Language, PCE exams, homologation, visa and enrolment. It is one process with eight steps, and the order you do them in decides your grade and your deadlines.
Before anything else
Your access grade is 10 points. Where you went to school decides who fills them.
EU and EHEA systems, the International Baccalaureate, European Schools and countries with an agreement with Spain.
All 10 points can come from your school record. The exams are there to push you higher.
Every other school system, including most of Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Your school record stops at 6 points, and 4 of those are given to everyone. The exams carry the rest.
The full path
None of these steps is hard on its own. They go wrong in the wrong order: one of them decides the grade you compete with, and another can take a year to resolve.
Step 01 · A year before you start
Two students with the same school report can end up with very different access grades, because Spain treats education systems differently. Before you pay for a single translation, you need to know whether UNEDasiss will accredit your grades directly or whether you have to homologate your qualification and sit PCE exams.
With AtlasWe read your transcript, your country and your target degree, and we tell you which route you are on in one call.
See how each route converts your gradeStep 02 · Ten to twelve months before
Most degrees at public universities are taught in Spanish, and universities usually ask for a B2 level or above. This is the part students postpone and then regret, because language is the one requirement you cannot fix in a weekend.
With AtlasWe tell you the level your university asks for and how much time you realistically need to reach it.
Step 03 · Nine months before
UNEDasiss is the service that turns your foreign school record into a grade Spanish universities can read. If you sit PCE exams, your subject choice is a strategic decision: each degree weights different subjects, and the wrong pick costs you points you can never recover.
With AtlasWe match your subject choice to the weighting table of the exact degree and university you want.
How the PCE exams workStep 04 · Six to nine months before
Homologation makes your secondary school qualification officially valid in Spain. It means legalisations, apostilles, sworn translations and a file that the Ministry of Education can take between three and twelve months to resolve. Start it late and you miss the application window, not the exam.
With AtlasWe check your documents before you send them, file the application and follow the case until it resolves.
Step 05 · Three to six months before
The PCE are official exams run by UNED. Passing is not the goal. The goal is the mark, because on the homologation route your four best PCE results build almost half of your access grade, and your two best-weighted results decide whether you clear the cut-off mark of a competitive degree.
With AtlasLive classes, past papers and a study plan built around your exam session and your time zone.
Step 06 · Two to four months before
With your UNEDasiss accreditation in hand you apply to the degrees you want. Each university publishes its own calendar, its own weighting parameters and its own cut-off marks, and they do not all open on the same day.
With AtlasWe build your shortlist from your real admission grade, so you apply where you can actually get in.
Step 07 · Two to three months before
If you need a visa, you apply at the Spanish consulate in your country. You will be asked for a letter of admission, proof that you can support yourself, medical insurance and a clean criminal record certificate. Consulates set their own waiting times, and some run several months behind.
With AtlasWe prepare your document pack for the consulate and tell you what your country's office asks for.
Step 08 · The finish line
Fees, forms, your UNEDasiss credential, the university enrolment itself and, once you are in Spain, your foreign national identity number. It is administrative work, but it is where a place can still be lost.
With AtlasWe stay with you through enrolment. You do not have to work out which form goes where.
You do not have to work this out alone. Tell us where you studied and what you want to study, and we will send you the version of this path that applies to you.
Request informationFour fronts, one team beside you on all of them.
Homologation
We turn your secondary school certificate into a qualification Spanish universities accept. We handle the paperwork, the apostilles and the deadlines.
PCE exams
Live classes focused on the exam itself, with teachers who know how each paper is marked, so you arrive with the grade your degree asks for.
Immigration
Student visa, foreign national identity number and every consular document, prepared with you from the first form to the last stamp.
Guidance
We help you choose a university and a degree that match your grades, your interests and the places you can realistically win.
These are not four separate services you buy one by one. The same team runs your homologation, your exam preparation and your visa file, which is how deadlines stop colliding with each other.
Request informationDiscover the experience of students who already prepared their university entrance exams with Atlas.
See testimonialsThe exam
What the PCE are, who has to sit them, how many subjects you need and which subjects actually raise your grade for the degree you want.
Read moreThe maths
The formula behind your access grade, why the homologation route caps your school record at 6 out of 10, and what that costs in real cases.
Read moreIt depends on where you studied. If your education system belongs to the EU or the European Higher Education Area, or you hold an International Baccalaureate, or your country has a reciprocity agreement with Spain, UNEDasiss can accredit your grades directly and you access without homologating. Every other system accesses through homologation, which means a Ministry of Education procedure plus PCE exams. Send us your transcript and we will tell you which case you are in before you spend anything on documents.
Plan for a full year. Homologation alone can take between three and twelve months depending on your country and how complete your file is. PCE exams run in two sessions a year. Visa appointments at some consulates are booked months ahead. None of these steps is long on its own. What catches students out is doing them in the wrong order.
Most public universities ask for B2 or above for degrees taught in Spanish, and some faculties ask for more. A few degrees are taught partly or fully in English, but they are the exception and they are competitive. The language requirement is set by the university, not by UNEDasiss, so check the exact degree you want.
In many cases yes, using the proof of application that the Ministry issues. But the documents each university accepts, and when it accepts them, are decided by that university. Never assume one application replaces another. We check the rules of your destination before you file anything.
If you are an EU citizen, no. If you are not, you apply for a student visa at the Spanish consulate in your country of residence. You will need a letter of admission, medical insurance, proof of funds and a criminal record certificate. Requirements vary by consulate, so we prepare your pack against the checklist your specific office publishes.
Public university fees are among the lowest in Western Europe, though non-EU students pay a higher rate at some universities and in some regions. On top of tuition you should budget for homologation fees, sworn translations, PCE registration, the visa and your living costs. We give you a realistic breakdown for your country and your destination city on the first call.
Yes. Our classes are online and our students prepare from more than 25 countries. We record every session, so different time zones are not a problem, and your paperwork is handled remotely with you.
As early as you can, and at the latest a year before the course you want to start. The earlier you know your route, the more you can do in the right order, and the order is what decides your grade and your deadlines.
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