Research on the impact of bilingual education remains limited, especially with regard to mobility, employability and intercultural competence from the perspective of the students themselves. The Future of Bilingual Education (FoBE) research project (ref. PID2021-127030B-I00), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, analyses the perceived impact of bilingual education on these dimensions, as assessed by students in bilingual and non-bilingual programmes. Based on an extensive survey administered to almost 5000 Spanish students in Secondary Education (see ‘Survey’ section on this website), Baccalaureate and Higher Education, the results show that bilingual education favours the development of key competences to cope in today's globalised society.

The statistical analysis, carried out using Mann-Whitney tests, showed that students in bilingual programmes perceive significant advantages over their peers in non-bilingual programmes in all the dimensions analysed (p-value less than 0.001). In addition, the confirmatory factor analysis yielded high validity coefficients, which supports the robustness and reliability of the instrument used and allows us to affirm that the dimensions assessed are adequately adjusted to the initial theoretical construct. These quantitative results are part of a recent body of research (2021-2025) which coincides in pointing out that bilingual education enhances cognitive flexibility, executive function and problem-solving skills, while favouring greater intercultural sensitivity and reinforced professional competitiveness. Along these lines, graduates of bilingual programmes have a higher self-perception of their employability and intercultural competence, and studies suggest that around 60 % of employers show a preference for bilingual candidates.

Taken together, the findings highlight the key role of bilingual education in the areas of internationalisation, employability and intercultural education, and provide novel evidence of its long-term academic, professional and personal benefits. The transformative value of multilingualism is implicitly recognised by students, even when these dimensions are not explicitly addressed in the curriculum, suggesting a wider formative effect beyond language acquisition. FoBE therefore underlines the intrinsic value of bilingual education as a tool for the formation of global citizens of the 21st century and offers empirically grounded arguments that support the desirability of continuing to invest in the design, implementation and consolidation of quality bilingual programmes.