University access in Spain: UNEDasiss, PCE and homologación

Access comes before admission

An official Spanish bachelor's degree requires a qualification that gives access to Spanish university study. The route depends on the education system your qualification comes from, not on your nationality. Admission to a specific programme then depends on your admission grade, the places available and any test the university sets.

Route 1: EU systems, agreement countries and the IB or EB

Students from the education systems of EU member states, from countries with which Spain has a reciprocity agreement, and holders of the International or European Baccalaureate apply to UNEDasiss for accreditation. The accreditation converts the qualification into the Spanish grade scale that public universities use in pre-registration.

Route 2: other education systems

Students from other systems apply to the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports to homologate their secondary qualification to the Spanish Bachiller. Resolution takes time, but the application comes with a conditional enrolment voucher (volante de inscripción condicional) that lets you take part in admission and enrol provisionally while it is pending. UNEDasiss accredits students from these systems once their homologación application is under way.

The PCE exams

UNEDasiss runs the Pruebas de Competencias Específicas (PCE), subject exams that international students can take to raise their admission grade, in the same way Spanish students use the subject phase of their university entrance exam. They matter most for competitive public programmes, such as health sciences, where places go to the highest grades; check which subjects your target programme weighs before you register.

Master's and doctoral access

A bachelor's degree from the European Higher Education Area gives access to an official master's degree. A degree from outside it does not need homologación: the university checks that it is equivalent in level and gives access to postgraduate study in the issuing country, and that check is valid only for enrolling on the master's. Doctoral programmes normally require a master's degree, and the university again checks the level of a foreign degree.

Private universities and own degrees

Private universities run their own admission, often with an interview or entrance test, but an official degree still requires a valid access qualification before enrolment is final. Títulos propios, including many business-school programmes, set their own entry rules and do not lead to an official Spanish degree, so check the award type before you pay.

Where to start

• Find your education system's route on the UNEDasiss website.
• If you need homologación, apply as early as possible and keep the conditional enrolment voucher.
• Look up the admission grades your target programme required in previous years (notas de corte) and the PCE subjects it weighs.
• Confirm in the RUCT register that the programme is an official degree.