Higher Education Systems - Spain

Higher education in Spain follows the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) guidelines since 2010. Official qualifications consist of three cycles:

• First cycle: Bachelor’s program (four years)
• Second cycle: Master’s program (two years)
• Third cycle: PhD program (maximum of three years if full-time; maximum of five years if part-time).

Both the title of Master and Bachelor are linked to the following branches of knowledge: Arts and Humanities; Science; Health Sciences; Social and Legal Sciences; Engineering and Architecture. Higher education in Informatics provides degrees in the Engineering and Architecture area.

Degree programs are defined by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training at very high level in terms of teaching goals and required disciplines. Each University can then specialize this general framework, design its curricula and fix the contents, which always conform to the minimum quality criteria required and agreed upon by all countries of the EHEA.

The curricula of the official degree programs, approved by the universities, to be valid must be approved by the Council of Universities. There exists a national agency for accreditation (ANECA - Agencia Nacional de Evaluación de la Calidad y Acreditación – National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation) and some regional agencies (for instance, AQU for Catalonia). Universities can be public or private but in either case they have to be consistent with the ministry’s requirements. In Spain online universities also offer study program at the three cycle levels (Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral).

Bachelor (Grado)

To enter a Bachelor’s program in Spanish Universities students must have a diploma from the secondary school called “Bachillerato”. University candidates must have passed either of the following:

• Bachillerato + university entrance examination (selectividad)
• Higher cycle vocational courses + university entrance examination (selectividad)
• University entrance examination for students over 25 years old.

The workload required in a Bachelor’s degree program is 240 ECTS credits. Studies are spread over four academic years (including a final project).

Master

In order to apply for admission in a Master's program candidates must hold an official university degree, issued by a Spanish university or by a higher education institution (HEI) within the EHEA. Each university decides on the number of students who may be admitted to Master's degree programs. The goal of university Master's degree programs is to provide students with advanced specialised or multidisciplinary training, geared towards academic or professional specialisation, or towards the acquisition of basic research skills. Master’s degrees can be professionally, academically or research oriented. The workload required in a Master's degree program ranges from 60 to 120 ECTS credits. University Master's degree programs require students to write and defend a Master’s thesis, which is awarded between 6 and 30 ECTS credits.

Doctorate

The doctoral studies are organized through programs according to the university laws and in accordance with the criteria established by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training. Studies may include courses, seminars or other activities aimed at research training and at the end a doctoral thesis, which incorporates original research results, must be defended. The maximum duration of doctoral studies full-time is three years, from admission to thesis defence. Doctoral programs can also be part time in this case the maximum duration of the program is five years, from admission to thesis defence. In addition to the doctoral program, PhD candidates must write, submit and defend a Doctoral thesis, which consists of an original research project which requires a defence, in public session, in front of a board of examiners who are in charge of its evaluation. In general, for admission to an official doctoral program the applicant needs to be in possession of a Spanish official Master’s degree, or equivalent.

About Spanish Universities

The University System in Spain is composed of 83 universities, 50 of which are public and 33 are private (numbers are as of 2019). There are also universities specialized on distance training that offer Bachelor’s, Master’s and doctoral degrees. Also, an increasing number of public and private universities offer the possibility of online studies. There is no classification in “Research” Universities and “Applied Sciences” Universities. A University can provide just a few or many degrees.

Most Spanish universities divide the academic year into two semesters. The first one usually begins in September, it ends late December, and January is the exam period. The second semester starts in late January or early February and ends in May, with June as the exam period. A few universities organize their academic calendar quarterly.