03 - Spain - Specific legislative framework

In the academic year 2007/08 the most important regulations which govern higher education in Spain are the following:
  • The Spanish Constitution of 1978, which lays down the three basic principles on which university legislation rests: the right of all Spaniards to education, academic freedom and the autonomy of universities;
  • The 2001 Ley Orgánica de Universidades, LOU (Act on Universities), which legislates basic aspects related to the university organisation, administration and management, academic organisation and research. Some aspects of this Act have been changed by the 2007 Act modifying the Act on Universities, which, together with the October 2007 Royal Decree 1393/2007 establishing the organisation of official university studies, have fixed the new legal framework of university education.
  • The 2002 Ley Orgánica de las Cualificaciones y de la Formación Profesional, LOCFP (Act on Qualifications and Vocational Training) which aims to organise vocational training, qualifications and accreditation into a comprehensive system in order to respond to social and economic demands through the various training specialisations: vocational training, on-the-job training and occupational training focused on integration and reintegration into employment.
  • The 2006 Ley Orgánica de Educación, LOE (Act on Education), which, as far as higher education is concerned, introduces changes as regards vocational training, Artistic studies and Sports studies.
  • The December 2006 Royal Decree 1538/2006, establishing the general organisation of vocational training, in order to adapt it to the new legal framework fixed by the LOCFP and the LOE.
  • The June 2006 Royal Decree 806/2006, establishing the schedule of implementation of the new organisation of the education system regulated by the LOE, which will be gradually implemented over the next five years (starting in the academic year 2006/07 and finishing in 2009/10). This schedule also sets up the implementation of the curricula corresponding to the new Act on Education, the gradual disappearance of the syllabuses currently in force and the equivalence of qualifications. Therefore, those aspects which have not come into effect yet will continue to be regulated by the previous legislation.
In accordance with this general legal framework, the Autonomous Communities pass their own regulations concerning aspects such as official curriculum, evaluation and promotion rules, or the organisation and running of institutions, among others.

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Date: 2009
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