016, 2018 and 2022. Many candidates are spending weeks on them.
| Paper | Questions | Transversal | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing 2022 3 | 70 | 4 | 5,7 % | exact count |
| Nursing 2018 5 | 76 | 2 | ~3 % | approximate (±2) |
| Nursing 2016 7 | 50 | 1 | ~2 % | approximate (±2) |
| Nursing 2015 8 | 100 | 4 | 4 % | approximate (±2) |
| Assistant 2022 4 | 60 | 5 | 8,3 % | exact count |
| Assistant 2018 6 | 59 | 6 | 10 % | approximate (±2) |
| Assistant 2015 9 | 80 | 3 | ~4 % | approximate (±2) |
Note: “Transversal” means questions that clearly answer to a theme of the transversal annex. The 2022 counts are exact; the rest are approximate to ±2. 10
5. The merit arithmetic, said plainly
The merit phase is 50 points, of which up to 30 for professional experience. A full month at the ICS or another National Health System service is worth 0.358 points; the same month at SISCAT or another public body, 0.179 — exactly half. Around five years at the ICS is already about 21 points; seven years is the 30-point ceiling.
Which means that if you come from outside the ICS you start 21 to 30 points behind. Those points cannot be recovered. The only place the distance closes is the 100 points of the exam — precisely the part that depends on you, and the part where the person with the seniority often scrapes through.
| Years worked | Months | At the ICS or the SNS | At SISCAT or other public bodies |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 24 | 8,59 | 4,30 |
| 5 | 60 | 21,48 | 10,74 |
| 7 | 84 | 30,00 (ceiling reached) | 15,00 (ceiling reached) |
| 10 | 120 | 30,00 (ceiling reached) | 15,00 (ceiling reached) |
Note: Direct calculation with the values in the rules and their ceiling. Experience points can never exceed 30. 1
6. Where the official past papers are
The ICS publishes past papers and answer keys on a single support page. They are scanned PDFs with no text layer. The guide's PDF carries the direct link to each of the seven papers.
And the practical conclusions
The guide closes with twelve conclusions about how to study, each drawn from a figure in these tables. Here are the first five.
- Allocate your hours the way the paper allocates its questions. If the transversal block is 3 to 10 % of the test, it cannot be 50 % of your time. Give it what it is worth: a little, done properly and closed.
- Within the transversal block, study what actually appears. The health plan and health-service organisation, the ICS itself (mission, vision, values, legal status) and the charter of patient rights and duties, data protection and confidentiality. Framework statute, public employees, occupational risk, equality, quality and office software got no questions across three consecutive nursing papers: read them once and move on.
- The bulk is your category's own syllabus, and inside it not everything weighs the same. On the 2022 nursing paper, themes 4 and 5 were more than a third of the test; theme 8 got one question.
- Train the second exercise from day one. It is 50 of the 100 points and it is eliminatory in its own right. A practical case is not “a harder test”: it is a vignette you have to read properly before answering seven or ten questions.
- Study with the instrument in hand, not with somebody's notes. ICS questions name documents: Government guides, standardised care plans, in-house terminology, specific scales, that year's vaccination schedule. Knowing the concept is not knowing what the document says.
Where every figure comes from
From the resolution published in the Official Gazette and the seven official papers published by the ICS, downloaded on 27 July 2026. The PDF carries the full list with links and a footnote for every claim. Not one figure is copied from a tutoring company or a forum.
Questions we get
Is the guide really free?
Yes. We only ask for a free account, because it is the same account that gives you the free Topic 1 and keeps your progress. No payment, no card.
Will you subscribe me to a newsletter?
No. Downloading signs you up to nothing. If you want news about the round there is a separate, unticked box you have to tick yourself, and you can unsubscribe whenever you want.
What languages is it in?
Catalan and Spanish, and English too. The content is the same.
Is it useful for my category?
The post counts, syllabuses and papers analysed are those of Nursing (A2-129) and Nursing Assistant (C2-159). The exam format, the merit scale and the language requirements come from the common rules, which apply to every category in the round.
How often is it updated?
Whenever a fact changes: if a minute with the question count is published, if a new round opens, or if the ICS publishes a new paper. The PDF cover always carries the edition date and the date we retrieved the documents.
The next step, if you want it
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