07 Oct 2020
In 2010 Valencia’s Ministry of Education, Training and Employment launched a pioneering initiative in partnership with Valencia’s public universities. This initiative was titled Grupos Alta Rendimiento Académico (Grupos ARA) – High Academic Performance Groups.
The Grupos ARA is a collaboration which boosts the potential of the most outstanding students from the very beginning of their university studies. Students studying in a Grupos ARA benefit from smaller class sizes and instruction from specialist teachers. More than 50 per cent of the curriculum is studied in English. Students can also take part in an Erasmus exchange programme at an English-speaking university and have access to research grants. The programme is designed so that the brightest students with the best aptitudes will have all the support and resources available to help them attain their peak academic performance.
The following five universities in the Valencia region:
- Universidad De Valencia
- Universidad Politécnica de Valencia
- Universitat Jaume I de Castellón,
- Universidad de Alicante
- Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche
have Grupos ARA courses. Between them, these Universities offer 74 different undergraduate courses, including in medicine, aeronautical engineering, economics and law. Ten years after its launch, around 3000 students currently studying in the Valencian region now belong to one of these Grupos ARA courses. Entry to Grupos ARA courses is based on a student’s strong academic record and accredited knowledge of English to at least CEFR B2 Level.
We are proud to announce that students applying with Cambridge International A Levels are exempted from providing English language proficiency certification. Their competence in English is considered to be higher than the required CEFR B2 entry level having studied full-time in English for at least two years before being accepted onto one of these Grupos ARA courses. Cambridge International AS & A Levels are taken in over 130 countries with more than 575000 subject entries each year. They are taught at over 50 schools in Spain.
Further information on Grupos ARA can be found on the website. Questions regarding Grupos ARA, their entry requirements and/ or the selection process should be addressed to the applicant’s chosen public university. Students applying with Cambridge International A Levels must ensure they meet all entry requirements for their selected course before submitting an application.
