Possibility of access to Subgroup A2 with the exceeding of 180 credits of the official title of Degree.

The implementation of the system of Degrees in university degrees, has caused us the doubt in the requirements of access to the places of A2 in our different competitions [Local Entity].

Specifically, prior to the degree system, candidates who had not obtained the degree, for example, of a bachelor’s degree, had obtained the first cycle or 180 credits of their degrees, were admitted to the selective processes of places of the functional subgroup A2, and as such the University issued certification in this regard.

However, in this new situation you have doubts if those candidates who have not obtained the degree qualification, have obtained 180 credits from it, can be admitted to a selective process of subgroup A2.

Therefore, consultation is formulated on the possibility of participating in selective processes of Subgroup A2 in case of having passed 180 credits of an official degree.

Article 76 of Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, of 30 October, approving the consolidated text of the Law on the Basic Status of Public Employees (hereinafter TRLEBEP) regulates the professional classification groups of career civil servants as basic regulations and, therefore, applicable to all Public Administrations, in the following terms:

“The bodies and scales are classified, according to the degree required for access to them, in the following groups: (…) The classification of bodies and scales in each Subgroup will depend on the level of responsibility for the functions to be performed and the characteristics of the entrance tests.”

According to the current legislation, the qualification required to access Subgroup A2 would be as follows: “Group A, divided into two Subgroups A1 and A2. For access to the bodies or scales of this Group it will be required to be in possession of the university degree of Degree. In those cases in which the Law requires another university degree, this will be taken into account.”

The 4th Final Provision of the TRLEBEP states, in its third paragraph, the following:

“Until the Civil Service Laws are enacted and the development regulations are in force in each Public Administration, the existing regulations on the management, planning and management of human resources shall remain in force as long as they do not conflict with the provisions of this Statute.”

Therefore, the development of the selective processes for access to the Public Service will be governed by the rules that, in each Administration, regulate the management, planning and management of human resources, respecting in any case the regulation provided for in the TRLEBEP.

The previous basic regulations on the matter were contained in article 25 of Law 30/1984, of August 2, on Measures for the Reform of the Public Service, which contained the following regulations regarding the Bodies and Scales included in the former group B:

“The Bodies, Scales, Classes and Categories of officials in the service of the Public Administrations will be grouped, according to the degree required for their entry, into the following groups: (…)

Group B. Degree of Technical Engineer, University Diploma, Technical Architect, Vocational Training of Third Degree or equivalent.”

For its part, the Fifth Transitional Provision of the same Law provides as follows:

“For the purposes of this Law, having completed three full undergraduate courses shall be considered equivalent to the degree of university diploma”.

Likewise, Royal Decree 1272/2003, of 10 October, which regulates the conditions for the declaration of equivalence of Spanish degrees of university or non-university higher education, provides in its first additional provision that:

“For the purposes of the provisions of Law 30/1984, of August 2, on Measures for the Reform of the Public Service, it will be considered equivalent to the degree of University Diploma to have passed the first three complete courses of the studies leading to the obtaining of any official degree of Bachelor, Architect or Engineer, or the first cycle corresponding to said studies, provided that this first cycle contains a minimum teaching load of 180 credits.”

Thus, the academic certification issued by the University accrediting that it has passed the first three courses or the first cycle of a Bachelor’s Degree, provided that said cycle contains a minimum teaching load of 180 credits, would constitute sufficient equivalent qualification to participate in the selective tests of access to the Bodies and Scales of Subgroup A2.

However, the “180 credits” referred to in Royal Decree 1272/2003, of October 10, should not be confused with the 180 credits of an official degree degree.

In this sense, the “180 credits” referred to in Royal Decree 1272/2003, of October 10, refer exclusively to the long-term university degrees of the previous ordination, that is: Graduate, Architect or Engineer.

Thus, despite the similarity of denomination, there is no automatic equivalence between the “credits” corresponding to the degree of Bachelor and the credits that make up an official degree of Degree.

This is confirmed by Article 76 of the TRLEBEP when it expressly provides that the entry into the Bodies classified in Subgroup A2 must be stopped by having a degree; which therefore prevents participation in such selective processes by having only 180 credits of a degree degree.

Therefore, and in accordance with the provisions of this article 76 TRLEBEP, it is concluded that being in possession of 180 credits of an official university degree of Degree does not replace or equal the official title of Graduate or Degree required for access to Bodies or Scales classified in Subgroup A2.

All of the foregoing is without prejudice to recalling that, according to the regime of competences of this management center, the answers to queries issued by this general directorate are merely informative and, consequently, are not of a binding criterion, nor do they give rise to rights or expectations of law, nor imply any link with the type of procedures to which they refer. Furthermore, in the absence of a mandatory or binding nature, the bodies receiving such replies may, where appropriate, finally take a decision that does not correspond to the opinion contained therein.

The responses to queries contained in this bulletin address the issues raised in the light of the regulations in force at the time of their issuance, so that such responses may be affected by subsequent legislative changes or judicial decisions.