Spain

Spanish higher education boasts a long tradition of academic excellence, a wealth of academic programmes to choose from, good employment opportunities, and moderate costs of living. Many Spanish universities are placed high in international rankings and are prestigious internationally, such as the Complutense University of Madrid, or the University of Barcelona.

Spain’s attractiveness as a higher education destination country is growing year by year. For example, according to a report by StudyPortals that analysed the number of page views on their websites, the interest in Spanish on-campus English-taught Bachelor programmes has increased by 18% between April 2021 and March 2022, compared to the year before.

Key facts

If you are interested in applying to Spanish universities with Cambridge qualifications, either as a Spanish or international student, it is important to remember the following key facts:

• Minimum requirements to access universities in Spain with Cambridge International qualifications
  • 5 Cambridge IGCSE subjects at grade C / grade 4 or above, plus
  • Minimum 3 full Cambridge International A Levels and up to 4 Cambridge International AS & A Levels, ensuring min 48 UCAS tariff points: 2 A Levels + 2 AS Levels, 3 A Levels, 3 A Levels + 1 AS Level or 4 A Levels.
  • Cambridge IGCSEs and International AS & A Levels are treated on a par with the GCSE and AS & A Levels taken by students in the UK.
• Contact the university as early on as possible
  • Spanish universities are responsible for their own entry requirements and deadlines; the final decision on admission criteria lies with each institution. We advise you to contact the university directly as early on as possible. Applications are also made directly with the university.
• Student nationality: does it make a difference?
  • Higher education access requirements differ in Spain with the school qualification and not with the applicant’s nationality. For example, a Cambridge student from Namibia will need to meet the same requirements and will gain the same access as a student from Spain, if they both submit Cambridge qualifications in their applications. The applicant’s nationality is only significant for visa purposes.
• Key terms: access, admission
  • It is important to distinguish between access and admission. The requirements presented above represent the minimum conditions for students to be eligible to apply for university studies (access). Such requirements are set by the government (see next section). Universities often add more specific requirements, which are meant to help them select students (admission), especially in the case of competitive courses. Meeting the access requirements, therefore, does not guarantee admission to the chosen university / course.

Below is a summary to help you gain an overview from the start.

1. All qualifications need to be converted into points as per the Spanish system, on a scale of maximum 14 points.
2. The AS/A Level grades are converted into a score out of 10 that may be enough to gain a place on non-competitive courses.
3. For admission to competitive courses, up to 4 extra points are needed. Additional requirements may include A-Level minimum grades, requirements related to specific A-Level subjects for the selected course, or to language proficiency.
4. The information on this page applies mostly to the public higher education sector. The private universities have their own rules that are generally similar to the UK universities; they may offer places dependent on A level grades, an internal exam, and references from the school.

5. The conversion into Spanish grades is provided by an organisation called UNED, in a process called “accreditation”.
6. Read carefully what information you should try to find out from the university as early as possible.
7. For practicality, we may use the term “A levels” to refer to both the UK and the Cambridge International qualifications, as they are treated alike when applying to university in Spain.