Academic validations

Validation is the procedure used to recognise and give academic value to official studies certified by the competent entity. 

The validations provided for in Royal Decree 659/2023, of July 18, 2023, which develops the organization of the Vocational Training System (document in Spanish), apply, specifically in Chapter VI, Section 1 “Validations, exemptions, equivalences and homologations”, as well as those established in  Royal Decree 1085/2020, of 9 December , which establishes the validation of professional modules of Vocational Education and Training qualifications within the Spanish education system and the measures for their implementation, and which amends Royal Decree 1147/2011, of 29 July, establishing the general organisation of vocational education and training within the education system.

📌 To apply for a validation it is an indispensable requirement to be enrolled on the training cycle for which the validation is being sought. 
📁 The Professional Modules included in the validation application will be incorporated into the tuition fee settlement as validated, with 25% of the value of the hours payable for that subject.

 

🎓 What can I submit for validation in an Advanced Vocational Qualification?

Officially recognised units of competence, FPII studies, Level III experimental modules, advanced vocational training programmes, special regime education within the education system, and official university studies leading to a diploma, bachelor’s degree, degree or master’s degree.
 

👌🏼 Eligible for validation

The following training elements are eligible for validation, in summary:

  • Professional Modules derived from:
    • Organic Law 1/1990, of 3 October (LOGSE)
    • Organic Law 2/2006, of 3 May (LOE)
  • Professional modules that are identical or have a clear correspondence in contents and learning outcomes, completed within the same Vocational Education and Training system. For the validation of professional modules between courses within the VET system and courses regulated by previous legislation within the same system, see Article 127.
  • Higher education credits between vocational education and training studies and university studies (Article 130).
  • Competence standards that have been officially accredited, either through formal education or through procedures for the accreditation of professional competences acquired through work experience or other routes (Article 128).
     
👎🏽 Not eligible for validation
  • The period of in-company training, which may only be subject to total or partial exemption.
  • The professional module “Inter-modular Project”.
  • The Professional English module between intermediate and advanced vocational training programmes.
  • The module “Digitalisation Applied to the Productive Sector” between intermediate and advanced vocational training programmes.

🗂️ Who approves them?

Validations are classified in terms of who resolves them: 

  • Direct validations: these validations are resolved directly by the centre, as they are set out in the decrees on curricula and in the regulations on validation. 
  • Special validations: these are all validations that cannot be resolved directly by the centre but by the Directorate General for Initial Vocational Training and Special Education (DGFPIERE). 

The following are subject to direct validation: common transversal modules, such as those related to:

  • Digitalisation applied to productive sectors, provided that the training programmes belong to the same professional family and the same level.
  • Sustainability applied to productive sectors, provided that the training programmes belong to the same professional family.
  • Itinerary for employability (IPO):
    • By submitting FOL from LOGSE programmes: the completed FOL module plus a certificate for the occupational risk prevention course, which must state the number of hours, the content, and the explicit reference that the course complies with the provisions of Royal Decree 39/1997, of 17 January, approving the Regulation of Prevention Services.
    • By submitting FOL and EIE from LOE programmes: validation will be total in the event of having completed the discontinued professional modules of Labour Training and Guidance (IPO I) and Business and Entrepreneurial Initiative (IPO II) in LOE vocational training programmes.
    • By submitting IPO I and II from LOE programmes, these will be subject to validation between training offers under the new organisational framework.

Professional modules that have already been recognised may not be used to support applications for the recognition of different professional modules.

For the remaining professional modules with the same code and title, please refer to the curricula of the vocational training programmes:

  • International Trade (CMB0-LOE):
  • Transport and Logistic (CMCO-LOE): 
  • ​​​​Administration and Network Computer Systems (ICA0-LOE):

 


Procedure

Students must submit the application for validation, together with the following. 

  • Original or attested photocopy of the official grades certificate issued by the centre at which they studied. 
  • Original or attested photocopy of the certificate for the corresponding cycle.
  • Basic-level certificate, to recognise UF2 Risk Prevention in the case of the LOGSE.
  • In the case of confirmed Competence Units: 
    • Certificate of professionalism issued by the corresponding employment authority. 
    • Certificate of partial completion of competence units of the certificate of professionalism issued by the corresponding employment authority. 
    • Resolution on the issuance of a certificate of professionalism or of a certificate of partial completion of competence units of the certificate of professionalism, issued by the corresponding employment authority. 
    • Certificate of competences pursuant to the procedure established in Royal Decree 1224/2009, of 17 July, on recognition of professional competences acquired through work experience. 

Applications for special validations will be resolved by the Directorate General for Initial Vocational Training and Special Education and will be all those that cannot be resolved by the centre. 
The DGFPIERE will make its resolution in approximately ... months. 

1.    Validations based on completed or partially completed vocational training that are not established in the decrees establishing curricula and validation regulations. 
2.    Validations based on completed university studies. 

  • When there is a direct relationship between the previous qualification and the studies to be pursued, a credit recognition of between 15% and 25% of the total must be guaranteed.

  • A direct relationship is considered to exist when VET qualifications belong to professional families linked to university fields of knowledge listed in anexo XI del Real Decreto 659/2023, de 18 de julio.

  • In addition to the above, the possibility of credit recognition between Advanced Vocational Training (Higher Technician) qualifications and official undergraduate degrees remains in force, based on the correspondence between their study programmes and curricula.

Official university courses that have previously been validated or recognised cannot be validated again for advanced vocational training cycles 

 

Procedure

Students apply to their centre for special validations and the centre sends the applications to the Directorate General for Initial Vocational Training and Special Education. 

Required documents: 

  • Application form for special validation 
  • Original or attested photocopy of grade certificates for training units, credits or subjects. 
  • Original or attested photocopy of the certificate for the corresponding cycle
  • If university studies are put forward and the validations requested are different to "UF1. Starting work", in the vocational training module Training and Guidance for Employment, to the vocational training module Business and Entrepreneurship, or to training units created by the centre with the discretionary hours within advanced vocational training cycles, the following must be provided. 
    • Original or attested copy of the Personal Academic Certificate (transcript) 
    • Attested copy of the degree certificate
    • Course guides, stamped by the corresponding centre. 
    • Syllabus, stamped by the corresponding centre

If the resolution is favourable, the validations obtained will be recorded in the student's assessment documents. 

Validations that do not count towards the overall average mark

When they arise from a validation based on ECTS credits from university studies or from the validation of professional modules supported by vocational education and training studies regulated under Law 14/1970, of 4 August, these do not count towards the overall average mark of the programme and will appear on the student’s academic record as “validated”.

Validations that count towards the overall average mark
  • Validation based on units of competence will be recorded in all assessment documents as “Validated” and will count as a mark of 5 for the purposes of calculating the overall average of the new programme.
  • When no numerical mark appears in the validation of the professional modules IPO I and II, supported by FOL and EIE, regulations require the entry “validated‑5”, which counts as a mark of 5 for the calculation of the programme’s overall average.

  • A numerical mark: either because it is assessed through ordinary evaluation or because the mark from another module is transferred when studies listed in the BOE tables are provided.

Please note that: 
  • Validations are carried out only if the student formally requests them.
  • Credits and professional modules that have been previously validated cannot be validated again for other professional modules or credits. 
  • The professional module “Project” and the hours of in-company training are not subject to validation. 

  • The transcript of marks submitted by the student to certify their studies must be an official transcript issued by the educational institution where the relevant credits or modules were completed (when submitting a LOE programme, detailed information on the approved training units is mandatory). Please note that report cards or assessment reports are not valid. 

Extra information