Access requirements for Doctorate studies

The requirements for access to the doctorate are included in article 6 of Royal Decree 99/2011, of January 28, which regulates official doctoral teachings , which in its consolidated version after the publication of subsequent regulations is worded as follows :

1. In general, to access an official doctoral program it will be necessary to be in possession of the official Spanish Bachelor's degrees, or equivalent, and a Master's degree, or equivalent , provided that at least 300 ECTS credits have been obtained in the set of these two teachings .
2. Likewise, those who find themselves in any of the following cases may access: 
   • Be in possession of official Spanish university degrees or equivalent Spanish degrees as long as at least 300 ECTS credits have been obtained in all of these courses and accredit level 3 of the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education .
   • Be in possession of a degree obtained in accordance with foreign educational systems belonging to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) , without the need for homologation , that accredits a level 7 of the European Qualifications Framework , provided that said degree entitles access to higher education studies. doctorate in the country of issue . This admission will not imply, in any case, the homologation of the previous degree held by the interested party or its recognition for purposes other than access to doctoral education.
   • Be in possession of a degree obtained in accordance with foreign educational systems outside the EHEA , without the need for its approval, after verification by the university that it accredits a level of training equivalent to that of the official Spanish university Master 's degree and that it authorizes the country of issue of the degree for access to doctoral studies . This admission will not imply, in any case, the homologation of the previous degree held by the interested party or its recognition for purposes other than access to doctoral education.
   • Be in possession of another Doctorate degree .
   • Likewise, university graduates who, after obtaining a training place in the corresponding test for access to specialized health training places , have passed with a positive evaluation at least two years of training in a program to obtain an official degree in any of the specialties in Health Sciences .

This article is, in turn, linked to the provisions of Royal Decree 889/2022 of 18 October, which regulates the procedure for establishing the equivalence, at the level of the Spanish Qualifications Framework for Higher Education, of official Spanish university qualifications belonging to previous academic structures. It therefore follows that:

• Those holding a qualification that has been recognised as corresponding to level 2 (Bachelor’s degree) of the Spanish Qualifications Framework for Higher Education (MECES) in accordance with the procedure laid down in Royal Decree 889/2022 of 18 October meet the requirements, provided they also hold an official Master’s degree or have completed at least 60 ECTS credits at Master’s level, meet the entry requirements for a PhD programme.
• Those who hold a qualification that has been classified as Level 3 (Master’s) of the Spanish Qualifications Framework for Higher Education (MECES) in accordance with the procedure set out in Royal Decree 889/2022 of 18 October meet the entry requirements for a PhD programme.

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