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Application Procedure

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Spanish universities require the following to be considered for admission:

  1. Validation of secondary school studies with the Spanish "Curso de Orientación Universitaria (COU)" or "Bachillerato LOGSE".
  2. Application to take the Admissions Test of the university of your choice (the Selectivity Exam). The Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (U.N.E.D.) is the example referred to here. But whatever university is chosen, you must contact that university directly to learn its conditions, including the dates for registration and for the exam.
  3. Any student can sit for the Selectivity Exam up to four times. Once passed, the student can improve the grade obtained by sitting for it again.
  4. The definitive score for a university place is calculated by the mean of the exam grades and the average of the grades obtained by the student in courses equivalent to the "Bachillerato" and "COU". To pass the "University Admissions Exam" a grade of five points or more must be obtained. In cases for which there are no equivalence tables or for which the grades of each and every one of the courses to be convalidated are not presented by the student, the academic transcript will not be taken into consideration and the "definitive score" will be the average of the two tests of which the exam consists.
  5. After passing the "Selectivity Exam" students can present their application to the university where they wish to study. Each university will post the procedures, deadlines and required documentation for admission.
  6. Some Faculities or Select Technical Schools offer a limited number of places which are in high demand. For that reason they require the highest grades in the university admissions exam, the "Pruebas de Acceso a la Universidad (P.A.U.)".
  7. In the cases of Art Appreciation, Translation, Sports and similar studies that lead to a double Spanish and foreign degree, the universities test those students to assess their aptitude in these areas together with their capacity in an oral and written exam.
  8. Once having passed the university admissions test and having obtained a place in a Faculty or School, to formalize the registration it is necessary to transfer the academic transcript of the student. In order to matriculate in the university of choice it is necessary to send to the Section of Selectivity of the university the following documents: an original certificate of admission to the Faculty or School that has granted the place; a receipt of having paid into the bank account of the the university the transfer of the deposit; and a photocopy of the examination results slip or, if that is not possible, the number of the student's passport with the examination results and the year and the type of Selectivity test passed.