Erasmus+ & Exchange Studies Incoming

Check our Fact Sheet 2025/26 for the Erasmus+ and the UAB Exchange Programme.

This information is aimed at students coming within the framework of an exchange agreement. If your home university hasn’t signed a student mobility agreement with the UAB, you could come as a visiting student within our Study Abroad programme (check out here the different options).

Important: At the time of registration you will have to pay a small amount of €4.02 complementary insurance payment. (For students enrolling in affiliated schools, this condition may change as the schools have their own insurance procedures).

You can find out more about legal procedures and practical information in the International Support Service (ISS) webpage.

Please also visit our FAQs for exchange students.

Still have questions? Send us an email to erasmus@uab.cat or uab.exchange.programme@uab.cat.

Your home university has to nominate you according to the exchange agreement, the available spots and study area signed with UAB.

If you want to come to UAB during the First semester or the Full year, your nomination should be received from the 15^th of February to the 1^st of May at the latest. To come during the Second semester, your nomination should be received from the 15^th of September to the 1^st of November.

You should check the available courses at your host faculty at UAB to make sure that you will find similar courses in your home university to prepare your Learning Agreement.

You will receive an email with the instructions to submit our online exchange application at sia.uab.es (Mobility and Exchange\ INcoming students - Signing  up and application form). You should fill out the application with the same information we received in the nomination and within the following application periods:
 

• First semester or full year: from the 15^th of February to the 15^th of May (starting in September)
• Second semester: from the 15^th of September to the 15^th of November (starting in February)

It is VERY IMPORTANT to enter the number of your national ID, or your passaport number only in case you hold a non-EU nationality. Please note that you will not be able to change this number after the registration process.

To get access to master’s courses, the approval of the master’s coordinator at the UAB is compulsory. You should contact the Exchange Office of the faculty about how to get the approval.

You can only take master's courses if the agreement signed with your university includes master's level of studies.

The expected dates for sending admission letters are from May 15th (for annual and fall semester stays) and November 15th (for spring semester stays).

Once you have been accepted as an exchange student, you will be contacted by your host faculty or school (via email) regarding the course selection, learning agreement, enrolment, etc. If you have any questions about this, go to step 5 or contact the Exchange Office. The learning agreement has always to be sent to the Exchange Offices.

Lectures are mainly taught in Catalan or Spanish. There are subjects taught in English too. The language of instruction or any prerequisites are published in the Study guide of each subject. No Catalan certificate is required.

As a rule, it is recommended that students have a minimum language level of B1 on the language of instruction of the subjects. However, some faculties have specific language requirements that you can check in the Fact sheet.

On this page you will find the general academic offer of the UAB., there are some subjects offered in English and some bachelors that are fully taught in English as well, but there are limited spots for exchange students.

Exams can be answered in Spanish or Catalan. Only the exams of the subjects taught in English can be answered in English.

Does UAB offer language courses? Exchange students have the right to register to two free initial training in Catalan language (16 hours each) and then to continue learning this language with a subsidized offer. You can also attend subsidized lessons of Spanish language*.
Information on Catalan and Spanish courses for exchange students is available here. The prices of the courses can be checked from the webpage for each language.
* Exchange students accepted at the affiliated schools cannot benefit from the same discount.

Once you have received the acceptance letter, the process of choosing the subjects will start. The faculty or school will inform you about the procedures to follow.

On this page you will find the general academic offer of the UAB. Please be aware that faculty and school academic offer for incoming exchange students may not include all the general offer. o make sure that the subjects you are interested in are open to exchange students, contact the Exchange Office of the relevant faculty or school.

As an exchange student, you will be assigned to a faculty (host faculty) according to the bilateral agreement signed between the UAB and your home university. You must enrol at least a 50% of your credits at your host faculty (the one appearing in your acceptance letter). In case you are interested in taking courses from other UAB faculties/ schools, you will need the authorisation from all the faculties/ schools. Please be aware that authorisation is not guaranteed.

Students at a master’s level can take master’s courses only if the agreement with their home university allows to do so. Moreover, the master’s coordinator at UAB must always give the final approval. To ask for this approval, please contact the Exchange Office at your faculty.

Furthermore, the exams are scheduled in January and June. In case you must leave earlier, you can try to agree to take an exam earlier with the professor, but it is only accepted under very exceptional situations.

Accommodation. On campus you can find the Vila Universitària, the UAB residential hall. From their website you will be able to reserve an apartment or room on the campus. They can also help to find a flat in any of the towns nearby the Bellaterra campus. It is also possible to stay with a local family. For further information, please contact internacional@vilauniversitaria.com.

Students with special needs. UAB has a service called PIUNE. PIUNE aims to help students with special needs, like a disability, to integrate in our community. They offer advice and support to students according to their individual needs and in coordination with teaching staff to enable them to enjoy a full and autonomous academic and social life at university. You can contact them at fas.piune@uab.cat.

Legal stay in Spain. EU-citizen students planning to stay in Spain longer than three months should apply for registration and get an identity number for foreigners (NIE - Número de Identificación de Extranjeros). You can read more about that here.
All non-EU citizen students must apply for a student visa before coming to the UAB. Once here you will have to apply for a Student Residence Authorization. You can read more about that here. If you hold a valid residence permit in another EU country, you don’t need to apply for a new visa to enter Spain if your residence permit is valid for your whole stay here. You will find more information here.

Students must arrive four to five days before the course beginning. The Exchange Office at your faculty will send you all the information regarding the enrolment previously. Depending on the faculty, the enrolment will be face to face at your arrival or online. Just follow the instructions received by your Exchange Office.

The International Support Service (ISS) will also contact you to attend an online welcome session by the beginning of September. The ISS will give you the exact details of the meeting. It is very important that you attend this session.

Also, the International Welcome Days are organised by the Community Involvement team usually during the week before the beginning of the classes. A few weeks before your arrival, you will get an email about how to join them and the activities they hold.