Implementation of the 2012 Council Recommendation on Validation of Non-Formal and Informal Learning

ONE-OFF REPORT: SPAIN

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MINISTERIO DE EDUCACION Y FORMACIÓN PROFESIONAL

SECRETARÍA DE ESTADO DE EDUCACIÓN Y FORMACIÓNPROFESIONAL

DIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE FORMACIÓN PROFESIONAL

INDEX

Pág

PREAMBLE ...... 5

1. CHAPTER I: GENERAL FEATURES OF THE VALIDATION ARRANGEMENTS ...... 7

1.1. General presentation: legislative framework and background information ...... 7

1.1.1. Demographic and administrative structure of Spain...... 8

1.1.2. Analysis of the activity rate compared with the active population. Comparison between activity and active population rates in relation to the level of education...... 10

1.1.3. Early school leaving in Spain and its consequences on employment ...... 18

1.2. Brief presentation of the education system ...... 22

2. CHAPTER II: RESULTS OF VALIDATION TOOLS IN SPAIN: ...... 25

VALIDATION SYSTEMS FOR FORMAL AND INFORMAL LEARNING IN THE FIELD OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING ...... 25

2.1. Vocational Training in the Education System and Vocational Training for Employment in the Workplace ...... 25

2.1.1. Vocational training in the Education System ...... 25

2.1.2. Vocational Training for Employment in the Workplace ...... 28

2.2. Vocational Training Validation Procedures ...... 29

2.2.1. Procedures for the assessment, accreditation and recognition of professional competences acquired through work experience and non-formal and informal training...... 29

2

2.2.2. Technician and Advanced technician vocational training qualifications (special procedures for entrance to this education levels and for obtaining the diplomas)...... 32

2.2.2.1. Entrance exams to Intermediate Vocational Training Cycles ...... 33

2.2.2.2. Entrance exams to Advanced Vocational Training Cycles ...... 34

2.2.2.3. Open exams to obtain the Technician and Advanced technician vocational training qualifications ...... 35

2.3. Validation of formal and informal learning in Compulsory Secondary Education and Baccalaureate ...... 37

2.3.1. Open exams to obtain the qualification of Compulsory Secondary Education graduate ...... 39

2.3.2. Open exams to obtain the Baccalaureate qualification ...... 40

2.3.3. Specific exams for students with a Technician or Advanced Technician Vocational Training Qualification (diploma) or Music or Dance Technician Official Training qualification (diploma) to obtain the Baccalaureate qualification ...... 41

2.4. Special studies of the education system open exams...... 42

2.4.1. Open exams for validating special system language education ...... 42

2.4.2. Open exams for special system artistic education (Music and Dance) ...... 44

2.4.3. Validating special system sports education ...... 46

2.4.3.1. Intermediate Level Sports Education ...... 46

2.4.3.2. Advanced Level Sports Education ...... 47

2.5. Validation systems for formal and informal learning in the university sphere ...... 48

2.5.1. Access to university for people over 25, 40, 45, etc ...... 48

2.5.1.1. Access to Undergraduate Degrees for over people over 25 years of age ...... 50

2.5.1.2. Accreditation of work or professional experience (40 years of age) related to an undergraduate degree course...... 51

2.5.1.3. Access to official undergraduate degrees for over people over 45 years of age 52

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2.5.1.4. Recognition of ECTS credits in Higher Education for work experience inherent to university undergraduate courses ...... 54

3. CHAPTER III: COHERENCE OF VALIDATION ARRANGEMENTS WITH OTHER TRANSPARENCY AND RECOGNITION TOOLS: ...... 55

3.1. Direct obtaining of qualifications in the Education System ...... 55

3.2. Entrance exams to study in the post-compulsory Education System: ...... 56

3.3. Procedures for the assessment, accreditation and recognition of professional competences acquired through work experience and non-formal training...... 56

3.4. Other cases of validation of work experience...... 56

4. CHAPTER IV. THE SUPPORT TO INDIVIDUALS...... 57

5. CHAPTER V. ROLE OF STAKEHOLDERS IN THE VALIDATION OF NON- FORMAL AND INFORMAL LEARNING ...... 59

6. CHAPTER VI. CAPACITY BUILDING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE ...... 60

7. CHAPTER VII. EVALUATION & MONITORING ...... 62

8. ANNEXED ...... 64

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PREAMBLE

The COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION of 20 December 2012 on the validation of non-formal and informal learning (2012/C 398/01) urged Member States to establish mechanisms for determining, documenting and assessing the learning outcomes acquired through non-formal and informal learning and for certifying the results of the assessment in some of its forms, in order to offer citizens the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned by outside of formal education and training, including through mobility experiences, and to make use of that learning for their careers and further learning.

Similarly, it is establishes that Member States and the Commission should, on the one hand, follow- up this Recommendation by through the European Qualifications Framework advisory group and, on the other, report on the progress made following the adoption of measures aimed at fulfilling this Recommendation. In this regard, Spain, through its national representative at the 51st meeting of the EQF Advisory Group, announced the submission of this report for the next meeting scheduled for the first week of February 2020.

Therefore, the Government of Spain, through the Directorate-General of Vocational Training of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, submits this report on the set of measures and tools that make up the Spanish system for validation of learning acquired through non-formal and informal learning, which follows the structure established at the EQF Advisory Group meeting that took place on 14 and 15 June 2017, and is embodied in “Note AG-41.5”.

This report is structured in the following chapters and with the following objectives:

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1. CHAPTER I: GENERAL FEATURES OF THE VALIDATION ARRANGEMENTS

1.1. General presentation: legislative framework and background information

From the legislative point of view, in addition to the COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION of 20 December 2012 on the validation of non-formal and informal learning (2012/C 398/01), the complex Spanish validation system derives directly from the following regulatory references:

 Treaty on the European Union (consolidated version 2016), available at EUR-Lex.

 Article 27 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978, which includes the right to education.

 Organic Law 5/2002, of 19 June on Qualifications and Vocational Training. For the first time, every formal education option and also those that certify learning acquired through non- formal and informal means, are included under this law, and all accompanied by a comprehensive system of information and guidance, which ultimately resulted in Royal Decree 1224/2009, of 17 July on recognition of professional competences acquired through work experience. This regulation allows citizens to certify and capitalize on any learning oriented towards a professional career.

 Organic Law 2/2006, of 3 May on Education, modified by the Organic Law 8/2013, of 9 December for the improvement of educational quality. This law, together with Organic Law 6/2001, of 21 December on Universities, describes the other enabling mechanisms for the validation of non-formal and informal learning of the general, special and university education systems which will be analysed in this report.

Said COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION of 20 December 2012 on the validation of non-formal and informal learning (2012/C 398/01) arises in a period in which the European Union as a whole is suffering a deep economic and financial crisis. In this sense, the validation of knowledge, skills and competences could play an important role in employability and contribute to the improvement of the labour market, its competitiveness and the mobility of workers. Likewise, it is a catalyst for boosting the motivation to learn in which all sectors of society are stakeholders, including citizens, in general, and employers or employees, in particular. Today the economic cycle is not the same as it was, but the implementation by the Member Countries of these systems of validation of learning has proven effective not only in employability but also in terms of social justice. The following report aims to provide an overview of the current situation in Spain and demonstrate the need for our country to have heterogeneous and diversified validation mechanisms. In this regard, the following section offers data and conclusions on the following aspects:

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 Demographic and administrative structure of Spain.

 Analysis of the activity rate compared with the active population. Comparison between activity and active population rates in relation to the level of education.

 Early school leaving in Spain and its consequences on employment.

 Brief presentation of the Spanish education system

The Kingdom of Spain is a country whose territory is mostly located on the Iberian Peninsula, in the southwestern edge of Europe. It covers an area of 504,642 km² including both the mainland and adjacent islands as well as the Canary and Balearic archipelagos, the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the so-called Plazas de Soberanía (places of sovereignty) in North Africa (small islands and outcrops located on and off the coast of northern Morocco).

Spain has a rich and varied history, the result of which is its interculturality and its role of preferred interlocutor with the countries of North Africa and with the Ibero-American Community.

Spain is currently considered one of the group of countries with a more advanced level of development. It actively participates in the main international forums and organizations such as the UN, NATO, the OECD and the G-20. Spain is also a member state of the European Union, the largest economic bloc in the world, and maintains its firm commitment to strive towards further integration in Europe.

1.1.1. Demographic and administrative structure of Spain. Spain currently has 46,599,200 inhabitants, of which 22,873,700 are men (49.09%) and 23,725,500 are women (50.91%). By age bracket, the population is distributed as shown in figure 1, of note being the high number of people over 70 years of age.

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Spanish population by age bracket and sex

4.000.000

3.500.000

3.000.000

2.500.000

2.000.000 Population

1.500.000

1.000.000

500.000

0 Age from‐‐to De 0 a 4 De 5 a 9 De 10 a 15 De 16 a 19 De 20 a 24 De 25 a 29 De 30 a 34 De 35 a 39 De 40 a 44 De 45 a 49 De 50 a 54 De 55 a 59 De 60 a 64 De 65 a 69 70 y más (years) ‐‐‐‐> años años años años años años años años años años años años años años años

HombreMen 1.051.400 1.208.900 1.545.500 964.800 1.169.500 1.264.400 1.381.100 1.683.900 1.994.200 1.926.900 1.811.000 1.621.800 1.373.700 1.146.300 2.730.300 MujeresWomen 991.700 1.136.300 1.452.200 904.200 1.124.600 1.248.000 1.397.100 1.696.200 1.963.700 1.896.500 1.825.800 1.675.500 1.461.100 1.269.100 3.683.500

Figure 1 The distribution of inhabitants by nationality groups and sex is shown in figure 2.

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Resident population of Spain, by nationality and sex 25.000.000

20.000.000

15.000.000

People 10.000.000

5.000.000

0 From a country of Extranjera Extranjera Extranjera Doble From a country of Extranjera From a Latin From other EspañolaSpanish Double nationality Europe, butresto de not América resto del Nationality ‐‐‐‐> nacionalidad the EuropeanUE América Country countries Unión EuropeanEuropa Unión Latina mundo

HombresMen 20.050.400 561.700 820.400 120.000 535.900 785.500 MujeresWomen 20.583.000 680.500 885.800 169.100 710.500 696.400

Figure 2

Within the non-European Union population, the population from Latin America is very significant, especially with regard to women. The population classified as coming from the "rest of the world" includes a significant percentage of people from countries in North Africa, particularly from the Kingdom of Morocco, although there is a growing number of Chinese citizens and other nationalities.

Administratively, Spain is a state which is partially decentralized in 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities. The Constitution gives each Community some autonomy, but the State is the only sovereign power. The Autonomous Communities have legislative powers and political autonomy within their competences and territory.

1.1.2. Analysis of the activity rate compared with the active population. Comparison between activity and active population rates in relation to the level of education. The joint activity rate, for the total population and including both sexes, stands at 58.74%. This rate, by age bracket and sex, is very low for the 16 to 19 age range.

There is no part-time work culture among young students in Spain. In addition to this, there are no specific figures regarding contracts for students who work on weekends or during holidays. This situation partially justifies the low activity rate of young people aged 16 to 19 which, in turn, determines the overall activity rate for the 16 and 24 age bracket. In terms of statistical indicators, this results in a very high youth unemployment rate in Spain. But this figure should always be considered in the light of the low youth activity rate, and not taken in isolation without properly taking into account the context. Figure three shows this data.

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Activity rates by sex and age groups 100,00 90,00 80,00 70,00 60,00

% 50,00 40,00 30,00 20,00 10,00 0,00 De 16 De 20 De 25 De 30 De 35 De 40 De 45 De 50 De 55 De 60 De 65 70 y Age from‐‐to Total a 19 a 24 a 29 a 34 a 39 a 44 a 49 a 54 a 59 a 64 a 69 más (years) ‐‐‐‐> años años años años años años años años años años años años Hombres Men 64,42 16,55 57,85 85,87 93,22 94,67 94,08 92,60 89,11 83,14 53,04 8,16 1,32 WomenMujeres 53,37 13,15 50,99 80,44 85,42 84,59 84,63 82,07 76,91 65,80 41,30 6,22 0,53

Figure 3 The activity rate also varies depending on the level of education, clearly demonstrating that the higher the level of education, the higher the activity rate. Similarly, the data reveals that the higher the level of education, the lower the difference in the activity rate between men and women. In fact, the activity rate for those with higher education is practically the same for both sexes. For those levels of education that are not oriented towards professional careers, including post- compulsory secondary education (Baccalaureate), the activity rate does not exceed 66% for men and 56% for women, while for those levels of education that involve professional training, including Vocational Training studies at the post-compulsory secondary education level (Intermediate Vocational Training Cycles), and higher education (Advanced Vocational Training Cycles and University Degrees), the rates are 80% for men, and somewhere in the 71 to 79% range for women, in any case superior to those of people without any professional studies. This data is shown in figure 4.

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Activity rate by level of education

90,00

80,00

70,00

60,00

50,00

40,00 Porcentaje

30,00

20,00

10,00

0,00 Segunda etapa de Second stage of Second stage of educación secundaria Tertirary, and higher First stage of Segunda etapa de Incomplete Primera etapa de secondary education secondary education con orientación education, including Estudios primarios Primary education secondary educación secundaria, AnalfabetosIlliterate Educación primaria Educación Secundaria (post‐compulsory), profesional (incluye(post‐compulsory), Educación SuperiorVET orientation primary studiesincompletos con orientación education y similar academic orientation VET orientationeducación general Programmes and (compulsory) postsecundaria no University studies superior) Hombre 19,52 19,77 31,09 65,58 64,87 80,36 80,31 Mujeres 6,38 7,77 16,33 49,52 55,32 71,06 79,43 Figure 4

The overall activity rate, for men and women, by level of education, has remained practically constant in recent years, as can be seen in the comparative graph (figure 5) for 2017, 2018 and 2019.

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Variation of the activity rate by level of education. Comparison from 2017 to 2019 ‐ based on second quarter Labour Force Survey

90,00

80,00

70,00

60,00

50,00 % 40,00

30,00

20,00

10,00

0,00 Segunda etapa de Second stage of Second stage of Tertirary, and higher educación secundaria First stage of Segunda etapa de education, including Incomplete Primera etapa de secondary education secondary education con orientación Estudios primarios secondary educación secundaria, AnalfabetosIlliterate Educación primariaPrimary education Educación Secundaria (post‐compulsory), profesional (incluye(post‐compulsory), Educación SuperiorVET orientation primary studiesincompletos con orientación education y similar academic orientation VET orientationeducación Programmes and general (compulsory) postsecundaria no University studies superior) 2017T2 10,69 11,99 25,66 60,36 61,04 76,27 80,65 2018T2 9,63 12,42 24,96 59,59 59,84 76,30 80,41 2019T2 10,75 12,64 23,01 58,07 60,04 75,56 79,85

Figure 5 In absolute terms, the number of active people by level of education is dominated by those with a higher level education, followed by those who only have a compulsory secondary education. As a whole, the percentage of the active population with a qualification certifying professional competences is 51%, compared to 49% of the active population who lack any formal qualification of their professional competences, notwithstanding the fact that they may be extraordinarily competent professionals in their job. This situation, more formal than real, is one of the main reasons why our country needed to establish an entire set of tools that enable the validation of these competences. The low number of people with an intermediate level of vocational training qualification is due, among other factors, to the poor image that Vocational Training has in Spain, which means that at the end of compulsory education, a number significantly lower than the EU average opt for professional studies over academic studies. This data is shown in figures 6 and 7.

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Active, by level of education and sex ‐ absolute values

10.000.000

9.000.000

8.000.000

7.000.000

6.000.000

5.000.000 People 4.000.000

3.000.000

2.000.000

1.000.000

0 Segunda etapa de Second stage of Second stage of educación Tertirary, and higher First stage of Segunda etapa de secundaria con Incomplete Primera etapa de secondary education secondary education education, including Estudios primarios Primary education secondary educación orientación AnalfabetosIlliterate Educación primaria Educación (post‐compulsory), Educación SuperiorVET orientation primary studiesincompletos (post‐compulsory), secundaria, con profesional (incluye Secundaria y similareducation VET orientation Programmes and academic orientationorientación general educación (compulsory) postsecundaria no University studies superior) Mujeres 24.700 93.700 445.400 2.634.800 1.508.800 1.122.400 4.921.400 Hombres 37.800 162.700 701.400 3.967.100 1.732.700 1.189.200 4.493.500

Figure 6

Number of active people, and percentage, according to whether their qualifications are of a professional nature

11.726.500; 51% 11.309.100; 49%

Activos sin formación deActive population withou carácter profesionalt profesional training Activos con formación deActive population with profesional training carácter profesional

Figure 7

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There are different causes that explain this structural imbalance in the levels of education and qualification of the active population. Among them, there are two that are worth analysing, for their special significance.

The first is the high rate of early school leaving in Spain which is the result of, among other factors, the easy access to unskilled construction and civil works jobs that young people leaving the Education System have had for many years. In 2012, this rate stood at 24.7% as a whole, 28.9% for men and 20.5% for women. The difference between sexes is due to the fact that the jobs available to young people leaving the system were mostly as labourers in construction and civil works, for which physical strength was a requirement, which partly explains why the rate for early school leaving was higher for men. In the case of women, most of the job openings were in the tertiary sector, mainly in retail, as cashiers, clerks and stackers.

Over the past few years, the Spanish Government has made an huge effort to reduce the early school leaving rate, which stands at 17.9% for 2018. Although the EU’s 2020 Strategy establishes a target of 10% for the EU as a whole, for Spain this target is set to 15%, a figure that should almost certainly be achieved. It is also important to note that, as the early school leaving rate is reduced, the difference between sexes also reduces.

The second cause, which is also hugely significant, is the lack of regulation in many professions and jobs which can be carried out under a labour agreement in Spain but for which no specific education of training level is required. This means that in some production industries and, above all, in the service sector, certain positions are being occupied by people with only a general level of education and no professional qualifications. It is precisely this situation that drives and motivates the existence of validation tools.

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Evolution of the early school leaving rate

35,0 28,9 30,0 27,2 25,6 24,0 25,0 24,7 23,6 22,7 21,9 21,8 21,7 20,0 20,0 19,0 18,3 17,9

% 20,5 19,8 15,0 18,1 15,8 15,1 14,5 14,0 10,0 5,0 0,0 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 TOTALTotal 24,7 23,6 21,9 20,0 19,0 18,3 17,9 HombresMen 28,9 27,2 25,6 24,0 22,7 21,8 21,7 MujeresWomen 20,5 19,8 18,1 15,8 15,1 14,5 14,0 Figure 8 Another aspect worth highlighting is the difference in early school leaving rates between the different territories that make up the Spanish State. These differences are shown in the following figures (9 and 10) which demonstrate that some Autonomous Communities are well below the national average, even reaching the EU’s targets for 2020, while others far exceed this figure. The reason for these differences lies in the different population structures of each of the Autonomous Communities, but, above all, on the comparative importance of the production and service sectors in each region. The map shows the joint early school leaving rate that includes both sexes.

16

Early school leaving rate for 2018 for each Autonomous Community

35,0

30,0

25,0

20,0

Porcentaje 15,0

10,0

5,0

0,0 Navarra Asturias Comuni , Castilla‐ Madrid, Murcia, Andaluc , Balears, Canaria Cantabr Castilla Cataluñ tat Extrem Comuni País Rioja, Ceuta Melilla Aragón La Galicia Comuni Región ía Principa Illes s ia (3) y León a Valenci adura dad Vasco La (3) (3) (3) Mancha dad de de do de ana Foral de (3) HombresMen 26,0 18,1 14,8 27,0 23,9 8,9 18,1 24,8 21,5 24,2 27,7 17,0 17,8 30,8 12,4 9,4 18,2 23,3 31,9 MujeresWomen 17,6 13,2 10,3 21,7 18,1 10,7 9,6 15,5 12,5 16,1 13,9 11,4 11,0 16,7 10,3 4,5 16,1 23,5 26,9 Ambos sexosBoth 21,9 15,8 12,6 24,4 20,9 9,8 13,9 20,5 17,0 20,2 20,9 14,3 14,4 24,1 11,4 6,9 17,1 23,4 29,5

Figure 9

Figure 10

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1.1.3. Early school leaving in Spain and its consequences on employment

According to the data of the Labour Force Survey, in the second quarter of 2019 in Spain there were a total of 19,805,000 people employed, of which 45.71% were women and 54.29% were men. By age brackets, the highest percentage was for the 40 to 44 age range, with 15%, while employment rates for the lower age ranges was very low, standing at 0.8% for those under 19. Figure 11 shows this data.

Employed persons by age and sex in absolute values, and percentage of total persons employed by age bracket

3.500.000 18,0

16,0 3.000.000 14,0 2.500.000 12,0

2.000.000 10,0

1.500.000 8,0 6,0 1.000.000 4,0 500.000

Absolute value left axis, percentage right axis 2,0

0 0,0 70 y De 16 a De 20 a De 25 a De 30 a De 35 a De 40 a De 45 a De 50 a De 55 a De 60 a De 65 a más 19 años 24 años 29 años 34 años 39 años 44 años 49 años 54 años 59 años 64 años 69 años años Mujeres V. Absoluto Valor absoluto 2019T2Women, absolute value 61.700 388.400 820.600 1.000.8001.239.9001.435.7001.346.5001.195.300 958.600 517.200 70.400 19.600 Hombres V.Absoluto Valor absoluto 2019T2Men, absolute value 88.000 483.800 879.400 1.145.9001.443.5001.701.9001.620.3001.434.5001.186.700 644.400 85.900 36.000 Ambos sexos % Porcentaje 2019T2Both, percentage in right axis 0,8 4,4 8,6 10,8 13,5 15,8 15,0 13,3 10,8 5,9 0,8 0,3

Figure 11 If we analyse this data broken down by level of education and sex, the figures indicate that the difference in employment between men and women is more significant the lower the level of education, to the extent that at the higher education level employment is higher for women than men (table 1).

Table 1

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Figure 12

Of the total of employed persons, 9,215,000 (46.53%) have a level of education that is not oriented towards a professional career, while 10,589,700 (53.47%) have a level of education that is. Once again, these figures indicate that there is a need for systems that certify non-formal learning.

Unemployment for the second quarter of 2019 stood at 3,230,600 people, of which 1,534,100 (47.48%) were men and 1,696,500 were women (52.52%).

Although the rate of youth unemployment in Spain is very high, taking this figure as it is defined statistically, in absolute values the figures are much more moderate. This is explained, as we have indicated previously, by the fact that the activity rate for young people in Spain, especially those under 19, is very low. Indeed the unemployment rate for those under 25 in Spain is 15.7% of the total number of unemployed.

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Figure 13 Regarding the level of education of unemployed people, it can be seen that unemployment is lower in men the higher the level of education. The following table shows, in absolute values, the number of unemployed persons by level of education and the differences according to sex.

Table 2 64.81% of unemployed people lack formal qualifications of their professional skills, while 35.2% claim to be in possession of said formal qualifications.

These figures prove the correlation between education and access to employment. The higher the level of education, the greater the possibility of access to employment. Note that, in absolute values, the group with the highest number of unemployed persons corresponds to those who have completed only the first stage of secondary education, or similar (figure 14 and table 2).

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Figure 14 Form all the above we can conclude that there are sociodemographic and labour factors that, historically, have led Spain to the gradually develop a consolidated set tools for the validation of non- formal and informal learning. Meanwhile, the structure of the qualification levels of the Spanish population as a whole, and especially of the active population, is not suitable for meeting the needs of the different production and service sectors, neither quantitatively nor qualitatively. As an example, 48.66% of workers in our country lack qualifications of their professional competences, and 34.63% have completed compulsory secondary education, at most. Therefore, it is not only advisable, but essential, that a coherent system be implemented which allows citizens to validate and capitalize on their learning, however it was acquired. This system must also adapt to the foreseeable changes in the labour market in such a way that it guarantees citizens the possibility of certifying their competences as part of a lifelong learning process which, at the moment, is the only way to compete in a globalized economy.

The context described above demonstrates that the set of tools currently available in Spain for certifying non-formal learning is absolutely essential and should be reinforced so that, within a reasonable timeframe, the population as a whole may have formally accredited their competences which will, in turn, result in at least two very positive effects: the first is easier access to the labour market and the second is enabling accredited citizens to plan their own educational and/or professional paths, as part of lifelong learning framework, which guarantees in their future permanence in the labour market and their participation as active citizens in society.

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1.2. Brief presentation of the education system

The Organic Law on Education (LOE in its Spanish initials) of 2006, and the Organic Law for the Improvement of Educational Quality (LOMCE in Spanish) of 2013 that modifies it, are the fundamental regulations currently in force that govern the education system and define its structure. The Spanish Education System is divided into general and special learning systems. The general system includes pre-school education, primary education, compulsory secondary education, baccalaureate, vocational training and university education. Also included is adapted learning for students with special educational needs, distance learning for students who are unable to regularly attend an education centre and adult education. The special system covers artistic education, language education and sports education. All the specified types of education are regulated by the provisions of the aforementioned laws, except for university education that is regulated in the Organic Law on Universities (LOU).

The following chart shows the structure and the paths through the different stages and modalities: modalidades:

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Spain is a country with an established system for the validation of non-formal and informal learning made up of a set of tools that have emerged over time to respond to a series of very specific socio- demographic and labour factors. All these tools are entrenched in the education system and we will analyse each of them on the following pages. The following reasons may explain, at least in part, the importance of these systems in the Spanish state and why Spain is one of the countries which has a thoroughly quantitatively and qualitatively developed system of non-formal and informal learning validation tools:

 During the second half of the twentieth century the working classes started to realise that education was the key to their children getting access to a better life. In this regard, only the provincial capitals and large cities offered the possibility of going to secondary school, while rural villages and towns, where most of the population lived, only guaranteed access to primary school. This meant that in many of these villages and towns students studied individually or in academies or schools that provided a non-formal education and they would then subsequently validate this learning through what was known as “open exams", which were carried out in the secondary schools of the provincial capitals, and which granted Baccalaureate qualifications, both basic and advanced level.  People entered workshops at an early age to learn a trade, which did not follow specific training plans, as a result of which the level of training attained very much depended on the size and activity of the company or workshop in which the apprentice in questions was trained on the job. Despite this, there was a Law on Industrial Vocational Training, which, until 1970, enabled workers to attain Industrial Officer and Industrial Master qualifications either by taking the courses or, once again, taking the open exams that validated the informal learning. As of 1970, the new General Law on Education modified the levelling and naming of the Vocational Training studies, which became known as First Degree Vocational Training and Second Degree Vocational Training, but, given the shortage of centres that offered these courses, the open exams for attaining the qualifications that validated the informal learning acquired in companies and workshops remained on offer.  Finally, with regards to universities, the fact that there was a shortage on offer in the country as a whole and that the few universities there were all located in cities, meant that students of university courses were allowed to sit open exams in order to pass their courses. Today, students are able to obtain, through non-formal and informal learning validation systems, non- university academic qualifications, as this document describes, as well as, since 2009, to accredit their professional competences acquired through work experience.

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2. CHAPTER II: RESULTS OF VALIDATION TOOLS IN SPAIN:

Validation systems for formal and informal learning in the field of Vocational Training

2.1. Vocational Training in the Education System and Vocational Training for Employment in the Workplace

The National System of Qualifications and Vocational Training is regulated by Organic Law 5/2002, of 19 June. This legislation regulates two “subsystems” which coexist in the field of Vocational Training, “Vocational Training in the Education System” and “Vocational Training for Employment in the Workplace”. The certification procedure for professional competences acquired through work experience and non-formal training also derives from this legislation, which will be discussed later.

2.1.1. Vocational training in the Education System

Vocational Training of the Spanish Education System is structured around three educational levels (Basic Vocational Training, Intermediate Vocational Training Cycles and Advanced Vocational Training Cycles) that prepare students for professional job profiles associated with the different production and service sectors, always taking into account that, in addition to the technical competences of each job profile, students must also acquire training in personal and social skills, as well as in other academic ones, which will allow them to enter the labour market as skilled professionals. Since these are studies that have academic validity, they provide a path through the Education System with no restriction other than the abilities or expectations of each student.

Currently, the fundamental aspects of the Vocational Training in the Education System is regulated by Organic Law 2/2006, of 3 May, on Education, and by Royal Decree 1147/2011, of 29 July, which establishes the general structure of the Vocational Training in the Education System, without prejudice to other regulations that complement said legislation.

In Spain, for various reasons, the Vocational Training in the Education System, despite its excellent design and high levels of quality, is not yet perceived by society in general as a first-rate alternative at the end of compulsory education or post-secondary academic learning (Baccalaureate).

The enrolment data provided for the 2019/2020 academic year (see table 1) indicates that the total number of students in Vocational Training courses scheduled for the 2019/2020 academic year stands at 861,906, an increase of 2.8% compared to the previous academic year. This increase is of particular importance if we take into account that enrolment in non-university education only increased by 0.2%.

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Table 1

However, the number of students enrolled in Intermediate Vocational Training Cycles is 358,657, compared to 672,524 enrolled in Baccalaureate, these being the two main paths (although not the only ones), available to students at the end of their compulsory education. This means that, in general terms, of the 1,031,181 students in the post-compulsory secondary education general system, only 34.78% are in Vocational Training, which is substantially less than is desirable. Despite this, the number of students in the Vocational Training in the Education System increases year on year. Figure 15 shows the variation in enrolment from the 2014/2015 academic year to the 2018/2019 academic year, broken down by levels and type of course.

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Basic VET Intermediate level

HIgh level

Figure 15

The situation is different for Advanced Vocational Training, which in Spain is part of non-university Higher Education. This option is accessed having completed the Baccalaureate level, at which time students may choose to go on to university or enrol in Advanced Vocational Training. In the 2017/2018 academic year there were 146,543 admissions to the first year of Advanced Vocational Training, while there were 218,976 admissions to the first year of university degrees. Therefore, of the total of 365,519 students who progressed in the education system after Baccalaureate, 40.09% went on to Vocational Training.

The Vocational Training in the Education System currently offers 183 qualifications (diplomas), 172 of them are totally updated, of which 28 correspond to Basic Vocational Training, 57 to Intermediate Vocational Training and 87 to Advanced Vocational Training. There are also 2 additional Specialization Courses. In terms of productivity, these qualifications include a total of 665 Professional Qualifications, belonging to 26 professional groups.

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The Government has designed and is implementing a Strategic Plan 2019-2022 for Vocational Training in the Education System whose objectives include correcting the imbalances that exist in terms of access to these courses by students, and consolidating a training model that provides a stable, forward-looking and suitable response to the needs of the production model.

2.1.2. Vocational Training for Employment in the Workplace

Vocational Training for Employment in the workplace is aimed at promoting and carrying our training that contributes to the personal and professional development of working people (employed and unemployed), to increase their chances of employability and promotion at work. This type of training is a response to the needs of the labour market and is aimed at improving business competitiveness.

It includes different initiatives and training programmes that are developed within the framework of the National Employment System, through the State Public Employment Service and the Public Employment Services of the Autonomous Communities.

Vocational Training for Employment in the Workplace is specifically regulated in Law 30/2015, of 9 September; and Professional Certifications, which accredit the Professional Qualifications are regulated in Royal Decree 34/2008, of 18 January. Professional Certifications are structured in three levels: level 1, level 2 and level 3, coinciding, in turn, with the level of professional qualification they accredit. There are currently 583 Professional Certifications, of which 77 correspond to level 1, 252 to level 2 and 254 to level 3.

The following table summarizes the current situation of the integrated Vocational Training system in Spain:

Qualifications

Units of competence

Occupational certificates

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2.2. Vocational Training Validation Procedures

2.2.1. Procedures for the assessment, accreditation and recognition of professional competences acquired through work experience and non-formal and informal training.

Regulations: Royal Decree 1224/2009, of 17 July, on the recognition of professional competences acquired through work experience

A few years before the Council Recommendation of 20 December 2012, specifically in 2009 and following the concerns previously expressed by the Commission, the Spanish Government published Royal Decree 1224/2009, of 17 July, on the recognition of professional competences acquired through work experience, whose purpose was to establish the procedure and requirements for the assessment and accreditation of professional competences acquired by people through work experience or non- formal training.

For workers who have acquired their professional skills in the workplace and have no qualifications, the regional education authorities periodically make public calls to assess and accredit the professional competences of these workers in which, after sitting specific exams or similar procedures, they can obtain an accreditation which is valid throughout the country and in which they receive guidance on how, after undergoing complementary training, they may be able to obtain a Vocational Training qualification or Professional Certification. This modality is aimed at the following recipients:

 Citizens who have abandoned their studies to enter the labour market and have learned their profession in their workplace.  Citizens who have acquired professional competences carrying out volunteer work or as interns.  Citizens who, throughout their lives, have carried out unpaid activities that have allowed them to acquire competences in the workplace and have been trained through non-formal means.

The Royal Decree specifies the participation requirements:

 Be a Spanish citizen, be in possession of an EU residence permit, European Union citizen card of a family member, or be the holder of a valid residence and work permit for Spain.

Depending on the level of the competence units to be accredited, the following requirements must be met:

 Be 18 years old when enrolling if it is for one or several level 1 professional qualifications.  Be 20 years old when enrolling if it is for one or several level 2 and 3 professional qualifications.

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In addition to the above, at least one of these two requirements must be met:

 Work experience (acquired in the last 10 years) related to the competences that are being accredited. o 2 years (1200 minimum hours worked) for level 1 competences. o 3 years (2000 minimum hours worked) for level 2 and 3 competences.

 Training (carried out in the last 10 years) related to the competences that are being accredited. o 200 hours for level 1 qualifications. o 300 hours for level 2 and 3 qualifications.

The regulations, in article 3, explicitly states the following as purposes of the procedures: a) Assess the professional competences that people possess, acquired through work experience and other non-formal training, using common procedures and methodologies that guarantee the validity, reliability, objectivity and technical rigour of the assessment. b) Officially accredit professional competences, to highlight their value in order to facilitate both employability and free movement in the labour market, as well as personal and professional advancement. c) Provide people with lifelong learning and increase their professional qualifications, offering them opportunities to obtain cumulative partial accreditation, so that they can complete the training that leads to the corresponding vocational training qualification or professional certification.

Article 4 refers especially to the principles that underlie and legitimize reliability, quality, objectivity, as well as guarantee respect for individual rights, citizen participation and ensure coordination between all the agents involved in the procedures: a) Respect for individual rights: equal opportunities for access and transparency in the assessment process will provide people with suitable opportunities to demonstrate their professional competence in the corresponding units of competence. Access to the procedure will be voluntary and the results of the assessment will be confidential. Any processing of personal data that is carried out during the processing of the procedure will respect the provisions of Organic Law 15/1999, of 13 December on Personal Data Protection. b) Reliability: This will be based on criteria, methods, and tools that ensure comparable results for all participants, regardless of the place or time in which the professional competence is assessed. c) Validity: The assessment methods used, and their possible culmination in exams, should adequately measure the professional competence of the people who enrol in the procedure. d) Objectivity: The technical rigour and impartiality of the assessment committees will be guaranteed during the assessment and recognition of professional competences, and the results of the assessments will be open to appeal.

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e) Participation: The definition, planning and monitoring of the procedure will be carried out with the participation of the most representative social stakeholders. f) Quality: An internal and external verification mechanism will ensure the quality, technical rigour and validity. g) Coordination: The adequate coordination and complementarity in the actions of all the parties responsible for its development will be guaranteed, in order to achieve maximum effectiveness and efficiency in its implementation.

The assessment and accreditation procedures consist of several phases:

1. Registration in the procedure: The applications are collected during this phase of the procedure. If a maximum number of participants has been established in the call for applications of the autonomous community in questions, a scale will be applied to select those accepted into the procedure.

2. Instigation of the procedure: Once the participant has registered, the procedure will take place in the following three phases:

a. Advice: the documentation submitted by the candidate regarding their employment and training history is reviewed and an advisor may help to complete it if necessary. The advisor will also help the candidate to analyse their professional competences. A non-binding report will be submitted with the advisor’s assessment on the suitability of the candidate to go through to the 2nd phase: Assessment. The candidate can decide whether or not to go through to the assessment phase, taking into account the advisor’s report. These advisors are experts in the sector for which the call for applications was made and they have been specifically trained for this task.

b. Assessment: The documentation on the employment and training history submitted by the candidate is reviewed in detail. They will be asked to demonstrate any professional competences that have not been sufficiently justified. For example, they may be asked to carry out a practical demonstration in a workplace simulation. The assessors are experts in the sector for which the call for applications was made and they have been specifically trained for this task.

c. Accreditation and registration: If the candidate passes the assessment, they will obtain accreditation for each of the units of competence corresponding to the one or several professional qualifications that they have demonstrated. All these accreditations will be registered in a Public Employment Service Registry. At the end of the procedure, all participants will receive a training plan prepared by the corresponding assessment commission with guidance on complementary training that, if they wish to continue their training, they should pursue to obtain an official qualification, Vocational Training qualification or Professional Certification.

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In the 2009-2018 period, the last for which consolidated data is available, a total of 276,552 places were offered so that citizens could prove their professional competences acquired through work experience and/or non-formal training. The evolution of the data can be seen in the following graph.

The Ministry of Labour, Migrations and Social Security, responsible for the Electronic Register of Assessment of Competences obtained through Work Experience (RECEX), states that 782,982 people have accredited at least one unit of competence in the public calls for applications to the procedures since they were started. According to the report submitted to the latest Interministerial Committee for the monitoring and assessment of this type of public calls, 252 calls have been made corresponding to 262 qualifications belonging to 25 professional groups.

2.2.2. Technician and Advanced technician vocational training qualifications (special procedures for entrance to this education levels and for obtaining the diplomas).

Vocational Training is a training path in which the participant is trained to work in a professional activity in a qualified manner and includes a period of internships in a real work environment. It is organized into three educational levels:

 Basic Vocational Training Cycles  Intermediate Vocational Training Cycles  Advanced Vocational Training Cycles

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Each training cycle is spread over two years, with 2000 hours of training. The training ends with the Workplace Training Module, and for the advanced cycle there is an additional Project module similar to a University Degree Final Project.

2.2.2.1. Entrance exams to Intermediate Vocational Training Cycles

Regulations:

Royal Decree 1147/2011, of 29 July, which establishes the general structure of Vocational Training in the Education System (Article 15)

Organic Law 2/2006, of 3 May, on Education modified by Organic Law 8/2013, of 9 December for the improvement of educational quality (Article 41)

The entrance exam is organized by each Autonomous Community and if the participant passes they will be able to study any intermediate vocational training cycle anywhere in the country. To sit the exam, participants must be 17 years old at the time or at least turn 17 during the year that the exam is held.

The entrance exam is focuses on the basic competences developed in Compulsory Secondary Education to enable the successful completion of intermediate vocational training cycles and is organized around the following fields: the communications field, social field and science and technology field.

The regional education authorities decide which centres can teach the courses that prepare participants for the intermediate vocational training cycle entrance exams. A participant may not sit the entrance exams in more than one Autonomous Community in the same school year. A pass in the intermediate vocational training cycle entrance exams will be valid throughout the country. Each Autonomous Community may regulate exemptions to parts of the exams, since each regional government has its own regulations in this regard.

The participant who accredits work experience equivalent to one year in the professional field of the subject for which they are applying may be exempted from the scientific/technical part of the entrance exam. The regional education authorities may also allow exemptions from the scientific-technical part of the entrance exam for any person who accredits work experience equivalent to one year in the professional field of the subject for which they are applying, allow exemptions from any part of the test for those who have some training formal or informal related to the cycle they want to study or any other exemptions they wish to include in the public call prepared by each regional authority during each academic year.

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If the participant has passed the entrance exam for the advanced vocational training cycles or the university entrance exam for people over 25, they do not need to sit any parts of the exam, but they should check the procedure that must followed for the regional administration, prior to applying for enrolment in the training cycle. For all intents and purposes, they should contact the Autonomous Community, in accordance with the established procedure, providing all the documents accrediting their prior training, so that they can be assessed.

2.2.2.2. Entrance exams to Advanced Vocational Training Cycles

Normativa:

Regulations:

Royal Decree 1147/2011, of 29 July, which establishes the general structure of Vocational Training in the Education System (Article 18)

Organic Law 2/2006, of 3 May, on Education modified by Organic Law 8/2013, of 9 December for the improvement of educational quality (Article 41)

The entrance exam is organized by each Autonomous Community and if the citizen passes they will be able to study the advanced vocational training cycle anywhere in the country. To sit this exam they must meet one of the following requirements:

 Be at least 19 years old in the year of the exam

The entrance exam to all Advanced Vocational Training Cycles is structured in two parts and aims to determine whether the student has the necessary level in relation to the objectives of the Baccalaureate, as well as the specific knowledge required for the cycle which they want to study. The candidate will have to pass both parts:

 Common part, which includes Spanish Language and Literature, Mathematics, Foreign Language and official languages of the Autonomous Communities.  Specific part, which will assess their knowledge in the professional field of the cycle they wish to study.

The regional education authorities decide which centres can teach the courses that prepare participants for the advanced vocational training cycle entrance exams. A participant may not sit the entrance exams in more than one Autonomous Community in the same school year.

A pass in the advanced vocational training cycle entrance exams will be valid throughout the country. Each Autonomous Community may regulate exemptions to parts of the exams, since each Autonomous Community has its own regulations in this regard.

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The regional education authorities may also regulate exemptions from the specific part of the entrance exam for any person who accredits work experience equivalent to one year in the professional field of the subject they want to study, and also for any person who has some training formal or informal related to the cycle they want to study.

Likewise, the regional education authorities may regulate exemptions from some part of the test for other cases they wish to include in the public call prepared by each regional authority during each academic year. If the participant has passed the university entrance exam for people over 25, they do not need to sit any parts of the exam, but they should check the procedure that must followed for the regional administration, prior to applying for enrolment in the training cycle.

According to EDUCAbase, statistics on non-university education (Ministry of Education and Vocational Training), during the 2016-17 academic year (the last for which consolidated data is available), 9.2% of Intermediate Vocational Training Cycle students gained access to the cycle either through the Specific Course for Access to Intermediate Vocational Training Cycles or the Intermediate Vocational Training Cycle Entrance Exam. The percentage of Advanced Vocational Training Cycle students who accessed their course using the two options above was 14.1%.

2.2.2.3. Open exams to obtain the Technician and Advanced technician vocational training qualifications

Regulations:

Royal Decree 1147/2011, of 29 July, which establishes the general structure of Vocational Training in the Education System (Article 36)

Organic Law 2/2006, of 3 May, on Education modified by Organic Law 8/2013, of 9 December for the improvement of educational quality

These exams offer an alternative way of obtaining Technician or Advanced Technician diplomas without the need to attend intermediate or advanced vocational training cycle courses either in person or remotely. The exams for directly obtaining these Vocational Training qualifications (open exams) fall within the competencies of each Autonomous Community, which organizes and manages them and also decides which qualifications (diplomas) can be obtained through this system. It should be noted that not all diplomas are offered every academic year in this modality. Like the entire Vocational Training offer, it is each Autonomous Community that decides which qualifications are offered in the public call and when and where.

They are aimed at people who already have significant training in a certain professional field but do not have the Vocational Training diploma and who are able to plan their study individually without needing support, to sit a single exam (theoretical and/or practical) for each professional module that makes up a training cycle. For each diploma offered in the public call there will be theoretical and/or practical exams for each professional module that makes up a training cycle. Each professional module

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will be assessed and once the student has passed all the professional modules they must complete the Workplace Training Module.

The qualification obtained (diploma) after passing the entire exam is official and has the same academic and professional validity throughout the country. However, when the training offers of several regional governments overlap, the curricula may vary depending on each Autonomous Community or on the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training. Therefore, those students who register for the exams offered in the public calls of different regional education authorities, depending on the academic year or the qualification offered, must take into account that the training plan in each Community may be different. Therefore we recommend that they analyse the professional modules of the curricula of the qualification (diploma) offered in the public calls of the regional education authority that is of their interest. More information.

Students should bear in mind that although one of the advantages of the exams is that they have complete autonomy and flexibility in how they study for them, both the theoretical and practical exams are prepared by Vocational Training teachers of both the in-person and distance learning modality, so passing these modules will require a similar amount of work and effort. Therefore, students should assess the modules that they can take on when enrolling in each academic year, as well as their workload and their possible degree of difficulty, since they can enrol by professional module or by complete training cycle.

The regional education authorities decide which centres can teach the courses that prepare participants for the exams.

In order to sit the exams to directly obtain the qualification the student must:

 Be 18 years old for the Technician qualification.  Be 20 years old for the Advanced Technician qualification (19 years old for those who already have the Technician qualification).

Intermediate level (academic requirements):

 Have completed Compulsory Secondary Education or higher academic level.  Have a Basic Vocational Qualification (Basic Vocational Training level).  Have a Technician or Assistant Technician qualification or equivalent academic qualification.  Have passed the second year of the Unified Multipurpose Baccalaureate (BUP).  Have passed the intermediate vocational training cycle entrance exam (and be at least seventeen years old the year of the exam).  Have passed the university entrance exam for people over 25 years of age

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Advanced level (academic requirements):

 Have a Baccalaureate qualification, or of a certificate accrediting having passed all the Baccalaureate subjects  Have passed the second course of any modality of the experimental Baccalaureate.  Have a Technician Qualification (Intermediate Vocational Training level).  Have an Advanced or Specialist Technician qualification or equivalent academic qualification.  Have passed the Preparatory Course for University Study (COU).  Have a University qualification or equivalent.  Have passed the advanced vocational training cycle entrance exam (and be at least 19 years old the year of the exam or 18 in the case of having a Technician qualification).  Have passed the university entrance exam for people over 25 years of age

The exams may be called once each academic year, and the announcement falls within the competencies of each Autonomous Community. For each call, the state schools where the exams will take place, the enrolment period and the date of the exams will be established.

It should be noted that not all qualifications (diplomas) are offered every academic year in this modality. Like the entire Vocational Training offer, it is each Autonomous Community that decides which qualifications are offered in the public call and when and where. For each qualification offered in the public call there will be theoretical and/or practical exams for each professional module that makes up a training cycle. Each professional module will be assessed and once the student has passed all the professional modules they must complete the Workplace Training Module.

2.3. Validation of formal and informal learning in Compulsory Secondary Education and Baccalaureate

Regulations: Organic Law 2/2006, of 3 May, on Education modified by Organic Law 8/2013, of 9 December for the improvement of educational quality.

Royal Decree 1105/2014, of 26 December, which establishes the basic Compulsory Secondary Education and Baccalaureate curriculum, modified by Royal Decree 562/2017, of 2 June, which regulates the conditions for Obtaining the qualification of Compulsory Secondary Education and Baccalaureate Graduate.

The purpose of Compulsory Secondary Education is to ensure that students acquire the basic elements of culture, especially in its humanistic, artistic, scientific and technological aspects; develop and consolidate study and work habits in them; prepare them for their later studies and entrance into the labour market and career, and train them in the exercising of their rights and obligations in life as

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citizens. This level of education focus especially on providing guidance to students for their education and future careers, and is organized in accordance with the principles of common education and attention to student diversity.

The Compulsory Secondary Education stage comprises four school years, which are usually attended by students between twelve and sixteen years of age. It is organized around subjects and includes two cycles, the first comprising three school years and the second comprising one. The second cycle or fourth year is of a fundamentally propaedeutic nature, with parents, legal guardians or, where appropriate, students choosing between the option of academic learning in the form of the baccalaureate or the option of applied learning in the form of Vocational Training.

At the end of this stage, students obtain the qualification of Graduate in Compulsory Secondary Education, which entitles them to access the Baccalaureate or Intermediate Level Vocational Training. In any case, students receive an accreditation from the education centre which shows the years they have studied and the grades obtained in the different areas. At the end of each of the courses, a guidance file is given to each student, which includes a report on the degree of achievement of the objectives and acquisition of the corresponding competences, as well as a proposal of the most appropriate training path they should follow which may include entry into a learning and performance improvement programme or a Basic Vocational Training cycle.

The Baccalaureate aims to provide students with the training, intellectual and human maturity, knowledge and skills that allow them to develop social functions and take the step into an active, personal and professional life with responsibility and competence. It also prepares students for the step into higher education.

It comprises two academic years which are usually attended by students between sixteen and eighteen years of age. Students who have completed Compulsory Secondary Education may access the Baccalaureate. There are three different modalities:

 Arts.

 Sciences

 Humanities and Social Sciences.

Students who complete any of the Baccalaureate modalities obtain the Baccalaureate qualification. This qualification entitles students to access Advanced Vocational Training and university degrees. To obtain the Baccalaureate qualification, the Spanish Education System offers several options, in addition to the ordinary one:

 Open exams to obtain the Baccalaureate qualification.

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 Specific exams for students with a Technician or Advanced Technician Vocational Training Qualification or Music or Dance Technician Official Training qualification

2.3.1. Open exams to obtain the qualification of Compulsory Secondary Education graduate Organic Law 2/2006 emphasizes the importance of lifelong learning in the Spanish education system and explicitly expresses the need to conceive the education system in a more flexible way, so that young people who abandon their studies early can resume them and complete them and so that adults can continue their learning throughout their lives. Likewise, it establishes that the regional education authorities are responsible, within the scope of their competences, for periodically organizing exams so that people over eighteen can directly obtain the qualification of Compulsory Secondary Education graduate.

State regulations establish that secondary education for adults may include the options of academic and applied education and may be organized in a modular way in three areas of knowledge with two levels each: the communications field, social field and science and technology field. The regional education authorities periodically organize exams so that people over eighteen can directly obtain the qualification of Compulsory Secondary Education graduate, as long as the latter have attained the basic competences and reached the targets for that stage.

People over the age of eighteen, or who reach this age in the calendar year in which the exam is held and who comply with any of the following requirements may sit this exam:

a) Have Spanish nationality and reside in Spain.

b) Not have Spanish nationality and reside in Spain.

c) Have Spanish nationality and reside temporarily or habitually abroad.

d) Not have Spanish nationality, reside abroad and have previously studied regulated courses within the Spanish education system.

These exams will be organized based on the three aforementioned fields of knowledge:

 Communications field.

 Social field.

 Science and technology field.

The education authorities of the Autonomous Communities, in the exercise of their competences, may offer training courses to prepare students for the open exams for the qualification of Compulsory Secondary Education graduate. As an example, the Government of the Canary Islands offers a course in a public call, which will be taught in certain adult education centres, with a duration of 390 hours over the course of an academic year. This will take place between the months of October and May

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and will include the contents of the subjects on which students will be evaluated in the exam: Spanish Language and Literature, Foreign Language (English), Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Technology, Sociology, Work and Society, and Personal Development and Social Participation.

According to EDUCAbase, statistics on non-university education (Ministry of Education and Vocational Training), during the 2018-19 academic year (the last for which consolidated data is available), a total of 15,154 students from all over Spain enrolled in this type of formal learning. This number does not include students enrolled in these type of courses in institutions such as private academies, Non-Governmental Organizations, cultural associations, etc.

Enrolled in free tests of secondary education for adults by Autonomous Community

2.3.2. Open exams to obtain the Baccalaureate qualification Organic Law 2/2006 establishes that the regional education authorities are responsible for periodically organizing exams so that people over twenty can directly obtain the qualification of Compulsory Secondary Education graduate, provided they demonstrate that they have achieved the objectives of the baccalaureate, as well as the objectives set for the fundamental aspects of the curriculum.

People over the age of twenty, or those turning twenty in the calendar year in which the exam is held, who are not studying baccalaureate in any of its modalities, whether ordinary, at night school or through distance learning and do not have the Baccalaureate qualification and who comply with any of the following requirements may sit this exam:

a) Have Spanish nationality and reside in Spain.

b) Not have Spanish nationality and reside in Spain.

c) Have Spanish nationality and reside temporarily or habitually abroad.

d) Not have Spanish nationality, reside abroad and have previously studied regulated courses within the Spanish education system.

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The exams will be based on three blocks of subjects: general core subjects, specific ones and elective ones, and will consist of the following exercises:

 An exam on each of the general subjects of the core subject block, according to the modality

 An exam on each of the two elective subjects of the core subject block, according to the modality

 An exam on one of the subjects of the specific subjects block of each course that is not either Physical Education or Religion

The education authorities of the Autonomous Communities, in the exercise of their competences, may offer training courses to prepare students for the open exams for the Baccalaureate qualification.

According to EDUCAbase, statistics on non-university education (Ministry of Education and Vocational Training), during the 2018-19 academic year (the last for which consolidated data is available), a total of 372 students from all over Spain enrolled in this type of formal learning. This number does not include students enrolled in these type of courses in institutions such as private academies, Non-Governmental Organizations, cultural associations, etc.

Enrolled in baccalaureate free tests by Autonomous Community

2.3.3. Specific exams for students with a Technician or Advanced Technician Vocational Training Qualification (diploma) or Music or Dance Technician Official Training qualification (diploma) to obtain the Baccalaureate qualification Organic Law 2/2006, of 3 May, on Education modified by Organic Law 8/2013, of 9 December for the improvement of educational quality establishes in its articles 44 and 50, respectively, the possibility of students with a Technician or Advanced technician vocational training qualification or with a Music or Dance Technician Official Training Qualification to obtain the Baccalaureate qualification.

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Students who have a Technician or Advanced technician qualification may obtain the Baccalaureate qualification after passing the final Baccalaureate exams on the subjects from the core subjects block that they must study as a minimum requirement in the modality and option chosen by the student.

In the Baccalaureate qualification, reference should be made to the fact that said qualification has been obtained in the manner indicated in the previous paragraph and to the final Baccalaureate grade, which will be the grade obtained in the final Baccalaureate exams.

Students who have a Music or Dance Technician Official Training Qualification may obtain the Baccalaureate qualification after passing the final Baccalaureate exams on the subjects from the core subjects block that they must study as a minimum requirement in the modality and option chosen by the student.

2.4. Special studies of the education system open exams

Languages (foreign languages and other official languages of the Spanish autonomous regions), artistic and sports education are considered part of the special system education. They are considered non- compulsory education (basic and official music and dance education) that run in parallel with primary and secondary education, and post-compulsory education (plastic arts and design, languages and sport). In general, basic music and dance education may be taught from the age of 8; official music and dance training from the age of 12; intermediate vocational language education and plastic arts and design and sports education from the age of 16; and advanced vocational plastic arts and design and sports education from the age of 18.

2.4.1. Open exams for validating special system language education

Regulations:

Organic Law 2/2006, of 3 May, on Education modified by Organic Law 8/2013, of 9 December for the improvement of educational quality.

Royal Decree 1/2019, of 11 January, which establishes the common basic principles of assessment applicable to the official certification exams for levels Intermediate B1, Intermediate B2, Advanced C1, and Advanced C2 of special system language education

Royal Decree 1041/2017, of 22 December, which establishes the minimum requirements for the basic level for certification purposes, establishes the basic curriculum for levels Intermediate B1, Intermediate B2, Advanced C1, and Advanced C2, of special system language education

The purpose of language education is to teach students the proper use of different languages, outside the ordinary stages of the education system, and is structured around the following levels: basic,

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intermediate and advanced. Through the Official Language Schools, this Ministry and the educational authorities offer the adult population the possibility of learning, throughout their lives, a huge variety of foreign languages under the special system. These schools teach European languages, Spain’s co- official languages and other languages of special interest for cultural, social and economic reasons such as Arabic, Chinese and Japanese. Courses are offered for various competence levels, starting from the most basic (from level A2 up to level C2 of the Council of Europe) and for different purposes (both general and specific).

The Official Language Schools courses are aimed at people who need to acquire or improve their competences in one or several foreign languages, or obtain a certificate accrediting the level of competence they already possess. The Official Language Schools belong to publicly owned institutions, that is, they are dependent on this Ministry or the education authorities of the Autonomous Communities.

State regulations establish that meeting the academic requirements established for each level of the special system language education will entitle student to obtain the corresponding certificate, with the effects established in the definition of the basic aspects of the curriculum of the different languages.

The common basic principles of assessment applicable to the official certification exams regulated in this royal decree apply in all certification assessment processes for levels Intermediate B1, Intermediate B2, Advanced C1, and Advanced C2 levels, of the different languages offered by the education authorities in a public call for students in both the open and official system, in their in-person, blended and distance modalities.

Students in the open system will be able to access the intermediate level, advanced level, or C1 level certification exams of a language without needing to have the Basic Level Certificate, the Intermediate Level Certificate, or the Advanced Level Certificate of said language, respectively, but when the nationality of student is that of a country in which said language is an official language, or if said language is the language of their ordinary schooling, they may not sit the exams for this language.

The current regulations allow certification modalities to be diversified. In addition to the certification of overall competence, which includes the comprehension of oral and written texts, of production and co-production of oral and written texts, and of mediation for each level, partial competences corresponding to one or more of these language activities may also be certified. In all cases the certificates will be official and valid throughout the country, but without any academic effect, and may be taken into account by the education authorities.

Following the instructions of the Council of Europe on the proper use of the European Language Portfolio and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, to pass the overall competence assessment a minimum score of sixty-five percent of the total score is required for each exam. Likewise, in order to pass the overall competence assessment, the student must pass each of the five parts of which this assessment comprises with a minimum score of fifty percent with respect to the total score for each part.

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In both types of certification, overall competence and by language activity, the different parts of the exams must have at least the following characteristics:

a) The comprehension of oral texts and comprehension of written texts will consist, each, of at least three different types of tasks, each of which will assess the micro-activities or micro-skills of the same language activity, in order to obtain a representative sample of the competences of each candidate.

Each of these tasks must contain at least one or more texts and an activity that the candidates will have to perform out based on said text (s).

In order to ensure the reliability of the results, each part of the exam will include a minimum number of twenty-five items, distributed in a balanced way among the different tasks that comprise it.

b) The parts corresponding to the production and co-production of oral texts, production and co-production of written texts, and mediation will each consist of at least two tasks, each of which will assess the micro-activities or micro-skills of the same language activity, in order to obtain a representative sample of the competences of each candidate.

Finally, the regulations establish the conditions under which those who accredit the mastery of the competences required in that language, according to the procedures established by the education authorities, can access any Intermediate B1, Intermediate B2, Advanced C1, and Advanced C2 level course of a language. In most cases, level, classification or competences tests are established to decide which course the student may access.

2.4.2. Open exams for special system artistic education (Music and Dance) Regulations: Organic Law 2/2006, of 3 May, on Education modified by Organic Law 8/2013, of 9 December for the improvement of educational quality

Royal Decree 1614/2009, of 26 October, which establishes the structure of the advanced artistic education regulated by Organic Law 2/2006, of 3 May, on Education

This education is based on the study of an instrumental or vocal specialty and whose purpose is to provide students with quality artistic training with the aim of preparing them for advanced studies in Music or to serve as a foundation for other educational and professional paths.

They are organized into levels that cover six academic years. The education authorities of the autonomous communities, which establish their own regulations for official music training, can complete the curriculum with other subjects and determine the year or years in which these must be studied. Likewise, they can increase the minimum teaching time of the basic education and also promote in their curricula different profiles within each speciality during the last two years. Therefore,

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we recommend that students consult the regulations that govern official music training in the autonomous community in which they wish to study.

Students who pass official music training will obtain the Music Technician Official Training Qualification, which will include the speciality studied.

Music and Dance artistic training is structured in Basic, Official and Advanced levels. The characteristics and structure of the Basic training fall within the competencies of the corresponding Autonomous education authorities and do not result in any official qualification. However, successful completion of the Music and Dance Official training courses, which are accessed after passing a specific exam and which are structured in a single course over six years, does award the qualification of Technician for the corresponding speciality and, in parallel, entitles the holder to obtain a baccalaureate qualification if they pass in the final Baccalaureate exam the core subjects that they must study as a minimum requirement in the modality and option chosen by the student, thus facilitating the combination of both types of courses. The Baccalaureate qualification (or passing the University entrance exam for over 25 year olds) is a requisite to access the Advanced training, since the Advanced Music or Dance qualification (in the corresponding speciality) is equivalent, for all purposes, to an undergraduate degree (Level 2 of the Spanish Qualifications Framework for Higher Education). In addition, to access the Advanced level in Music or Dance, a specific exam must be passed, which demonstrates that the student has the necessary knowledge to successfully complete these courses.

Despite the linear organization of the three successive courses (Basic, Official and Advanced), the system allows students to enrol at different points of the curriculum, thus allowing those who demonstrate that they possess the required knowledge to obtain the corresponding official qualifications without the need to go through the whole system. Although there are no open exams for direct certification (as is the case, for example, in language education), it is possible to access any official level course through an entrance exam (provided the centres have vacancies for the speciality in question). Thus, for example, a student could obtain their Technician qualification just by taking the sixth year of the Official level course. Although having the official level qualification is taken into account when applying for entry to the Advanced level, it is not a sine qua non condition, so applicants may be able to enrol in advanced courses without holding the previous qualification (provided that the applicant at least has the Baccalaureate qualification). However, obtaining the Advanced Music or Dance qualification in the corresponding specialty, equivalent for all purposes to an official undergraduate degree, does require the applicant to have passed all the ECTS credits of which the curriculum is composed.

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2.4.3. Validating special system sports education Regulations:

Organic Law 2/2006, of 3 May, on Education modified by Organic Law 8/2013, of 9 December for the improvement of educational quality

Royal Decree 1363/2007, of 24 October, which establishes the general structure of special system sports education

Sports education aims to prepare students for careers in the sporting system in relation to a sports modality or speciality at the different levels of initiation, technification and high performance, and facilitate the adaptation of trained coaches to changes in the labour and sports world and to become active citizens.

A fundamental characteristic of this type of education is the requirement of a specific entrance exam. A sufficient level of mastery of the sport modality or speciality must be demonstrated so the student is able easily follow the courses and get the most out of them.

2.4.3.1. Intermediate Level Sports Education

Intermediate level sports education prepares students to perform functions of initiation, leading, basic training, and technical improvement, in the different sports modalities or specialities. It is organized in two cycles called:

 Initial cycle or first level  Final cycle or second level (names according to the Organic Law on Education and Organic Law on the General Structure and Organization of the Education System respectively)

These cycles are structured as follows:

 Common block: made up of the modules common to all sports modalities or specialities.  Specific block: made up of the modules specific to the modality or speciality and the practical training module.

To access the initial cycle of the intermediate level courses, applicants must have the qualification of Compulsory Secondary Education graduate or equivalent academic qualification. To access the final cycle of the intermediate level courses, applicants must prove that they have passed the initial cycle of the intermediate level in the corresponding sports modality or speciality.

In addition to the general requirements, to access to any of the sports education cycles, applicants may be required to pass a specific exam, or prove the required sporting merit. Passing the specific exam or, in its place, proving the required sporting merit, along with passing the related modules, will

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accredit the required sporting competences and, where appropriate, the corresponding competence units of the National Catalogue of Professional Qualifications.

The specific requirements will be valid throughout the country. High-level or high-performance athletes will be exempt from meeting the specific requirements in the corresponding modality or speciality.

In place of the qualification of Compulsory Secondary Education graduate, applicants may opt to take an exam in which they can demonstrate their knowledge of the subjects in the Compulsory Secondary Education curriculum of the corresponding autonomous community. They must be at least 17 years of age to take this exam. This entrance exam will be valid throughout the country. The entrance exam for intermediate vocational training may replace the entrance exam for the same level of sports education.

Current regulations establish that the applicant may be exempt in part or in whole from the practical training module depending on their experience as a coach, teacher or guide, in the sporting or working field, provided they can prove that they have over twice as much experience in that area of the sports education course as the duration of the practical training module, which allows them to demonstrate the learning outcomes of said module. The specific regulations that approve the corresponding qualification and minimum required training will determine, where appropriate, the body or entity that can certify this experience, specifying its duration, the activity carried out and the period of time in which said activity was carried out.

In addition, sports education modules of a certain modality or speciality related to a competence unit that is part of the National Catalogue of Professional Qualifications will be validated, provided that the competence unit is accredited by:

 Any other sports education or vocational training qualification.  Professional certification.  Partial accreditation according to what is established in the provisions of article 8.3 of Organic Law 5/2002, of 19 June on Qualifications and Vocational Training.

2.4.3.2. Advanced Level Sports Education

To access the advanced cycle applicants must have the Baccalaureate qualification or equivalent academic qualification, or the Sports Technician qualification in the corresponding modality or sports speciality.

In place of the baccalaureate qualification, applicants may take an exam which demonstrates their knowledge in relation to the objectives of the Baccalaureate To sit this exam applicants must be 19 years of age, or 18 if they have a vocational training qualification from the physical and sports activities group. This exam may be replaced by the common part of the advanced vocational training entrance exam and will be regulated and organized by the autonomous communities.

In addition to the general requirements, each modality may require any of the following conditions:

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 The passing of a specific exam in the sport modality or speciality

 Proving the required sporting merit.

 Passing the specific exam or, in its place, proving the required sporting merit, along with passing the related modules, will accredit the required sporting competences and, where appropriate, the corresponding competence units of the National Catalogue of Professional Qualifications.

The specific requirements will be valid throughout the country. High-level or high-performance athletes will be exempt from meeting the specific requirements in the corresponding modality or speciality.

Current regulations establish that the applicant may be exempt in part or in whole from the practical training module depending on their experience as a coach, teacher or guide, in the sporting or working field, provided they can prove that they have over twice as much experience in that area of the sports education course as the duration of the practical training module, which allows them to demonstrate the learning outcomes of said module. The royal decree that approves the corresponding title and minimum education will determine, where appropriate, the body or entity that can certify the experience, specifying its duration, the activity carried out and the period of time in which it has developed said activity.

In addition, sports education modules of a certain modality or speciality related to a competence unit that is part of the National Catalogue of Professional Qualifications will be validated, provided that the competence unit is accredited by:

 Any other sports education or vocational training qualification.

 Professional certification.

Partial accreditation according to what is established in the provisions of article 8.3 of Organic Law 5/2002, of 19 June on Qualifications and Vocational Training.

2.5. Validation systems for formal and informal learning in the university sphere

2.5.1. Access to university for people over 25, 40, 45, etc Regulations:

Organic Law 2/2006, of 3 May, on Education modified by Organic Law 8/2013, of 9 December for the improvement of educational quality

Royal Decree 412/2014, of 6 June, which establishes the basic regulations for admission procedures to official university degrees

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Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29 October, which establishes the structure of official university education The duration of the degrees in a large number of countries of the European Higher Education Area is set from 180 ECTS credits (3 years) to 240 ECTS credits (4 years) or even more, depending on the recognition of their professional attributions.

Spain opted for a minimum duration of 240 credits. The approved modification allows us to offer degrees from 180 credits and, in this way, adapt our courses to those countries with which we have a greater international mobility of students and with which we share a common labour market.

It is the Universities who independently decide which official bachelor's and master's degrees to offer, as well as their duration.

Our alignment with two thirds of the countries that are part of the European Higher Education Area, which also offer 180 credit degrees along with longer duration degrees, facilitates the recognition of degrees between universities, including the establishment of double degrees with other universities, as well as student mobility. A flexible system that allows multiple options depending on the training needs that each student chooses enables a more appropriate transition to the labour market or the continuation of education at masters or doctorate levels in the same terms as students of the countries in our immediate vicinity.

In addition, as in most countries of the European Higher Education Area, it enables universities to adapt their offer of courses to meet the needs of society in terms of labour supply, both public and private.

The current regulations establish the conditions and requirements for access to University, both under the general and specific systems, for citizens who wish to validate their formal and informal learning and work experience through three modalities: over 25, over 40 and over 45 years of age.

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2.5.1.1. Access to Undergraduate Degrees for over people over 25 years of age

People over 25 years of age who do not have any academic qualification that allows them to access university by other means, can access official undergraduate degree level university education by passing an entrance exam. Only those who are 25 years of age in the calendar year of the exam can sit it.

The university entrance exam will be structured in two phases, one general and one specific. The general phase of the exam will aim to evaluate the maturity and suitability of candidates to successfully complete a university course, as well as their capacity of reasoning and of written expression. It will comprise three exercises related to the following areas:

 Text commentary or discussion of a general topical subject.  Spanish language.  Foreign language, out of a choice of German, French, English, Italian and Portuguese.

If the exam is held in Universities managed by Autonomous Communities where there is another co- official language, the competent Autonomous Community may establish a mandatory fourth exercise related to the co-official language.

The specific phase of the exam aims to assess the skills, abilities and aptitudes of the candidates to successfully complete the different university courses related to each of the branches of knowledge on which the official university undergraduate degrees are based. For this, the specific phase of the exam will be structured around five options linked to the five branches of knowledge: option A (arts and humanities); option B (science); option C (health sciences); option D (social and legal sciences) and option E (engineering and architecture).

Each education authority, after prior consultation with the Universities under its management, will establish the methodology guidelines, the design and content of the exercises that make up both the general phase and the specific phase, and the criteria and formulas for their assessment. The organization of the entrance exams will be the responsibility of the Universities, within the framework established by the regional education authorities.

General guidelines:  The candidate may take the entrance exam in as many Universities as they deem appropriate.  The candidate may take specific phase of the exam in the option or options of their choice, and will have preference in the admission to the University or Universities for which they have taken the entrance exam and in the branch or branches of knowledge linked to the options chosen in the specific phase.

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 To carry out the exercises, candidates may use, at their discretion, any of the official languages of the Autonomous Community in which they are taking the exam. However, the exercises corresponding to Spanish, the co-official language of the Autonomous Community and the foreign language must be done in the respective languages.  When enrolling in the entrance exam, candidates must state the foreign language chosen for the corresponding exercise of the general phase, as well as the option or options chosen in the specific phase.  After the publication of the qualifications, and in accordance with the deadlines and procedures determined by each Autonomous Community, candidates may submit a justified written complaint to the corresponding University.

Every year, the universities will offer an entrance exam in a public call for those over 25, for each of the branches in which they offer courses. Having passed the entrance exam, a candidate may present themselves to successive calls, in order to improve their score. The score obtained in the new call will be taken into consideration, provided that it is higher than the previous one.

The entrance exam score and the score for each one of its exercises, will be decided by the University, in accordance with the criteria and assessment formulas established by the regional education authority. The final score will be determined by taking the arithmetic mean of the scores obtained in the general phase and the specific phase, rated from 0 to 10 and expressed with two decimal places, rounded up to the nearest hundredth. A candidate will be deemed to have passed the entrance exam when they obtain a minimum of five points in the final score, though in no case may an average score be calculated if the candidate does not obtain a minimum score of four points both in the general phase and in the specific phase.

2.5.1.2. Accreditation of work or professional experience (40 years of age) related to an undergraduate degree course.

Candidates with work or professional experience related to a course, who do not have any academic qualification that grants them access to the university by other means and who are over 40 or turn 40 in the same calendar year as the start of the academic course may get into university in this manner.

Entry will be to specific courses offered by a University, for which purpose the interested party will direct the corresponding request to the University of their choice. The Universities will include in the certified curriculum the accreditation criteria and scope of work or professional experience in relation to each one of the courses, so that they can filter the applicants. These criteria will include, in any case, a personal interview with the candidate, which may be repeated on several occasions.

The universities as a whole will reserve a number of places not lower than 1% or greater than 3% for people who are admitted to an official undergraduate degree programme after passing the university entrance exam for over 45 year olds or for those accrediting work or professional experience.

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2.5.1.3. Access to official undergraduate degrees for over people over 45 years of age

People over 45 years of age who do not have any academic qualification that allows them to access university by other means, can access official undergraduate degree level university education by passing an adapted entrance exam, provided they at least turn 45 in the same calendar year in which the exam is held.

The exam will aim to evaluate the maturity and suitability of candidates to successfully complete a university course, as well as their capacity of reasoning and of written expression. It will comprise two exercises related to the following areas:

a) Text commentary or discussion of a general topical subject.

b) Spanish language.

If the exam is held in Universities managed by Autonomous Communities where there is another co- official language, the competent Autonomous Community may establish a mandatory third exercise related to the co-official language.

General guidelines:

 The organization of the entrance exams for people over 45 will be the responsibility of the Universities that offer the courses requested by the interested party, within the framework established by the regional education authorities.

 Candidates must sit through a personal interview. The outcome of the interview will determine whether the candidate is granted access to the course.

 Each education authority, after prior consultation with the Universities under its management, will establish the methodology guidelines, the design and content of the exercises that make up the exam, and the criteria and formulas for their assessment.

 To carry out the exercises, candidates may use, at their discretion, any of the official languages of the Autonomous Community in which they are taking the exam. However, the exercises corresponding to Spanish and to the co-official language of the Autonomous Community must be done in the respective languages.

 After the publication of the qualifications, and in accordance with the deadlines and procedures determined by each Autonomous Community, candidates may submit a justified written complaint to the corresponding University.

Every year, the universities will offer an entrance exam in a public call for those over 45. Candidates may take this exam every time it is offered in a public call by the Universities of their choice, provided

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that they are offering the course the candidate wishes to study; passing the entrance exam will allow them to be admitted only to the Universities where they have taken the exam. Having passed the entrance exam, a candidate may present themselves to successive calls by the same University, in order to improve their score. The score obtained in the new call will be taken into consideration, provided that it is higher than the previous one.

The entrance exam score for those over 45 years of age and the score for each one of its exercises, will be decided by each University, in accordance with the criteria and assessment formulas established by the regional education authority. The final score will be determined by taking the arithmetic mean of the scores obtained in the exercises, rated from 0 to 10 and expressed with two decimal places, rounded up to the nearest hundredth. A candidate will be deemed to have passed the entrance exam when they are deemed suitable after the personal interview and obtain a minimum of five points in the final score, though in no case may an average score be calculated if the candidate does not obtain a minimum score of four points in each exercise.

According to EDUCAbase, statistics on non-university education (Ministry of Education and Vocational Training), in 2018, a total of almost 30,000 people made use of one of the options for access to undergraduate studies through the validation of work experience and non-formal and informal training channels:

Número de Número de estudiantes Acceso por criterio de edad y experiencia laboral. matriculaciones presentados en las en las PAU PAU

Total 29.927 19.319

PAU para mayores de 25 años 24.405 15.640

PAU para mayores de 45 años 4.375 2.590

Acceso para mayores de 40 años con experiencia 1.147 1.089 laboral

Convocatoria ordinaria 23.368 17.702

PAU para mayores de 25 años 18.852 14.294

PAU para mayores de 45 años 3.369 2.319

Acceso para mayores de 40 años con experiencia 1.147 1.089 laboral

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Convocatoria extraordinaria 6.559 1.617

PAU para mayores de 25 años 5.553 1.346

PAU para mayores de 45 años 1.006 271

2.5.1.4. Recognition of ECTS credits in Higher Education for work experience inherent to university undergraduate courses

Accredited work and professional experience may also be recognized in the form of credits taken into account for the purpose of obtaining an official university degree, provided that said experience is related to the competences inherent to the qualification. In no case will any credits corresponding to the bachelor’s and master's degree final projects be recognized.

The number of credits that are subject to recognition as a result of professional or work experience and unofficial university courses may not exceed, as a whole, 15 percent of the total credits that make up the curriculum. The recognition of these credits will not include their score, so they will not be taken into account for the calculating the overall grade of the qualification.

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3. CHAPTER III: COHERENCE OF VALIDATION ARRANGEMENTS WITH OTHER TRANSPARENCY AND RECOGNITION TOOLS:

The different validation systems, which have been described in detail in Chapter II, are entirely coherent with the official accreditations of the educational levels in Spain and, in due course will be coherent with the permanent National Framework of Qualifications for Lifelong Learning (MECU) that is being drawn up and which will reference the European framework (EQF). In this regard, it should be noted that the general validation scheme allows access by three different paths, all of which are aimed at enabling people to, either fully or partially, obtain at the end and with the corresponding scope, an accreditation in formal systems, with full academic and/or professional value. This also implies that the tools of transparency and mobility that can be used at the end of each validation process are the same as in the cases of formal learning, including the use of ECTS credits and Europass mobility documents.

Below is a brief description of how each of these validation paths is associated with formal accreditations.

3.1. Direct obtaining of qualifications in the Education System

All citizens, complying with the requirements described in detail in Chapter II of this report, can obtain qualifications from academic learning in the Education System. Specifically, the qualification of Compulsory Secondary Education graduate (ESO), and the Baccalaureate qualification (post- compulsory secondary education).

In addition, and as also discussed in Chapter II, students with a Technician or Advanced technician vocational training qualification (diploma) or with a Music or Dance Technician Official Training Qualification (diploma) have the possibility to obtain the Baccalaureate qualification.

In the field of Vocational Training, those citizens who consider that they have the knowledge, skills and competence corresponding to the learning outcomes of each Vocational Training qualification can sit the exams offered in public calls by the education authorities of the Autonomous Communities in order to obtain the qualification (diploma) in question, following a modular system.

Those who pass the specific exams for each vocational training module of the qualification in question can formalize their academic record to reflect this achievement. Once they have passed all the vocational training modules that make up a qualification, including the workplace training module and, where appropriate, the project module, they can obtain the corresponding Vocational Training qualification, which is as valid as if it had been obtained by completing the course in the ordinary schooling system.

Notwithstanding the above, it should be noted that, in order to be ultimately awarded the qualification obtained by this path, the interested party must prove compliance with the conditions of access to

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this educational level: qualification of Compulsory Secondary Education graduate, or entrance exam for Intermediate Level Vocational Training and Baccalaureate qualification, or entrance exam for Advanced Level Vocational Training.

3.2. Entrance exams to study in the post-compulsory Education System:

The different post-compulsory levels of the Education System can be accessed by passing entrance exams, in the terms and with the requirements set out in Chapter II. Passing these exams entitles the applicant to attend a course and, where appropriate, obtain the corresponding qualification, without said qualification being any different in terms of validity than that obtained by students who access the course because they meet all the academic requirements. This is proof of the coherence of the system, its transparency, and its direct correlation with the national accreditation frameworks and, in turn, with the European framework.

3.3. Procedures for the assessment, accreditation and recognition of professional competences acquired through work experience and non-formal training.

As also indicated in Chapter II, the procedure for the assessment and accreditation of professional competences acquired through work experience and non-formal training, leads to the cumulative partial accreditation of the demonstrated professional competences, which is only valid when certified through the professional modules of the Vocational Training qualifications or through the training modules of the Professional Certifications. Therefore, this accreditation is perfectly integrated into a formal validation system.

3.4. Other cases of validation of work experience.

It should also be noted that work experience can be taken into account by universities, within the scope of their autonomy, to validate ECTS credits for university courses, both at bachelor’s and master’s degree level, very much on an individual case-by-case basis.

Likewise, work experience may be taken into account for validating the Workplace Vocational Training Module which is mandatory for all students studying the Vocational Training cycles in the Education System. In this case, validation is also done on a case-by-case basis, analysing the circumstances and documentation provided by each applicant.

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4. CHAPTER IV. THE SUPPORT TO INDIVIDUALS.

Spain actively participated in the work carried out by the ELGPN (European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network), since its creation in 2007, up to the formal completion of its work, in 2015. This participation shows that Spain believes that lifelong guidance, with the appropriate tools and experts for each of its phases and levels, is an indispensable tool for citizens to be able to take decisions regarding their academic or professional future.

In the field of education, the guidance process starts very early in the learning process, and continues throughout the academic life of students, including at the university level.

In general, the education centres that provide secondary education, both compulsory and post- compulsory, have guidance departments that, in addition to addressing possible learning problems that students may have, perform vocational and professional guidance tasks in collaboration with the students’ tutors and the rest of the Education Community.

Meanwhile, in the field of employment, public employment services implement and maintain a career guidance system that has been progressively adapted to the requirements of the different production sectors.

The entire regulatory framework that regulates Vocational Training in our country includes career guidance as a basic element. In addition, these regulations require the design and implementation of an integrated system that optimizes the efforts of the different guidance providers. In that regard, within the General Council of Vocational Training, there is a working group composed of employment and education authorities, as well as social stakeholders, who are analysing the current state of career guidance in Spain, with the aim of submitting a proposal for action to said council.

Regarding the procedure for the assessment of professional competences acquired through work experience and non-formal training, whose specific regulation is found in the aforementioned Royal Decree 1224 of 2009, it should be noted that the established procedure grants a prominent role to guidance as the first and final phases thereof.

1. As a first phase, guaranteeing candidates an open and permanent service of information and guidance, as well as adequate support tools. The aim is that citizens who decide to follow this procedure understand its scope and validity and to what extent it is adapted to their expectations and competences.

2. In the final phase, through the preparation, for those accredited persons, of a personalized report that indicates how they can validate these accreditations, and of the possibilities of continuing their training to achieve a formal accreditation in any of the two Vocational Training systems, either Vocational Training in the Education System or Vocational Training for Employment in the Workplace.

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The experts responsible for informing, guiding and advising, are especially trained in matters included in the legislation that regulates this accreditation procedure.

In any case, any actions and initiatives that are carried out, both individually and collectively, in terms of information and guidance for the validation of non-formal and informal learning take into account those groups that are especially vulnerable, or at risk of exclusion, adapting the tools and actions that are carried out to said groups, where appropriate.

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5. CHAPTER V. ROLE OF STAKEHOLDERS IN THE VALIDATION OF NON- FORMAL AND INFORMAL LEARNING

The regulations governing the procedure for assessment and accreditation of professional competences acquired through work experience and through non-formal training (Royal Decree 1224/200), demands in articles 6, 8, 10, 21 and 29 the participation of social stakeholders both in the definition of the calls and in their planning and monitoring. In addition, the most representative trade union and business organizations, in each territorial area, may request, from the State Administration or the competent authorities in each Autonomous Community, that specific calls be put out to respond both to the needs of certain companies, professional and production sectors and of groups that face particular difficulties in terms of entry into the labour market.

Social stakeholders are urging the government to consider the need for accrediting non-formal learning acquired through work experience. They also contribute to an understanding of the real needs based on the knowledge they have of each sector. In addition, they participate in the guidance and assessment phases and, on occasion, provide expert advisors and evaluators, as well as infrastructure and technical means.

The involvement of social stakeholders and the business sector is therefore significant, recognized and recognizable in these types of procedures.

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6. CHAPTER VI. CAPACITY BUILDING AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

The Organic Law that regulates the National System of Qualifications and Vocational Training in Spain, establishes that within the framework of said System two fundamental aspects must be considered, career information and guidance, as well as the permanent assessment of the system to guarantee its quality. For these purposes, the regulation includes a whole chapter dedicated to quality and assessment.

The procedure established for the assessment and accreditation of professional competences acquired through work experience and non-formal training, includes as one its basic principles the establishment of internal and external mechanisms that ensure “quality and technical rigour”. Therefore the authorities that perform the calls must establish a quality plan document this process adequately.

As a result, the procedure for the assessment and accreditation of professional competences implemented by each competent authority through its own organizational structure will be provided with quality management systems that ensure compliance with the established objectives, outcomes and principles. To ensure this, all of the aspects that affect the procedure will be assessed, with the involvement of all the people and services that intervene in the procedure.

The procedure for the assessment and accreditation of professional competences will be verified through internal assessments and external audits that contribute to a process of continuous improvement.

An interministerial committee is specifically entrusted with assessing, at the national level, the degree of implementation and achievement of objectives in the assessment of professional competences acquired through work experience and non-formal training. This committee issues annual reports that serve as the basis for the proposal for future improvements. Similarly, and as indicated earlier in this report, the General Council of Vocational Training has created a working group that has assessed the strengths and weaknesses of this specific procedure for assessing and accrediting professional competences. The result of this work is a report containing 32 improvement measures that, under the conditions to be determined, will be progressively incorporated both in the regulatory structure and in the calls that will be carried out in the future.

In addition, it should be noted that the training courses that the advisors and evaluators involved in these procedures are required to attend, include specific content in relation to the quality assurance of the procedure, in all its phases.

With regards to the validation of non-formal learning to obtain qualifications of the Education System, or for access to its different levels, quality is a specific requirement established in the regulatory structure that governs the different procedures described in Chapter II. All of them seek the basic

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principles of objectivity, equity, sensitivity and specificity in the assessment tools used, without prejudice to the quality of the information and guidance tasks that must accompany any action aimed at assessing learning. For these purposes, in some cases specific quality assurance committees have been set up and in others, the powers to establish this guarantee resides in the bodies responsible for its execution.

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7. CHAPTER VII. EVALUATION & MONITORING

Monitoring and evaluation go hand in hand with quality assurance. Therefore, the monitoring of the processes and the evaluation of results, is carried out at different levels:

 Monitoring of processes: carried out for each procedure described in Chapter II, according to the mechanisms established in each of their regulatory standards. This monitoring also includes, among other things, an assessment of the following aspects: o Adaptation of the procedure to the established objectives. o Transparency and ease of access for citizens. o Existence of sufficient mechanisms and tools for information and guidance. o Alignment with the real needs of accreditation of society, using an appropriate combination of data from official records and other data obtained by sampling. o Participation of the social stakeholders. o Inclusion of groups who are especially vulnerable or at risk of exclusion. o Gender equality. o Establishment of information and guidance mechanisms on mechanisms for progressing through the education system, or for access to employment, for persons accredited in any of the procedures in question.

 Evaluation: the evaluation begins with the analysis of the monitoring reports, in accordance with the conditions and structure of each process, and with the addition of both process and outcome indicators. Below is a non-exhaustive list of these indicators. o Process indicators: generally based on data from official records, including the following: . Number of users requesting access to each process broken down by:  Sex  Age brackets.  Accredited prior training.  Employment situation, including in which production or service sector, employed or unemployed, others.  Groups by nationality.  Geographical scope/place of residence of the candidates. . Information about access to the process:  Tools used in the public call.  Mechanisms for publicising the call.  Period of the call and time during which it remains open.  Withdrawal: people who withdraw from accreditation procedures in each phase.  Infrastructure and material and human resources used for the call. o Outcome indicators: These include the following:

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. Number of accredited candidates, broken down by the same criteria used in the analysis of access to the process.  Candidates who obtain full accreditation.  Candidates who obtain a cumulative partial accreditation . Number of candidates who access training paths complementary to accreditation, or for continuity. . Access to a job that is aligned with the accreditation obtained:  Number of accredited persons accessing an aligned job.  Quality of employment in terms of working hours and schedule. . Economic indicators justifying public investments made in accreditation procedures.

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8. ANNEXED

 Figure 1: Spanish population by age bracket and sex. Pág 8

 Figure 2: Resident population of Spain, by nationality and sex. Pág 9

 Figure 3: Activity rates by sex and age groups. Pág 10

 Fifure 4: Activity rate by level of education. Pág 11

 Figure 5: Variation of the activity rate by level of education. Comparison from 2017 to 2019 - based on second quarter Labour Force Survey Pág 12

 Figure 6: Active, by level of education and sex - absolute values. Pág 13

 Figure 7: Number of active people, and percentage, according to whether their qualifications are of a professional nature. Pág 14

 Figure 8: Evolution of the early school leaving rate. Pág 15

 Figure 9: Early school leaving rate for 2018 for each Autonomous Community. Pág 16

 Figure 10: Map. Pág 16

 Figure 11 Employed persons by age and sex in absolute values, and percentage of total persons employed by age bracket. Pág 18

 Table1. Pág 17

 Figure 12: Employed persons, in absolute values, broken down by sex and level of education. Pág 18

 Figure 13: Unemployed persons by age and sex in absolute values, and percentage of total persons employed by age bracket. Pág 19

 Table 2. Pág 19

 Figure 14: Unemployed persons, in absolute values, disaggregated by sex and level of education. Pag 20

 Figure 15. Pág 26

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