Official qualifications and their effects on entry into Public Administrations, Public Bodies and Bodies of Public Law.

As a result of the publication in the Official State Gazette of various Resolutions of the General Directorate of University Policy, which published, in turn, the corresponding Agreements of the Council of Ministers that determine the level of correspondence at the level of the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education of different official university degrees belonging to the previous ordination (Bachelor, Architect, Engineer, Diploma, Technical Architect, Technical Engineer), this Management Center has received various queries in which it is considered whether the level of correspondence made for these official degrees with the Spanish Framework is also valid.

In this regard, and once contrasted with the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, this Directorate General points out the following:

As indicated, the aforementioned Agreements of the Council of Ministers of September 4, 2015, have the sole purpose of establishing the level of correspondence of the official university degrees referred to in said Agreements with the level of the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education, in accordance with the procedure established for this purpose by the then current Royal Decree 967/2014, of November 21, which establishes the requirements and procedure for the homologation and declaration of equivalence to degree and to the official university academic level and for the validation of foreign studies of higher education, and the procedure to determine the correspondence to the levels of Spanish Engineering, Engineering and Technical Qualifications.

The Spanish Qualifications Framework for Higher Education, MECES, arises within the framework of the so-called Bologna Process – which will lead to the creation of the European Higher Education Area – and in particular, by the Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 23 April 2008, which advises States to align their qualification systems, so as to establish a qualifications framework that is comparable with its European equivalent.

As indicated in the explanatory part of Royal Decree 1027/2011, of 15 July, establishing the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education, “With the definition of the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education it is intended, on the one hand, to inform society and in particular students about what the learning requirements of each level are, and on the other hand, to provide information to employers about what the corresponding competences of those who are going to be employed are. On the other hand, the transcendent utility that underlies MECES as a tool that will facilitate mobility and international recognition of qualifications and training must be highlighted.”

And more specifically, article 1 of this Royal Decree 1027/2011, of July 15, clearly defines the content, purpose and effects of MECES. It reads like this:

“Article 1. Object.

1. This royal decree establishes the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education, MECES and the description of its levels, whose purpose is to allow the classification, comparability and transparency of higher education qualifications in the Spanish educational system.

2. MECES is an internationally recognised instrument that enables the consistent levelling of all higher education qualifications for classification, relationship and comparison and also serves to facilitate the mobility of people in the European area of higher education and in the international labour market.’

This provision is ratified by Royal Decree 22/2015, of 23 January, which has amended Article 4 of Royal Decree 1027/2011, of 15 July, which regulates MECES, establishing the correspondence between the levels of the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education and the European Framework of Qualifications, with the aim, as indicated in the explanatory part of the aforementioned Royal Decree. “To guarantee the internationalization of Spanish university graduates”.

Therefore, the levels included in the MECES are intended, as stated in the aforementioned Royal Decree, to facilitate mobility in the European Higher Education Area and in the international labour market, but in no case does it imply a modification of the professional effects that, where appropriate, hold the official university degrees of the previous ordination (Bachelor, Architect, Engineer, Diploma, Technical Architect, Technical Engineer) at the national level.

According to the current legislation on qualifications, official degrees, both university and non-university, in addition to academic effects, may have, where appropriate, professional effects.

This difference of effects, in the case of the official university degrees of the previous ordination, is clearly reflected in the first additional provision of Royal Decree 822/2021, of 28 September, which establishes the organization of university education and the procedure for ensuring its quality, in the same terms as previously done by Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29 October, which establishes the ordination of official university education, as follows:

“First additional provision. Effectiveness of official university degrees corresponding to the pre-EHEA ordination.

1. Official university degrees obtained in accordance with curricula prior to the current ordination of university teaching implemented under the principles of the European Higher Education Area shall maintain all their academic and, where appropriate, professional effects.”

The professional effects of the official title are those that empower for the performance of a profession, or for access to employment, either public or private, in the terms provided by the current legislation.

Therefore, as indicated, when the current regulation requires for entry into the Public Administrations, their Public Bodies or Entities of Public Law, linked or dependent, to be in possession of an official university degree of the previous ordinance (Bachelor, Architect, Engineer, etc. ), it is estimated that it does not attend to the academic effects of the degrees but to the professional effects.

All these considerations are confirmed by the provisions of the Eighth Additional Provision of the aforementioned Royal Decree 967/2014, of 21 November, which has been repealed by Royal Decree 889/2022, of 18 October, which establishes the conditions and procedures for the approval, declaration of equivalence and validation of university courses of foreign educational systems and which regulates the procedure for establishing the correspondence at the level of the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education of official university degrees belonging to previous academic orders.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the fourth additional provision of Royal Decree 889/2022 of 18 October, as the repealed rule did, expressly excludes the Public Administrations from its application, in the following terms:

“Fourth additional provision. Qualification for admission to public administrations.

The system of qualifications required for entry into public administrations will be governed, in any case, by the provisions of the consolidated text of the Law on the Basic Status of Public Employees, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, of October 30, and the rest of its specific regulations that may apply.”

That is, the entry into the Public Administrations, Public Bodies and other entities of them dependent to which the provisions of said TRLEBEP apply will be governed, in any case, by what is provided in said norm as well as any other specific regulations that may apply.

In particular, article 76 of the consolidated text of the Law on the Basic Status of Public Employees, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, of 30 October (hereinafter, TRLEBEP), is applicable in relation to the qualifications required for access to the Bodies or Scales of career civil servants. Specifically, for access to Group A (subgroup A1) the degree title.

On the other hand, the provisions of the third transitional provision of the same rule that states that “until the introduction of the new university degrees referred to in Article 76 is generalized, official university degrees in force at the entry into force of this Statute shall remain valid for access to the public service.”

Conclusions:

In this sense, for access to Bodies or Scales of subgroup A1, the titles of Bachelor, Architect and Engineer are still valid, together with the degree title.

Finally, Royal Decree 822/2021, of September 28, which establishes the organization of university education and the procedure for ensuring its quality, is approved due to the need to redefine the organization and structures of official university education, included in this royal decree, taking into account the experience accumulated in the course of this decade of implementation of the EHEA.

Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29 October, which established the regulation of official university education (repealed by the Royal Decree of the previous paragraph), had been subject to up to nine modifications of various entities (the last one carried out by Royal Decree 103/2019, of 1 March, approving the Statute of Predoctoral Research Personnel in Training), making necessary a new rule that guarantees, among others, the principle of legal security in the operation of the Spanish university system.

The current regulation maintains the basic structure of the academic offer, currently in force, configured in three stages: Degree, Master and Doctorate and, without prejudice to other important modifications from the academic point of view, reformulates the process of verification, monitoring and accreditation of official university degrees.

The first additional provision continues to maintain the ‘Effectiveness of official university degrees corresponding to the pre-EHEA ordination’, without establishing equivalences or providing for a procedure of homologation or equivalence of current university degrees with previous ones.

What this Additional Provision does is to safeguard the academic and professional effects of previous degrees and to establish a recognition of credits for those who hold official Spanish degrees prior to the EHEA, in this case subject to consultation, for those who have an official Bachelor’s degree, and wish to access official Bachelor’s degree teachings, in accordance with the requirements and procedure established there.

In conclusion, in general, the title required for access to Bodies or Scales of subgroup A1 is the Degree or Bachelor’s Degree, Architect and Engineer.

And, therefore, the effects of the ‘Certificate of Correspondence of the Diploma in Tourism’ with Level 2 (degree) of the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education (MECES) that is attached in its writing, has no more purpose than to facilitate mobility in the European Area of Higher Education and in the international labor market, without in any case changing the professional effects that, where appropriate, the official university degrees of the previous ordination of the national level have.

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.