1. Start
  2. Admission, enrolment and tuition fees
  3. Admission

Admission degrees

ESCI-UPF is a public educational institution. Admission is governed by the procedures set out by the Catalan Government and UPF.

Procedures to follow

If you want to apply for a place at ESCI-UPF you need to meet a series of requirements, which vary depending on your own circumstances.

If you have taken PAU university entrance exams or have a further education certificate
  • If you have a baccalaureate (or COU) certificate + PAU certificate, regardless of the baccalaureate modality/option taken.
  • If you have been in further education or taken higher-level vocational training. (You can take specific-stage PAU exams to improve your admission score.)

If you are a Spanish national and have taken official courses or you have a certificate that qualifies you for university study from an overseas education system, you need to get any course certificates officially approved. For further information, see the "Studying in Catalonia a Catalunya: Officially Approving Baccalaureate Certificates "section on the Catalan Government’s Ministry of Education website.

For further information on PAU university entrance exams and the university pre-enrolment process you need to undergo before you can be awarded a place to study at a university in Catalonia, please contact:

University Admissions Office
Address: Via Laietana, 2, planta baixa
City: 08003 Barcelona
Tel numbers: (+34) 93 223 03 23 and (+34) 93 223 25 91, 9 am to 2 pm
Contact address: Contact mailbox
Opening hours: All year round, Monday to Friday, 9 am to 2 pm.

You can find more information at:

You need to pre-enrol in both cases. If you already have a degree and want to start the first year of a degree course, you also need to pre-enrol for university admission

Once you have been accepted, you should follow the ESCI-UPF enrolment process.

If you have taken the university entrance exams for the over-25s or over-45s

If you are over 25 and do not have any certificate that qualifies you for university study, you can gain admission to official university degree courses if you pass a university entrance exam and pre-enrol for university admission.

You will be given preference if you apply to take a degree in the same area of knowledge as the subjects you took in the specific stage of your entrance exams.

If you are over 45 and do not have any certificate that qualifies you for university study, you can gain admission to official university degree courses if you pass a university entrance exam and pre-enrol for university admission.

 If you pass the exam, you will be called for an interview via the ACCESNET portal at the university teaching the course you want to take.

Admission process:

There are two phases: if you successfully pass the first phase, you will have a personal interview.

Structure of the process for assessing professional or work experience for taking a degree course at UPF

Personal interview

  1. The interview assesses your maturity and suitability for successfully taking the degree course you have applied for. At the end of the interview, you will be graded as Suitable or Not Suitable. If you are judged to be Not Suitable, you have not passed this phase.
  2. The Assessment Committee will conduct the interview preferentially in Catalan and may check your comprehension and expression skills in any of the teaching languages used in the course.
  3. If you are judged to be suitable, you will be awarded a final grade equivalent to the sum of your scores from Phase 1, which will also serve to allocate the available places.
If you have completed a baccalaureate studies abroad or have an international baccalaureate

Students who have studied in an EU member state or any other country that has a reciprocity agreement

You may apply via this path if you have studied in an EU member state or in Switzerland, Andorra, Iceland, Norway, Lichtenstein or China, or if you have a European or international baccalaureate certificate. (List of countries that can be hosted).

You can gain admission to Spanish universities without having to get your baccalaureate certificate officially recognised or having to take PAU university entrance exams for overseas students, provided you fulfil the academic requirements qualifying you for university study in your country.

If you apply via this path, you cannot apply via other paths during the same academic year. This path is not open to you if you have already studied at another Spanish university.

Process:

  • Obtain accreditation to gain admission to a Spanish university (UNEDassis).

  • Pre-enrol. If you want to enrol for the first year of a course taught at a university department or school in Catalonia, you need to pre-enrol at the University Admissions Office.

If you want to improve your grade, you have two options:

  • Take specific-stage PAU exams at any Spanish university. The calendar for taking these exams in Catalonia is available on the Canal Universitats website.

You will find the weightings for subjects for gaining admission to Catalan public universities in the weightings table published by the Catalan Government.

  • Take the Specific Competency Exams (PCE) offered by UNED Asiss.

More information:

  • Information on the ESCI-UPF enrolment process.

Information from the Catalan Government on PAU university entrance exams and pre-enrolment (Canal Universitats).

Students who have studied in countries not covered by the above cases

This admission pathway is open to students who have completed baccalaureate education in a country without a reciprocal international agreement. Students who apply through this pathway must be definitively recognised for the baccalaureate degree.

If your secondary education certificate is officially recognised as equivalent to baccalaureate, you must sit the PAU university entrance exams organised by the Spanish Open University (UNED). Once you have passed these exams, you may apply to study at any Catalan university by pre-enrolling.

If you want to start a degree course after studying at university elsewhere (30 recognised credits)

This pathway for gaining admission to study for a degree at UPF is open to students who have already started a degree course at a Spanish university but want to change university or official university course, as well as to students who have started or completed a university course overseas but have not had their degree certificate officially recognised or obtained a certificate of academic equivalence at the official university level in Spain.

1. Regulations

Admission requirements for students who have already studied at university elsewhere. Approved by the Governing Body on 3 March 2010 and amended by the Governing Body on 2 March 2011 and 4 February 2015, and by the Governing Body on 6 July 2016.

2. Call for applications

Every year, the university calls for applications and sets out the deadline, admission criteria, the number of places on offer and the timetable for the process.

Call for applications for the 2024-2025 academic year

Extraordinary call for applications for the 2024-2025 academic year

3. Publication of results

The admission results for each stage and the definitive admission results will be published in this section within the deadline set out in the call for applications. In all cases, applicants shall be understood to have been informed once the results have been posted on the corresponding website.

Resolution of the 1st phase of the academic year 2024-2025 (Catalan version)

Resolution of the 2nd phase of the academic year 2024-2025 (Catalan version)

Final resolution for the 2024-2025 academic year (Catalan version)

4. Other information

Credit transfer and recognition by ESCI-UPF.

If you do not meet these requirements and want to take a degree course, you should pre-enrol for university admission.