Official or university qualifications are accredited by ANECA (National Quality and Accreditation Evaluation Agency) and regulated by Royal Decree 822/2021.

These advanced training programs may be specialized or multidisciplinary and they aim to facilitate academic or professional specialization or the initiation of research activities.

As such, official qualifications give graduates access to doctoral studies.

Official qualifications are valid throughout Spain and in all universities that form part of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). In other words, the qualification is valid in any country in Europe.

Official qualifications undergo external evaluation processes and are eventually included on the University, College and Qualification Registry  (RUCT).

INSTITUTION-SPECIFIC QUALIFICATIONS

Institution-specific qualifications are designed and run by a university educational institution based on the institution’s own criteria. They can follow any syllabus that they consider appropriate, based on the power that such institution’s have to create their own non-official qualifications.

As such, institution-specific qualifications do not give graduates access to doctoral studies.

Institution-specific qualifications have a more professionalizing focus, oriented to the labour market.

They focus on innovative and changing areas to cater for the current labour market’s demands for skills and competencies in a more agile way. They are designed to enable professionals to enter the labour market or move forward in their career. Based on the reputation of the university that runs these programs, the qualifications are rated very positively in the national and international employment market.

They receive widespread professional recognition based on the university’s reputation, the program content, the lecturers and the opinions of former students.

They cater for a demand for specialist training in fields of knowledge that, in general, are not covered by official qualifications.

They are a tool for revitalizing the curriculum, boosting professional growth, updating knowledge and facilitating lifelong learning.