Will my students need to take an exam to apply to university in Spain?

As international college counsellors, we have encountered a peculiar challenge regarding applying to universities in Spain. 

Public universities in Spain mandate that students have to take a “Selectividad” admission exam. The Selectividad tests subjects such as maths and Spanish language and, in some cases, chemistry, physics, Spanish geography or Spanish history. The subjects, and the amount the student has to take on, will depend on their chosen career path. 

Until recently, the Selectividad exam was not a big issue for us, because many international students favour private institutions. Private institutions either set their own exams, which are more friendly for international students, or have no exam requirements. 

Applying to university in Spain: a mandatory exam?

However, some interested parties in Spain have started pushing to pass a law making the Selectividad exam mandatory for all students outside the European Union, including those from Spanish-speaking Central and South America. 

If this law is passed, international students wanting to study at public or private universities in Spain will need to take the Selectividad.

The exam itself would not be a problem if it weren’t for several pressing factors. The first is the lack of testing centres in most countries outside Spain. This is an exclusively in-person exam, so students who need to sit the Selectividad must travel to a neighbouring country where there is a testing centre, or to Spain itself.

This adds an extra level of complication when it comes to academic preparation, as well as an extra financial burden. Neither of these is helped by the fact that there are only two testing dates per year.  

If a student needs to take the exam in a specific subject, such as Spanish geography or history, they will need to undertake extra preparation. The pressure to apply for the Spanish entry exam goes against the worldwide trend of forfeiting the scores of standardised tests in admission processes because of the clear disadvantage these exams pose for students of different academic and socio-economic backgrounds. 

How to counsel students about the Selectividad

So, how can we as counsellors tackle this problem? Several of my students have chosen Spain as their first option for undergraduate studies. I was the most trusted source of information about what was happening but I didn’t even have the most up-to-date information on this matter. Their immediate sources of information were media reports about the possibility of the Selectividad law being passed at any moment, or the representatives of EduAssis, which sets the exam. EduAssis’ rep seemed to be implying that the exam was mandatory for students wanting to study in Spain. 

So, instead, I started contacting the different Spanish universities and holding meetings with their reps. It turned out that we were all on the same page: nobody knew when or if the law was going to be passed.

I concentrated on gathering as much information as possible from as many reputable sources as possible. It is better to provide high-quality information than the freshest, out-of-the-oven news. 

As the consultations progressed, it became clear that the law was unlikely to pass during the current admission cycle. I started meeting students and other stakeholders to communicate what was happening and to present possible solutions. 

I told final-year students that they should continue the process as they were, constantly communicating with their university reps, while juniors (year 12) should be mindful that the situation could change for the next admission cycle. I recommended maintaining excellent communication with Spanish university representatives, while exploring other good options, such as universities in different European countries and in Latin America.