Moroccan-born student tops 2,300 new arrivals at Spanish university with five perfect scores
When the results came in, Meryem was crying as her mother read her grades aloud. A month later, the high school student was still struggling to believe what she had achieved.
At the public IES Alhama de Corella high school in Navarre, Meryem Bhallil Bahloul completed her two years of Spanish baccalaureate studies with an average score of 9.88/10. In the university entrance exams, she earned five perfect scores of 10/10: in mathematics, history, Spanish, physics and technical drawing. After weighting the results, her admission score puts her at the top of the students enrolling in first-year courses at the Public University of Navarre (UPNA) for the September 2026 academic year, among nearly 2,300 new students, according to Diario de Navarra.
In June, she was already considering engineering studies, she explained, undecided between mechanical and industrial engineering. She expected to do well, but had not imagined scoring so highly. She would have to wait until mid-July to fully grasp her achievement, she would say in an interview published in September.
Meryem was born in Jerada, in eastern Morocco, in October 2008. When she was ten months old, she moved to Corella with her parents, Rabah and Aicha, and her older sister, Loubna. The family speaks Arabic at home. She learned Spanish by watching cartoons, at school and through her sister.
Her father manages a construction team, while her mother takes care of the household. Meryem and Loubna are the first in their family to attend university. The older sister is studying law. Both receive scholarships covering their tuition fees and half the cost of their student accommodation. The housing costs still represent a significant financial strain for their parents, Meryem says in a profile published by Diario de Navarra.
From a childhood dream of writing to engineering
As a child, Meryem wanted to be a writer. Around the age of 13, she chose engineering instead, drawn to science and the prospect of understanding how things work. She is now studying industrial technologies at UPNA. In her class of around 70 students, about 20 are women, she says.
Her outstanding academic record has brought new pressure: the need to live up to her results. In Pamplona, her sister, already used to university life, is helping her find her way around. Meryem hopes to work there as an engineer one day.
In Morocco, her grandparents have found another way to celebrate her success: they show the villagers the newspaper featuring her photograph.
