Homologation or UNEDasiss: Getting a Foreign School Diploma Accepted in Spain
Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.
Spain has two different procedures for foreign school certificates, run by two different bodies, and applicants often start the wrong one. Which one you need depends on the education system you come from, not on your nationality.
Route 1. UNEDasiss accreditation, without homologation
Students from the education systems of EU countries, from systems with a reciprocity agreement with Spain, and holders of the International Baccalaureate or the European Baccalaureate do not need to homologate their diploma. They apply online to UNEDasiss, a service of the National Distance Education University. UNEDasiss checks the documents and issues an accreditation that converts your final grade to the Spanish scale, up to 10 points.
To compete for degrees that need more than 10, you add the specific competence tests (PCE): subject exams organised by UNED in Spain and at centres abroad, which can raise the access score to 14.
The condition is that your certificate gives access to university in your own country. If your system requires an entrance exam at home and you have not passed it, the accreditation is affected.
Route 2. Homologation of the diploma
Students from all other systems must have their school-leaving certificate declared equivalent to the Spanish Bachillerato. This is homologation, decided by the Spanish Ministry of Education.
- You apply online or at a registry office in Spain, or through a Spanish consulate, and pay a fee.
- Documents: identity document, the diploma, and the transcript of the last years of school, all legalised or apostilled and with official translations into Spanish.
- The decision takes months, often most of a year.
Because of the delay, the application receipt has a detachable slip (volante) that works as conditional enrolment: with it you can register for the PCE exams and enrol at a university, on condition that the homologation is granted later.
After homologation you still go to UNEDasiss, this time for the accreditation and the PCE exams that build your access score.
What each university asks
Universities decide which UNEDasiss services they require: some ask for particular PCE subjects, some for a language accreditation, some for none. Before you register with UNEDasiss, check the admission rules of your chosen universities and regions. UNEDasiss publishes a table by university.
Private universities run their own admission and may accept you before homologation is complete, but you need it, or the accreditation, to be formally enrolled in an official degree.
Documents and translations
- Legalise or apostille the originals in the country of issue. See apostille and legalisation.
- Translate into Spanish with a sworn translator recognised in Spain. See sworn translations.
- EU school documents are generally exempt from legalisation, but not from translation.
Timeline
- Autumn to winter: apostilles and translations; submit the homologation request if you need it.
- Late winter to spring: register with UNEDasiss and for the PCE.
- Late spring: sit the PCE in the ordinary session; there is an extraordinary session later.
- Early summer: pre-register with the universities of each region.
Homologation of a school diploma is not recognition of a degree
If you already hold a university degree and want to practise a regulated profession in Spain, that is a different procedure, with the Ministry of Universities, and it is slower still.
Where to look next
Official sources
Always check current information on the official website of the university before you apply.