The regulation on admission to bachelor's degrees established by Royal Decree 412/2014 of 6 June allows admission to bachelor's degrees of students with qualifications recognized as batxiller (upper secondary school qualification) that were obtained or carried out in education systems of states that are not members of the European Union and have not signed international agreements for reciprocal recognition of upper secondary school qualifications.

The Board of the Interuniversity Council of Catalonia, at its meeting of 27 February 2015 (Official Gazette of the Catalan Government no. 6836), adopted an agreement on procedures for admission of such students to Catalan universities. This agreement was applied by Pompeu Fabra University for access to the 2015-2016 academic year.

One of the strategies adopted by the UPF in the recently approved 2016-2025 Strategic Plan is "to respond to a selective and changing demand for high-quality education that attracts students from outside the EU, making a special effort to promote bachelor's degree programmes among these students, to integrate them fully into the existing educational offer and to promote the mobility and enrichment of the university environment that would so arise". Therefore, for the 2016-2017 academic year the UPF wishes to develop a specific admission procedure for these students that, in addition to the criterion of the final qualification obtained in secondary school or equivalent, takes into account one or more of the evaluation criteria permitted by the existing regulatory framework.

The procedure and requirements for access and admission to university courses contained in this regulation aim to promote the access to the UPF of this group of students with a qualification equivalent to an upper secondary school qualification obtained or carried out in an education system of a non-member State of the European Union, by assessing the quality and knowledge acquired during their previous studies and their suitability for the degree that they wish to pursue, so as to ensure respect for the principles of equality, non-discrimination, merit and ability.

Article 1. Scope

Those students who have obtained a qualification equivalent to an upper secondary school qualification in an educational system of a non-member State of the European Union with which reciprocal international agreements for the recognition of the upper secondary school qualification have not been signed may access the University by means of the procedure laid out in these rules.

Article 2. Admission requirements

For access to any bachelor's degree of the UPF by this procedure, the following requirements must be met:

1. Applicants must have a qualification recognized as an upper secondary school qualification obtained or carried out in an education system of a non-member state of the European Union with which reciprocal international agreements for the recognition of the upper secondary school qualification have not been signed.

2. Applicants must certify a level of knowledge of Catalan, Spanish, English or other languages, depending on the degree requested, to allow them to follow the courses properly. For each degree, the languages ​​for which competency must be certified and the minimum level will published. This level must be equivalent to B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages ​​of the Council of Europe, without prejudice to the consideration of other accreditations, provided that they can be verified to correspond to a similar level.

Article 3. Evaluation criteria

1. Students shall be admitted to bachelor's degrees at the UPF through this procedure after the following criteria have been assessed:

a. The final grade obtained in the qualification equivalent to an upper secondary school qualification.

b. The suitability of the upper secondary school curriculum in relation to the bachelor's degree that the students wish to access.

c. The grades achieved in the subjects studied in upper secondary school in relation to the bachelor's degrees that the students wish to access.

If the upper secondary school studies taken are found to be unsuitable or the grades obtained in some subjects taken are found to be insufficient, the applicants using the procedure laid out in these rules may be considered inadmissible even if they meet the access requirements.

2. To determine the level of knowledge and competencies acquired by students in the basic subjects closest to the contents of the bachelor's degree, the University may consider the results of assessment tests recognized internationally for access to higher education or may ask the applicants to take a written test or attend a personal interview.

3. The applicants must accompany the application with a letter of motivation, which can be used as an element in the assessment for admission.

4. The weighting of the final qualification obtained in the studies equivalent to an upper secondary school qualification shall have a value of at least 60% of the final result of the admission procedure.

Article 4. Procedures and offer of places

1. The rector shall establish, through an annual call, the procedure, the application deadlines, the bachelor's degrees of the UPF which can be accessed through this procedure, the language or languages for which prior knowledge must be certified, and the number of places for each academic year. The rector shall also appoint the members of the committee or committees responsible for resolving applications for admission.

2. The specific number of places for these students is additional and may not reduce the number of places available for access to the UPF by the standard procedure.

Article 5. Fees and reservation of places

1. The fee for the academic and complementary services corresponding to the places accessed by this procedure for non-resident foreign students who are not nationals of Member States of the European Union shall be determined by the Board of Trustees, according with the provisions of the decree setting the fees for academic services at public universities of Catalonia for the year in question.

2. Within 10 days after being notified of their admission, admitted applicants must pay the sum of €600 to reserve a place; this amount shall be deducted from the enrollment fee. This amount shall not be refunded if the student fails to formalize the enrollment within the deadlines set for the corresponding academic year.

Transitional provision. Until such time as the fees for the 2016-2017 have been approved, all the information and dissemination on the fees applicable to the places of access referred to in Article 5.1 of these rules shall refer to the amounts approved by resolution of the Economic Committee of the Board of Trustees at its meeting on 14 July 2015.

Final provision. These rules come into force on the day after their approval and shall be applicable to access processes that are to take place during the 2016-2017 academic year.