Yes, you can access it if you have a degree from other educational systems outside the EHEA without the need to approve your previous studies, after the university has previously verified the accreditation of a level of training equivalent to the corresponding degrees official university degrees of the Spanish State and which entitle them to access master's courses in the country issuing the degree. Access through this route will not imply, in any case, the approval of the student's previous degree or its recognition for purposes other than that of taking the aforementioned master's degree.

University courses are structured in ECTS (European Credit Transfer System), better known as university credits. Each ECTS is equivalent to between 25 and 30 total hours of teaching load corresponding to teaching and independent work.

University masters have a teaching load of 60, 90 or 120 ECTS credits. Therefore, if you dedicate yourself to it full-time, you need between one and two academic years, depending on the university master's degree, to study it in its entirety.

They are inter-university master's degrees that are part of the main exchange program for higher education students in Europe. Its aim is to improve the quality of European higher education by promoting dialogue and understanding between people and cultures through cooperation with third countries.

At least three higher education institutions from European Union countries must participate in the Erasmus Mundus university masters.

If you take one of these master's degrees you will have to do, at least, a stay in two of these institutions and another stay in an institution in a third country.

Some university master's degrees entitle you to practice specific professions that have specific regulations. These are studies, the minimum mandatory contents of which must be developed in the corresponding study plans. In this way, the achievement of skills and knowledge necessary and required for the development and exercise of each of the professions is guaranteed.

They are the university masters with a single study plan that are taught between two or more Catalan universities, in the State or in other countries, in which each of the participating universities develops a number of subjects. The coordinating university will be the institution in charge of processing and managing the student's file and registration. Access requirements will be unique and mobility will be mandatory.

The official university master's degree is the one that is valid throughout the territory of the Spanish State. The study plans that must be taken to obtain these master's degrees must be previously verified by the Council of Universities of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, authorized by the competent department for universities of the Generalitat de Catalunya, and must be registered in the Register of Universities, Centers and Titles (RUCT).

The master's degree is a non-regulated study that leads to the obtaining of an unofficial degree that is recognized, solely, by the university that delivers it. Universities regulate access to their own master's degrees and set their academic prices.

Although each university, each centre and each faculty has its own calendar, as a general rule, the university year runs from September to July, divided into two parts. There are no classes in August.

The following would thus be the basic calendar:

First semester

• Early September: arrival and enrolment of foreign students
• Second fortnight of September: start of the academic year
• Between 20 and 23 December: classes finish
• Christmas vacation: until 6 January
• January and first week of February: first semester final exams and results

Second semester

• First fortnight of February: arrival and enrolment of foreign students who are only taking the second semester
• Second fortnight of February: classes begin
• Between March and April: Easter vacation (one week)
• First week of June: classes finish
• Until the end of June: exams
• July: results

Holidays

In addition to the vacations in August, at Christmas and at Easter, during the academic year there are a number of other holidays, when no classes take place:

• 1 May International Workers' Day
• May or June: Whit Monday
• 24 June: Sant Joan
• 11 September: Diada Nacional de Catalunya
• 12 October: National Day of Spain
• 1 November: All Saints
• 6 December: Constitution Day
• 8 December: Immaculate Conception

In each municipality there are also two local holidays. In Barcelona, one of these is 24 September, when festivities take place in honour of La Mercè, the city's patron saint.

Catalonia has 12 universities (7 public, 4 private and 1 online) where more than 250,000 people study. With an offer of more than 500 degrees and more than 600 master's degrees, Catalonia is among the priority destinations for international students.

If you have started your studies abroad, you must contact the faculty or university school where the same or similar studies are taught and process the partial validation of subjects.

If you are validated with 30 ECTS credits or more, the university will be able to authorize the registration directly. If you are validated with less than 30 ECTS credits, you will have to formalize the application for university pre-registration, you can only apply to the center that granted you the validation and you will be recognized with a grade of 5,000 points.

University courses are structured in ECTS (the English acronym for the European Credit Transfer System), better known as university credits. Each ECTS is equivalent to between 25 and 30 total hours of teaching load corresponding to teaching and independent work.

The maximum duration of doctoral studies is three academic years, with full-time dedication, counting from the admission of the doctoral student to the presentation of the doctoral thesis. Doctoral studies can also be done part-time. In this case, studies can have a maximum duration of five years. Exceptionally, the university can extend this duration.

These are the official third-cycle university studies that lead to the acquisition of the skills and abilities related to quality scientific research and the obtaining of the doctorate, the university's highest academic degree. In order to obtain the doctorate degree, it is necessary to have passed a training period and an organized research period. These studies end with the preparation and defense of the doctoral thesis.

The doctoral student must present the thesis before finishing the doctoral program. This project must be endorsed by the director of the thesis and be accepted by the department responsible for the doctoral program.

The doctoral thesis will consist of an original research work prepared and defended before a court by the doctoral student, in any field of knowledge, which will enable him to work independently in the field of R+D+I.

Some degrees have mandatory minimum common contents established by regulations that enable them to exercise specific professions with specific regulation. These are studies with mandatory minimum contents that must be developed in the corresponding study plans. In this way, the achievement of the necessary skills and knowledge required for the development and exercise of each of the professions is guaranteed.

No, each university organizes its studies according to the resources it has and adjusts the offer to the areas of knowledge in which it stands out for its specialization. On the other hand, even if the studies of different universities may coincide in name, each university proposes a study plan with its own characteristics. Only the studies that enable the exercise of a regulated profession have mandatory minimum common contents, established by the regulations, the same for all universities.

Yes. If the exchange between universities does not take place within the framework of a mobility program, you can request from the university of origin a transfer of academic records to the university of destination. The latter will then assess the credits taken and issue the corresponding degree at the end of the studies. On the contrary, if the exchange between universities takes place within the framework of a mobility program, the university of origin will assess the credits taken at the destination university and issue the corresponding degree.

The Catalan university model aims to guarantee excellence and attract talent through the internationalization of Catalan universities and the development of quality improvement plans.

Catalan universities are fundamental institutions for the creation and dissemination of culture and scientific, humanistic, technical and professional knowledge; for the incorporation of the Catalan language in all these areas; and for the transmission of civil and social values ​​that characterize a democratic society.

The system is structured in three large blocks, depending on the degree of specialization and depth of knowledge: degrees, masters and doctorates. All three stages last between two and four years and lead to professional life.