Spanish Universities are currently reviewing their recruitment systems both for Spanish and international students. Up to now, for the highest demanded degrees (which require high marks from students), 4 extra points can be obtained through subject specific exams. These were required regardless of country of origin as most competitive degrees required 12+ marks and baccalaureate only brings students to a max of 10. The new system will avoid this extra exam for international students by using marks of the most relevant A-Levels to grant these extra points.
Students will be accepted on a degree depending on their overall baccalaureate (or AL) marks on a 0-10 scale. For competitive degrees, the University will then consider the marks obtained in the most relevant subjects from the student's curriculum (for example, biology and chemistry are likely to be used for health related degrees). In all cases, students are allowed to take the entry exam for each required subject, if they feel that they can increase the mark obtained by their AL qualification. This is subject to an exercise which is currently mapping A-Level curriculum and Spanish subject curriculum and which is due to finish by mid February. Both Pearson and Cambridge are helping UNED, British Schools in Spain and British Council in finalising this mapping exercise.
All applications will continue to be centralised through UNED, using a computer based system. We will keep the sector informed through the SIEM website.