Valuation that should be awarded in competitions to official university degrees

The consultation refers to the assessment that should be awarded in competitions to official university degrees. Specifically, it is consulted regarding the degrees of Doctor and Master, if they should be considered at the same level (by attributing scores), those granted after the implementation of the Bologna Plan and those belonging to previous academic orders.

Likewise, he wonders whether in merit competitions any distinction must be made between Masters and Doctorates of the same Curriculum (either those of the “Bologna Plan” or those of the previous plans), depending on their respective duration. Finally, it is indicated that it has not been included in the titles to be assessed "to be in possession of the first three courses of a bachelor's degree or the first cycle".

First of all, it should be noted that the convening body must determine the value of the required and qualifying degrees in the corresponding call for merit examinations, although it is understood that, in any case, the valuation granted to each degree must be in accordance with the position or positions convened.

Likewise, within the same degree, it will also be necessary to establish a greater or lesser assessment in accordance with objective criteria, such as duration, suitability for the job convened, etc.

That is, the assessment given to qualifications must always be respectful of the principles of merit and ability.

Based on this general premise, and in relation to the assessment to be given to the Master's and Doctor's degrees of the new and previous academic order, it should be noted that, currently, according to the article of Organic Law 6/2001, of December 21, on Universities, there are only three official university degrees: Doctor, University Master and Graduate. In turn, these provisions were developed by Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29 October, which establishes the regulation of official university education, which was also repealed by Royal Decree 822/2021, of 28 September, which establishes the organization of university education and the procedure for ensuring its quality.

In this regard, and in relation to the Master's degree, it should be noted that only the Master's degree of the new ordination has the character of an official university degree; while the previous degrees have no official value, they only have the character of degrees specific to universities and therefore do not have the same value as the official degrees.

That is, the “Master’s” degrees prior to the ordination included in the already repealed Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29 October, do not have an official character, but a character of “own” title and, therefore, must be acted accordingly.

As for the Doctor's degree, both the degree of the previous ordination and the new one, have the same academic value so they must be taken into account in the same way.

On the other hand, and in terms of giving a higher or lower score to an official Master's degree according to its duration, as has been pointed out, it must be the convening body that establishes the assessment according to objective criteria and that meet the merit and the ability.

In this sense, and in the specific case of two titles identical or equivalent for the purposes of the competition, it seems appropriate, if necessary, that a higher score can be awarded according to objective criteria such as the duration or number of ECTS credits.

Finally, and with regard to the non-inclusion of “the first three courses of a bachelor’s degree or the first cycle” in the titles to be assessed, it is understood, as the consultant points out, that this is not a degree in itself, but an equivalence established by the legislator for the sole purpose of entry into the Administration, but that it has not been expressly extended for assessment in procedures for the provision of jobs.

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.