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European
Credits
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- Until recently, a school credit in Spain (defined in article 2-7 of the Royal Decree 1497/1987) was judged to be “ten hours of theoretical or practical instruction, or the equivalent”. Credits defined as such differ greatly from those defined by the EHEA as they were accumulative units which only took into account the hours of in-class learning, and did not reflect the student's study time. Spain however, has participated from the outset in the ERASMUS mobility programs, resulting in the adoption of the norms of the European Credit System (ECTS), although there were some difficulties of adaptation to the national system. ECTS credits are used in parallel to the national system for exchange purposes, which shows that a good basis already exists to introduce the European credit system.
- The Royal Decree approved by the Ministry of Education and Culture in September of 2003 is intended to establish in Spain the European credit and the European system of academic degrees as of October 1st 2010.
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European Supplement to Spanish Degree Requirements
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- The process for implementing the European Supplement to Spanish Degree Requirements was designed with two stages. The first is a provisional phase which will last until the new degrees with the ECTS system have been put into practice, and the second is a permanent phase to be put into action once all the measures envisaged in the Bologna process have been adopted.
- For this first, transitional phase, the MECD passed a Royal Decree in 2003 meant to regulate the procedures by which the European Supplement to Spanish Degree Requirements will be applied in the case of existing degree programs. This Royal Decree establishes that the supplement to be issued by each particular University, at the request of the interested party. The Decree also includes recommendations for the security, content and format of the document.
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Structure of the Education
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- Article 88 of the LOU establishes that the Spanish Government will adopt its education system to the general structure proposed by the European Higher Education Area.
- The European Framework Document proposes that the cyclical structure of education should be unified with the two-level structure outlined in the Bologna Declaration: a first, undergraduate level, and a second, postgraduate level.
- The MECD has passed two Royal Decrees, one for each level of education, to establish the general guidelines for each one:
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- Completion of the first-cycle (lower division) university studies will give the student the right to obtain the corresponding degree with “the acknowledgement and designation of the Government in every case".
- The total number of ECTS credits will be between 180 and 240.
- A minimum of 50 (and no more than 75) percent of the credits must be acquired from core classes, designated by the general guidelines.
- These new plans must be approved within a period of three years from the date of the Royal Decree for the Validation of Diplomas.
- These processes will not affect the academic or professional validity of degrees that are currently valid
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- Regulates the second and third cycle of university studies, which grant Master’s or Doctorate degrees.
- It is the responsibility of each university to organize these programs.
- To gain admittance to these studies, it is necessary for the student to have obtained an undergraduate degree or equivalent.
- The purpose of these degrees is to enable students to specialize in his or her academic, professional or research formation.
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- In September of 2006, the MECD released a document entitled “The Organization of University Studies in Spain” which brings together the principal ideas on the organization of university studies proposed by the MECD. Afterwards, on November 6, 2006, the MEC released another document answering questions raised by the above mentioned document from September 26th.
- The Royal Decree 1393/2007, establishes, as of October 29th 2007, the classification of official university studies.
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Quality Evaluation and Accreditation
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- For Spain, one of the principal objectives of the LOU (developed in article V of the document) is the improvement of the quality of the university system. To achieve this, article 32 declared that "the Government will authorize the founding of the National Agency for Quality Evaluation and Accreditation (ANECA)".
- The ANECA, as of its formation in July of 2002, is in charge (together with evaluation organizations that are formed in the Spanish Autonomous Communities) of directing the evaluation processes of the quality of the university education in Spain.
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