Spanish Course for University Access – PCES Preparation Course

Since 2017, after the application of the new law on education, in Spain the “Selectividad” has disapeard, so that students no longer have to pass any national exam to access Spanish universities.

From this moment on, the format in which the student’s grade is calculated also changes. Thus, the Specific Competency Tests (PCEs), optional tests that serve both students from the EU, as well as students from foreign educational systems with an agreement to improve their university entrance grades, and also to help define your access path.

• • Students from the EU or from countries with an agreement can make up to 4 PCEs to improve their access grade in 4 points, so that their maximum grade of their file would go from 10 to 14 points. The 2 PCEs with the best grades would score 2 points according to their weighting.

   

  • The students of foreign educational systems would improve their file mark from 6 to 14 points. With each one of the 4 PCEs made, 1 extra point could be obtained (to reach 10 points) and two of the four PCEs could provide 2 more points each, to improve the file score from 10 to 14 points.

There is no obligatory PCE. Each student must consider at the time of choosing the subjects the admission criteria of their selected universities and the subjects that will serve to improve their admission grade according to the evaluation stipulated by each university.

In addition to the points obtained by the PCEs, each university can assess some criteria such as the academic record of their country of origin, the level of accredited Spanish or the way of study to assess the candidates. In order to grant a path of study (Science, Social Sciences, Humanities or Arts) students from the EU or from countries with an agreement must have passed a minimum of 3 subjects in their education system, which are equivalent to the general or core subjects of the Spanish educational system. Students of foreign educational systems may complete with PCEs those subjects necessary to grant the target study path.