Title necessary for access to Bodies of Subgroup A1 in which regulated professions are exercised.

It is proposed in this consultation what title is necessary for access to Bodies of Subgroup A1 in which regulated professions are exercised.

Likewise, and for a call for a position of Technician for which the qualification of Degree, Bachelor, Engineering or Architecture is generically required: whether it is possible to access people who do not have the Degree, but do have a Technical Engineering and an enabling Master for the exercise of any of the regulated professions of Engineer.

It is necessary, first of all, to determine the competence regime in this area.

Thus, the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports is the ministerial department responsible for official qualifications; it is also the department responsible for establishing, where appropriate, the corresponding equivalencies between qualifications.

On the other hand, the regulation of regulated professions is the responsibility of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

Once this point has been clarified, and without prejudice to what these Ministerial Departments might finally report, the following should be indicated:

Article 76 and the third transitional provision of the consolidated text of the Law on the Basic Status of Public Employees (TRLEBEP), approved by Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, of 30 October, regulate the qualification requirements for admission as civil servants in the service of the Public Administrations.

Specifically, for access to the Bodies or Scales of Group A – Subgroups A1 and A2 – it provides that: “You will be required to hold a Bachelor’s degree. In those cases in which the law requires another university degree, this will be the one taken into account.”

Therefore, according to the precept transcribed, for admission to Group A, Subgroup A1 and Subgroup A2, the university degree of Degree or, where appropriate, that other university degree required by law must be possessed.

In addition, the provisions established for official university degrees corresponding to the previous ordination must be taken into account since, according to 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 did Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29 October, which establishes the organization of official university education, as follows

“First additional provision. Effectiveness of official university degrees corresponding to the organization prior to the EHEA.

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

In this sense, it is understood that the official university degrees of the previous ordination are still valid for access to the Bodies or Scales of officials in the same terms as they were according to the previous ordination. Thus, the titles of Bachelor, Engineer or Architect also empower for access to the Bodies included in Subgroup A1.

Therefore, as a general rule, for access to Subgroup A1, it will be necessary to be in possession of the degree of Degree, Bachelor, Architect or Engineer.

Also, based on the new university organization, it has been understood that the official Master’s degree does not constitute, by itself, an enabling degree for access to Group A, being necessary, in this sense, to be in possession, either of the official degree of Degree, or of some other official degree of the previous university organization that has allowed access to the Master.

In this sense, it is necessary to distinguish between those Bodies and Scales that do not require a certain degree for admission to them, but simply to be in possession of an official university degree of a certain level –p.ej., Degree or Graduate degree –; from those other Bodies for which it is required to be in possession of a specific official degree.

Thus, when it is required to be in possession of any official university degree, the reference is, according to the Law, the Degree or the official university degrees of the previous organization (Bachelor, Engineer or Architect); however, the possession of the Master’s degree does not imply, always and in any case, that one of these degrees is also held, since, in certain situations, the Master’s studies have been accessible without being in possession of them.

Therefore, it is indicated that the Master’s degree does not accredit being in possession of the Degree or any of the degrees of the previous ordination that enable access to Subgroup A1 - Bachelor, Engineer or Architect -, and that, therefore, for access to a Body or Scale of Subgroup A1 it is required, according to the current university ordination, to possess the Degree in addition to the Master.

In addition, some autonomous systems, developing the Basic Statute of the Public Employee, and making use of the provision contained in the aforementioned article 76 – of “Another university degree required by law”-, they are demanding for admission to the Bodies classified in Subgroup A1 to be in possession of both degrees, Bachelor's Degree and Master's Degree, both; or, to be in possession of one of the degrees of the previous ordination already indicated - Bachelor, Engineer or Architect.

In this regard, and although it is only for academic purposes, the regulation of the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education (MECES), contained, essentially, in Royal Decree 889/2022, of 18 October, which establishes the conditions and procedures for the approval, declaration of equivalence and validation of university teachings of foreign educational systems and which regulates the procedure for establishing the correspondence to the level of the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education of the official university degrees belonging to previous academic orders.

These provisions, which apply to admission to bodies or scales for which a specific university degree is not required, must be placed in relation to cases in which a specific university degree is required, which usually coincides with those bodies that have been exercising a “regulated profession”, and which are based on the provision contained in article 76 TRLEBEP, which provides that when the law requires another university degree it will be the one to be attended.

In this regard, it is necessary to remember that the term “Law” does not refer only to the rule that has been formally promulgated, but also includes those rules that, in our order, possess equal or “greater” force.

In this sense, the Community rules are binding on the Member States, making them more prevalent than national law.

It must also be remembered, already within Community law, that certain rules, in particular the Directives, do not establish the form in which they are to be included in our law, but the purpose they are intended for, and must be transposed into it, prevailing, as has already been indicated, over domestic law.

Thus, the Community regulation of regulated professions has been incorporated into the Spanish legal order, through Royal Decree 1837/2008, of 8 November, transposing into our order Directive 2005/36/EC, of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 7 September 2005, and Council Directive 2006/100/EC, of 20 November 2006, relating to the recognition of professional qualifications, as well as certain aspects of the practice of the profession of lawyer.

In particular, article 12.9 of the aforementioned Royal Decree provides that:

“In the case of qualifications that qualify for the exercise of regulated professional activities in Spain, the Government will establish the conditions to which the corresponding curricula must be adapted, which must also be adjusted, where appropriate, to the applicable European regulations. These curricula must, in any case, be designed in such a way as to enable the necessary competences to be obtained in order to exercise this profession. For this purpose, the University will justify the adequacy of the curriculum to these conditions.

In those cases in which the Community regulations impose special training requirements, the Government will establish the conditions referred to in the previous paragraph, even if the corresponding degree does not qualify for the professional exercise in question but constitutes a requirement of access to the Master’s degree that, if applicable, has been determined as qualifying”.

And article 15.4 of the same Royal Decree establishes that:

“In the case of qualifications that qualify for the exercise of regulated professional activities in Spain, the Government will establish the conditions to which the corresponding curricula must be adapted, which must also be adjusted, where appropriate, to the applicable European regulations. These curricula must, in any case, be designed in such a way as to enable the necessary competences to be obtained in order to exercise this profession. For this purpose the University will justify the adequacy of the curriculum to these conditions.”

For its part, the ninth additional provision provides for the following:

“The Ministry of Education and Science shall specify the contents of Annex I to this Royal Decree, to which the applications for the verification of the curricula shall be adjusted in the cases referred to in Articles 12.9 and 15.4 of this Royal Decree, after a report from the Council of Universities and hearings, where appropriate, the professional associations concerned.”

Therefore, it seems obvious that if a regulated profession, such as Agronomist, is exercised, for example, it is necessary to have the knowledge and other skills or competences required by it, especially if it is an activity that will affect the general interests and collective and individual interests of citizens. In fact, no regulation has established any exemption from qualification for the exercise of a regulated profession in the field of Public Administration.

This is because the current legislation provides that the knowledge, skills and capacities of a regulated profession are only acquired and accredited by overcoming the totality of the teachings that lead to obtaining the corresponding qualification for the exercise of the corresponding profession, without there being any other equivalent channel, not even the selective process of entry into the Public Administration.

Therefore, for access to each of the Bodies or Scales for the performance of regulated professions, the interested party must be in possession of the corresponding qualification that qualifies for the exercise of the corresponding profession, such as, in case of Agronomist, the corresponding official Master's degree, or the official Engineer's degree of the previous regime of university degrees.

In this sense, for access to the studies that give rise to the University Master’s degree – which is going to be the degree that finally empowers access to the profession –, taking into account the new university organization, it is necessary to be in possession of the corresponding degree that empowers access to these teachings or, where appropriate, the corresponding degree of Technical Engineer of the previous organization.

Therefore, solely in view of the new university system, those who hold the Master’s degree corresponding to a regulated profession must also hold the Bachelor’s degree that gives access to these studies, which makes it possible to state in this case that those who hold the Master’s degree also hold the Bachelor’s degree.

However, this does not preclude that, now taking into account the regime established for the degrees of the previous ordinance, those who have a corresponding degree from the previous ordinance that allows access to the same can also access the studies of Master’s Degree corresponding to a regulated profession (e.g. ., e.g. Technical Engineer or Technical Architect).

In conclusion, it is understood that for access to the “general” bodies of Subgroup A1, it is not possible to compete – as has been explained – simply with the University Master’s degree, being necessary to be in possession of the degree or the corresponding degree of the previous one.

For their part, for access to the “special” bodies, whose essential object is the exercise of a regulated profession, it is required to be in possession of the qualification that qualifies for the exercise of the regulated profession, that is to say, it must be in possession of the qualification or qualifications that in each case empower them to exercise it.

Thus, if the qualification that qualifies for the exercise of the profession is that of University Master or that corresponding to the previous ordination (Engineer or Architect) it will be one of these that must be possessed by those who intend to participate in the call; always, as indicated, that it is a Body or Scale whose object is the development of functions corresponding to a regulated profession.

As a complement to the conclusion set out in the previous paragraphs, part of a report dated 5 May 2014 from the Directorate-General for University Policy, attached to the General Secretariat of Universities, is transmitted here, regarding the question that we are being asked:

«(…) The replacement of the titles of the Catalogue of Bachelor, Architect, Engineer, Diplomate, Technical Architect and Technical Engineer by the new titles is not made in such a way that each title of the Catalogue corresponds to a single degree of Degree or, where appropriate, of Master, positions these do not have their own general guidelines and are not identified with a single denomination, like the previous ones, but rather the designations are those that, in each case, the universities agree and are verified by the Council of Universities through the procedural channel provided in the aforementioned Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29 October, in the Royal Decree 861. The only exception in this approach is those titles that give access to the exercise of regulated professions. In these cases there are general guidelines of their own and reservation of denomination, which are those established in the corresponding Agreements of Council of Ministers and in the appropriate Ministerial Orders, although this does not mean that there are no other denominations than the reservation.

This circumstance of the substitution of degrees and the disappearance of the Catalogue of Official University Degrees, with the consequent elimination of the unique denomination of degree in all universities, makes it difficult to identify when it is possible to determine the degrees that must be required as a requirement of participation in a call for access to jobs that require a certain qualification, so it is necessary to establish new criteria (other than the denomination of the degree) to establish the degrees required in a call.

In this connection, since all curricula leading to the acquisition of the new official qualifications are designed in terms of the competences to be acquired by students, one formula is the identification of the competences to be acquired for the performance of the job in question. Once identified, the comparison with the training accredited by the candidate is enough to know if they are understood or not. (…)

However, we must bear in mind that there are regulated professions whose practice requires, in addition to the corresponding degree, the possession of a specific Master’s degree. This situation is limited to a very small group of qualifications that are those that qualify for the professions of Agronomist Engineer, Aeronautical Engineer, Engineer of Roads, Channels and Ports, Industrial Engineer, Mining Engineer, Engineer of Mountains, Naval and Oceanic Engineer, Telecommunications Engineer (…). In this case, it will be the specific Master’s degree, and not the Degree that is required for the corresponding access.

Thus, and by way of example, in the event that you want to cover a place that requires the exercise of the regulated profession of Engineer of Roads, Channels and Ports, as indicated in your letter, the title or titles that must be required are those to which the current legislation attributes the character of enablers to this effect. These degrees are, on the one hand, that of Engineer of Roads, Channels and Ports of the previous university organization, included in the Catalogue of Official University Degrees published in the Annex of Royal Decree 1954/1994, of 30 September, on the approval of degrees to those of that Catalogue; and, on the other hand, the specific degrees of University Master approved according to the new university organization, and involving the previous possession of the corresponding Degree. These Master’s degrees must comply with the general guidelines established in Order CIN/309/2009, of February 9, which establishes the requirements for the verification of official university degrees that enable you to exercise the profession of Road, Channel and Port Engineer (BOE February 18, 2009). (…).

Only in these specific cases of Master’s degrees qualifying for professional practice does the general principle of access to group A (subgroup A1) with a Bachelor’s degree apply, since, except in the cases indicated, Master’s degrees do not give access by themselves to any professional classification group of the Public Administration.

Therefore, it is also necessary to specify that although those who are in possession of an official degree of Diploma, Technical Architect or Technical Engineer, can access the official teachings of Master without the need for any additional requirement beyond the specific requirements and criteria of valuation of merits established by the universities, it does not imply that a University Diploma complemented by a Master's degree can be considered an enabling degree for access to Bodies and Scales of Group A (subgroup A1). As indicated above, the qualification required for this access is that of a Bachelor’s degree or, where appropriate, a Bachelor’s degree, Architect or Engineer and there is no homologation or equivalence between the degrees established under the new arrangement of official university studies and the previous ones of the Catalogue of Official University Degrees.’

Secondly, it is now appropriate to analyze whether the qualification of Technical Engineer and Master enabling to exercise a regulated profession of Engineer would be accepted to submit to a call in which the qualification of Degree, Bachelor, Engineering or Architecture is required.

As already indicated in the previous section, article 76 of the TRLEBEP provides that for access to the bodies or scales of Group A – Subgroups A1 and A2 – it will be required to be in possession of the university degree of Degree and, for access to the bodies or scales of Group A – Subgroups A1 and A2 – it provides that: “You will be required to hold a Bachelor’s degree. In those cases in which the law requires another university degree, this will be the one taken into account.”

We also indicate that, notwithstanding the provisions of the aforementioned provision, and on the basis of the Third Transitional Provision of the Consolidated Text, it is understood that until the new university degrees referred to in Article 76 are generally introduced, university degrees in force at the time of the entry into force of this Statute will continue to be valid for access to public service.

Thus, for example, in the current calls for participation in selective tests of access to bodies or scales of Subgroup A1 it is required to be in possession or able to obtain the title of Bachelor, Engineer, Architect or Degree.

In addition, the provisions established for official university degrees corresponding to the previous ordination must be taken into account since, as we indicate, the first additional provision relating to Royal Decree 822/2021, of 28 September, establishing the organization of university education and the procedure for ensuring its quality (rule repealing Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29 October, establishing the ordination of official university education), states:

“Official university degrees obtained in accordance with curricula prior to the entry into force of this royal decree shall maintain all their academic and, where appropriate, professional effects.”

In this sense, it is understood that the official university degrees of the previous ordination are still valid for access to the Bodies or Scales of officials in the same terms as they were according to the previous ordination. Thus, the titles of Bachelor, Engineer or Architect also empower for access to the Bodies or scales included in Subgroup A1.

Therefore, as a general rule, for access to Subgroup A1, it will be necessary to be in possession of the degree of Degree, Bachelor, Architect or Engineer.

In this sense, it was indicated that holding the Master’s degree does not imply, always and in any case, that one of these degrees is also held, since, in certain situations, it has been possible to access the Master’s studies without being in possession of them.

In this regard, and on the basis of the report of 2 July 2008 prepared for this purpose by the Subdirectorate-General for University Law and Coordination, with regard to old and new university academic degrees for access to the public service, the following can be concluded:

Royal Decree 822/2021, of 28 September, which establishes the organization of university education and the quality assurance procedure, establishes a new arrangement of official university education, inspired by other principles and conducive to obtaining new degrees: Degree, Master and Doctorate.

This new structure replaces the previous one, but that does not mean that the current titles and the new ones established under the said standard are equivalent to each other.

The aforementioned Royal Decree does not provide for any procedure for the approval or equivalence of the current official university degrees of Bachelor, Architect and Engineer, or Diploma, Technical Architect and Technical Engineer, with the new ones of Degree, Master and Doctor.

Only, in its first additional provision, in addition to safeguarding the academic and professional rights of current degrees, does it provide for the possibility of credit recognition, in accordance with the provisions of the regulation, to those who, being in possession of one of the currently valid official degrees, intend to take courses aimed at obtaining a degree.

On the other hand, and as to whether the Master’s degree qualifies for access to bodies or scales classified in Subgroup A1, it indicates the aforementioned General Subdirectorate of Legal Regime and University Coordination that “Nor does having obtained a postgraduate degree, such as the official Master’s degree, imply the equivalence of the studies that have given access to it with a Bachelor’s degree or with a Bachelor’s degree, Architect or Engineer.” Thus, as stated in Article 17(4), admission to the Master does not imply modification of the academic and, where appropriate, professional effects, which correspond to the previous degree, nor its recognition for effects other than those of pursuing these teachings.

In addition, the additional training that, according to this first additional provision, universities may require of Graduates, Technical Architects and Technical Engineers, is also only for the purpose of admission to the new official Master’s degree courses and, in no case does it entail levelling with Bachelor, Architect or Engineer studies.

In short, article 76 of the TREBEP requires for access to Group A (Subgroup A1) the title of Degree or, where appropriate, Bachelor, Architect or Engineer. As already indicated, obtaining an official Master’s degree does not imply the possession of any of the degrees required for access to this Subgroup A1. Likewise, although it is a postgraduate degree, it does not imply the possession of a degree.

Therefore, it can be concluded that the official Master’s degree does not constitute an enabling degree for access to Group A (Subgroup A1), but when, in addition to that degree, one of the other degrees required for access to that Subgroup is also possessed.

In conclusion, as a general rule, for access to Subgroup A1, it will be necessary to be in possession of the degree, Bachelor, Architect or Engineer; and, for access to Subgroup A2, of the degree, University Diploma, Technical Architect and Technical Engineer, so it is understood that for access to the bodies of Group A, Subgroup A1, it is not possible to compete – as has been stated – with the degree of University Diploma or Technical Engineer and Master.

A different question would be whether it was a matter of access to public employment to bodies in cases where a specific university degree is required, which usually coincides with those bodies that have been exercising a “regulated profession”, the argument of which has been explained above, and which find their basis in the provision contained in article 76 of the TRLEBEP, which provides that when the law requires another university degree it will be this one to be attended to.

All this without prejudice, as already indicated, to the competences attributed to other Ministerial Departments to which it is their responsibility to report on the regime of official degrees, equivalencies of degrees and on the regime of regulated professions.

All of the above is without prejudice to remember 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, do not have the character of a binding criterion, nor do they give rise to rights or expectations of law, nor do they imply any link with the type of procedures to which they refer. In addition, since they are not mandatory or binding, the bodies to which such replies are addressed may, where appropriate, finally take a decision that does not correspond to the opinion contained therein.

The answers to queries contained in this bulletin deal with the issues raised in the light of the regulations in force at the time of their issuance, so that these answers may be affected by subsequent legislative changes or judicial resolutions.