What it means

A higher education centre that establishes an agreement with a public or private university to teach studies leading to official university degrees, which are authorised by the department responsible for universities of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Administrative process offered to people enrolled in a curriculum prior to the EHEA, by which the credits passed are recognized, and which allows students to continue the degree corresponding to the same university.

Academic options that the student has to be able to access university studies. Currently, there are several pathways to access the university. The majority route is through the university entrance exams (PAU), but there are also other specific routes for people over 25, 40 and 45 years old, among others.

A higher education centre that establishes an agreement with a public or private university to teach studies leading to official university degrees, which are authorised by the department responsible for universities of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Acronym of the Agency for the Management of University and Research Grants. It is the body that manages, in Catalonia, scholarships and university grants.

Acronym of the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation. It is the national institution that supports universities in all processes related to quality assurance and improving the competitiveness of the university system.

Acronym of the Agency for the Quality of the University System of Catalonia. It is the institution for the accreditation and evaluation of the quality of university studies in Catalonia, which must ensure compliance with the quality criteria set.

Additional education, which depending on the accredited previous training must be taken by students wishing to start a university master's degree, and which may be part of the corresponding master's degree, provided that the total number of credits to be taken does not exceed 120. The bridging courses are determined by the regulations of each university.

It is a project that will have between 6 and 30 ECTS credits, it must be carried out in the final phase of the curriculum and be oriented to the evaluation of competences associated with the degree.

Academic units that must have all the bachelor's degree curricula, which are specified in subjects, with a minimum of 6 ECTS credits, which must be programmed in the first half of the aforementioned plans. These academic units are determined by the branch or branches of knowledge to which the study is assigned.

They are large fields of knowledge, which are concretized in a set of basic subjects that capture the essence of each of them. In the case of bachelor's degree studies, affiliation to a branch entails the teaching of a minimum of 36 common credits of the aforementioned subjects, which allows mobility between different studies of the same cycle. Bachelor's and master's degree studies are assigned to at least one of the following five branches of knowledge: arts and humanities, sciences, health sciences, social and legal sciences, and engineering and architecture.

They are the basic bodies responsible for organising and developing research and teaching in their respective areas of knowledge. They are directed by the Department Council which, in turn, appoints the department director.

See Simultaneity of studies.

The doctoral thesis consists of an original research project prepared by the candidate in any field of knowledge. The thesis must enable the doctoral student to work independently in the field of R+D+I.

Unit of value of education adapted to the European Higher Education Area. Each credit has between 25 and 30 hours of lectures, theoretical or practical, hours dedicated to seminars, assignments, practices or projects and those required to prepare for and take exams and assessment tests. Each subject in the curriculum has a certain allocation of credits.

University master's degree of high academic quality, selected and subsidized for a period of five years by the European Commission from among those who meet the requirements. These studies must be taught by at least three universities in three EU countries. They are part of a community action programme for cooperation and mobility, which aims to improve quality in the field of university education and the promotion of intercultural understanding, through cooperation with third countries.

Enrolment modality whereby students who meet the requirements for access to university studies enrol in one or more subjects for reasons of personal interest. It only entitles you to the issuance of the corresponding certificate. Extraordinary enrolment cannot be made compatible with ordinary enrolment. Students will be able to enrol for a maximum of 50 credits through extraordinary enrolment, which is also more expensive than ordinary enrolment.

Grade required to access university studies. It is obtained from the grade obtained in the general phase of the PAU (with a weight of 40 %), provided that it is greater than or equal to 4, and the average baccalaureate grade (which represents the remaining 60 %). This access mark, which is between 5 and 10, is valid indefinitely.

System that was created to validate the subjects that students take within the Erasmus mobility program. The credits have between 25 and 30 hours to be completed between 36 and 40 weeks per academic year, each academic year will have 60 credits. The allocation of credits will take into account the hours corresponding to teaching, theoretical or practical classes, the hours dedicated to carrying out seminars, assignments, practices or projects and those required to prepare for and take exams and assessment tests.

The European Diploma Supplement (EDS) is the document that grants community validity to the academic curriculum. It consists of an annex to the university degree detailing the subjects studied, languages taught, credits taken, skills acquired, academic results and professional qualification of the person with an official bachelor's degree, university master's degree or doctor.

It is the main student exchange program in Europe. Within the Lifelong Learning Programme (PAP), Erasmus is a sectoral sub-programme and corresponds to exchanges in higher education. The Erasmus programme provides for systems for the validation and equivalence of credits and financial aid by the European Union. Through the Erasmus programme, students at a European university can carry out studies equivalent to those they are taking at another European university for a full academic year or a semester.

Within the framework of the process initiated since the Bologna Declaration, most European countries are working towards the creation of a European Higher Education Area, which promotes the convergence of the different education systems in order to improve the quality, transparency and compatibility of studies, degrees and diplomas.

Subjects chosen by students without any conditioning factors. They can be taken at the university centre where you are enrolled or at any other centre of the same university. They can also be taken in companies with which there are collaboration programmes, at other universities with which an agreement has been signed or at universities in other countries.

Integrative work or synthesis of training received that is carried out at the end of regulated studies. The curricula state whether the project is planned to be carried out, as well as whether it is compulsory or optional.

A study aimed at students obtaining general training, in one or more disciplines, aimed at preparing them for professional activities. Its teaching load is 240 European credits (ECTS), equivalent to a 4-year study period, or 180 European credits, equivalent to a 3-year study period. On the other hand, there are degrees that, due to the requirements of European Union regulations, are at least 300 ECTS credits and involve a longer period of study. The academic qualification obtained at the end of these studies is that of graduate. Bachelor's degree studies give access to university master's degree studies.

Maximum grade that students can obtain in a subject. It produces academic and economic effects. Students who have obtained honours in any subject will benefit from it in the following academic year, as they will be entitled to free enrolment for the value of the credits in which they have obtained honours. The teaching staff of a subject may award an honors degree for every twenty students or fraction.

Administrative act recognising the equivalence of a foreign and a Spanish degree. Homologations of secondary studies or university degrees may occur. Prior recognition of degrees is a requirement for access to official Spanish university degrees.

The curricula can indicate the temporal ordering of the learning of the subjects that compose them and establish incompatibilities, also called prerequisites or corequisites. Thus, it may happen that, in order to be graded in a subject or to be able to enrol in it, it is necessary to have passed another related subject.

A practical subject or part of a subject in which students apply their practical knowledge in the workplace of a company with which the university has signed an agreement. In some curricula, internships in companies may be defined by equivalence credits.

These are the studies taught, jointly, by more than one university, of which one acts as coordinator. The curriculum is unique, with a joint training programme, with the same competences, objectives and results, and involves student mobility between the different universities. The degree is unique and is processed, issued and managed by the coordinating university, with the logos and signatures of the rectors of all the participating universities.

Access to university degrees is conditioned by the ability to admit students, which is why the vast majority of degrees have an established maximum admission limit (LMA). These limits are established by the General Conference on University Policy, of the Ministry responsible for universities.

Curricular itinerary or specificity that forms part of the curricula of some bachelor's degrees,  established by the university.

Administrative act by which students increase, reduce or change the subjects in which they have enrolled. Enrolment modifications are only accepted within the deadlines specifically established for this purpose.

It consists of the preparation and public defence of a project with which the university master's degree studies will conclude and which will have between 6 and 30 ECTS credits.

University higher education centre, of a public university or a private university, which organises and teaches studies leading to the award of official university degrees, which are authorised by the department responsible for universities of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Credits corresponding to subjects established as optional in a curriculum. Normally, these subjects are grouped together to form specializations or specialties.

These are the subjects of the curriculum, freely established by each university, so that students can choose, among them, the ones they want to take.

These are the qualifications obtained after having completed official university education, which are valid throughout the territory of Spain. The curricula that must be taken to obtain official degrees must be previously verified by the Council of Universities of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and authorised by the department responsible for universities of the Generalitat de Catalunya and must be registered in the Register of Universities, Centres and Degrees (RUCT).

Modality of teaching or access to an official university study offered by each of the universities and which may be associated with a university pre-enrolment code.

Programme that allows students to enrol in first-year or first- and second-year subjects from the range of studies offered by a university, with the aim of choosing a specific study in which they want to graduate.

These are official university studies that lead to the acquisition of skills and abilities related to quality scientific research. The academic qualification obtained at the end of these studies is that of doctor (see: doctoral thesis).

Subjects in the curriculum that aim to apply the knowledge acquired in a set of theoretical subjects.

Coordinated system for the distribution of students that guarantees equal conditions in the process of admission and admission to the first year of undergraduate studies at public universities and at the University of Vic-UCC. It is not used to access private universities, 2nd cycle studies or an official master's degree (except for the master's degree in teacher training), in which case the pre-enrolment application must be made directly to the centre that teaches the corresponding study.

The prices of university studies in official education at public universities and at the Open University of Catalonia are set annually by Decree of the Generalitat. In public universities, funding for  official education comes from the Administration of the Generalitat. To this transfer is added the contribution that the student makes, through enrolment, depending on the number of credits enrolled in and the degree of experimentality of the studies.

The prices of university studies in official education at private universities and affiliated centres in Catalonia are set by the University or by the centre and are not financed by the Administration, so the cost is covered by the price of enrolment.

These are those activities whose exercise requires the obtaining of a specific qualification, the contents of which are regulated by university regulations, in order to guarantee the teaching of certain subjects and the acquisition of skills that give access to a specific profession.

Recognition is understood to be the acceptance by a university of the credits that have been obtained in official courses, in the same or another university, and that are counted in other different courses for the purposes of obtaining an official degree.

This is the aid that students can receive to start or continue their university studies. To obtain a scholarship, you must meet certain academic and financial requirements.

Thematic contents of the courses that are structured in subjects.

Possibility for students to carry out academic stays or internships in university higher education institutions or in companies in another country or autonomous community.

It corresponds to a type of offer, through which the student will carry out two bachelor's degree studies at the same time and at the end of them will obtain the two official degrees. In cases where universities do not offer this possibility, students may simultaneously take two degrees, if they meet two requirements: to have completely passed the first year of the degree initially started, and to obtain a place through pre-enrolment, in the second degree they want to study. At the time of enrolment in the second degree, a simultaneous authorisation must be requested, in writing to the dean or director of the centre where the second degree is taught. No more than two degrees can be taken simultaneously.

Curricular itineraries or specificities that are part of the curricula of some university master's degrees, which are established by the university.

They are all those people who are enrolled in any of the university educational centres, in order to study there. Study is a right and a duty of university students.

These are the studies that enable the exercise of regulated professional activities in Spain. The Government establishes the conditions to which the curricula must be adapted, and they will also be adjusted to the applicable European regulations.

Administrative act by which students select the subjects they want to take in the academic year. Enrolment must be done within the established deadlines and in accordance with the established procedure. The amount of the enrolment fee is the sum of the credits of the selected subjects and the number of times the student has enrolled in the same subject.

This designation includes faculties, higher technical schools and university schools. These centres are responsible for the academic and administrative coordination of bachelor's, master's and doctoral studies.

Study that aims to help students acquire advanced, specialised or multidisciplinary training, aimed at academic or professional specialisation, or to promote initiation into research tasks. The academic qualification obtained at the end of these studies is that of a university master's degree. For the university master's degree, it will be necessary to have completed between 60 and 120 European credits.

These are non-regulated studies that lead to obtaining a non-official degree, recognised only by the university that teaches them. Universities regulate access to UB-specific degrees and set their academic prices.

Administrative process by which subjects, subjects or credits of studies passed in another degree or another university are recognised. Validations are carried out according to the similarity in content and teaching load between the subjects to be validated. Normally, students must prove that they have passed the subject they wish to validate and must provide the programme studied. The grade obtained is not transferred, but the concept of "passed" appears in the new academic record.

Parameters of the subjects taken in the baccalaureate for the calculation of the university entrance mark. Universities make public the specific value of each subject at the beginning of the academic year, which may vary from one year to the next.

These are the studies that give the right to obtain the degrees of diploma, teacher, technical architect and technical engineer. Access to these studies is through university pre-enrolment. Its overall teaching load is spread over three academic years with a minimum of 180 credits. First-cycle studies allow access to second-cycle studies, in accordance with the provisions of the regulations. The regulations define, in each case, the link between the 1st cycle and other 2nd cycle studies and establish, where appropriate, the completion of bridging courses.

These are the official and approved studies that give the right to obtain the degrees of bachelor's, architect and engineer. Access to these studies is through university pre-enrolment. Its overall teaching load is divided into 4 or 5 academic years with a minimum of 300 credits, except in those studies for which there are community guidelines that establish other criteria. Passing the first cycle of these studies does not entail obtaining any official qualification, but it may be valid for incorporation into other 2nd cycle studies. Successful completion of 1st and 2nd cycle studies entitles students to access 3rd cycle (doctorate) studies.

These are the specialization and research studies. To access it, you must be in possession of a bachelor's degree, architect or engineer. They are organised through doctoral programmes, which have a minimum teaching load of 32 credits and are a necessary requirement for access to the official doctoral degree.