Guide to Applying to Spanish University

You have just finished or about to graduate high school and received your diploma and you wish to enter the University in Barcelona, ​​Valencia or any other city in Spain for a Bachelor's Degree. What are the next steps? And what do you need to enter? ¡No te preocupes! We will explain it to you as simply and clearly as possible.

Each university in Spain has its own requirements for admission for every faculty. Therefore, the first thing you need to do is choose your major.

First, you need to understand for yourself what profession you want to get an education in. Perhaps you studied or have an interest in economics or mathematics, so it's logical to continue studying in this direction. You can also try something new and there is every chance for this.

Look at the main universities in the major cities of Spain. Start with the state universities of Valencia, Barcelona, ​​Madrid. Higher education in them is relatively cheap (starts from 800 euros / year). If you are interested in private universities, then we will briefly discuss them below

Admission to higher education institutions in Spain is based on a point system. The maximum number that an applicant can score is 14 points. What are they made up of?

DIPLOMA (5-9 points) + EXAMS (up to 6 points) = FINAL SCORE

Here on the notasdecorte website you can find the average passing scores for Bachelor's degrees in various universities in Spain for the past year. For example, here are the passing scores of the University of Valencia for the 2024/2025 course.

Let's assume that you need to score at least 12 points for your specialty at the university. We already know that a school certificate gives you 5-9 points. Accordingly, the remaining points must be scored by passing exams. In total, you can pass 4 exams for Valencia and 6 for other autonomous regions.

The first part of the passing score depends on the average score of your high-school diploma / secondary school certificate. If you come from a country with a 5-point scoring system, It is difficult to say what the average score will be as Spain has a 10-point scoring system. The final score is determined by the Spanish Ministry of Education. In order for a Spanish university to accept your certificate, you need to do the following:

The choice of subjects for the entry exams also depends on the specialty you have chosen. For example, for humanities specialties, economics and history of art are taken. And for technical specialties, the emphasis may be on physics. The choice of subjects also depends on the autonomous region where you will be entering. For example, in Valencia, you are currently required to take only 4 exams. In general, it looks like this.

Let's say you chose a humanities major. You'll most likely need to take math (which can be divided into I and II), economics, and art history. Math I and II are general subjects, "asignaturas troncales generales." You can score from 0 to 1 point for each.

You scored 0.7 in Math I and 0.8 in Math II = 1.5 points for these subjects.

There are also subjects that give you double points. In our case, these are economics and art history. These are the "troncales de opción" subjects. You can take a maximum of two of these subjects. How are double points formed?

The exam score (from 0 to 1) x 2. For example, you passed economics with 0.8 points. This score is doubled and added up: 0.8 x 2 = 1.6 points for economics. Next, you passed art history with 0.6 points. This score is doubled and added up: 0.6 x 2 = 1.2 points for this subject.

To understand what subjects you will need to take, look for information on the website of the universities you are interested in. For example, this is what the list of subjects by specialty in 2025 at Comunidad Valenciana universities looks like.

But if you don’t know or can’t figure out the subjects, don’t worry. Preparatory courses at language schools are aimed at helping foreign students not only learn Spanish, but also decide and prepare for university exams.

Don't forget that if you are going to study in Spain, then most likely your main language of study will be Spanish (it is worth writing a separate article about the uselessness of studying in Spain in English), so all entrance exams are taken in Spanish. That is, you also need to know it, and at least at the B1 level.

For this, several language schools in Spain offer special courses for graduates of foreign educational institutions who want to enter public universities in Spain. Thus, in a language school, you immediately study both Spanish and the subjects in which you will then need to take exams.

What is included: Spanish language course (Sept-Jan) + preparation for subject exams (Jan-May)
Number of subjects: from 3 to 6
Intensity: 20 hours per week (4 hours per day)
Period: September-May (January-May)

For more information about university preparation courses, see the link below

You can find a Russian version of this page here