74.2% of Mexico City youth get first-choice high school spot

Mexico's federal government reported that 74.2% of 191,069 applicants in the Mexico City metropolitan area secured their first-choice high school through the new "Mi derecho, mi lugar" direct-assignment program, which replaces the former Comipems exam Source: Excélsior. The program, announced by Education Secretary Mario Delgado, assigned 19.7% to second choices, 5.4% to third, and 0.8% to fourth, with 93.9% placed in their top two options Source: El Heraldo de México.

Context and contrast

Officials contrasted these results with the 2024 Comipems exam, when only 26.2% got their first choice and 31.4% were assigned to options six through twenty Source: Milenio. In 2025, the first year without the exam, 68.4% achieved their first choice, rising to 74.2% in 2026 Source: El Heraldo de México. President Claudia Sheinbaum framed the shift as a move toward inclusion, stating, "This is called inclusion… education as a right" Source: El Heraldo de México.

Higher education alternatives

For students not admitted to UNAM, whose results arrive August 30, the SEP will launch "Educación Superior 2026" on August 25, offering 37,503 spots across institutions like the Universidad Rosario Castellanos and the Tecnológico Nacional de México Source: Milenio. Delgado urged rejected applicants: "Do not give up; get into this platform and look for an option to keep studying" Source: Excélsior. The government also highlighted 245,000 new high school spaces created in two years and 657,520 certificates issued to the first Bachillerato Nacional cohort Source: Excélsior.