The Department of Educational Development and Vocational Training will implement, starting from the next 2025/26 academic year, new pathways to access Vocational Training with the aim of providing new educational and professional opportunities to those individuals who do not possess the required academic qualifications. These measures are articulated in three fundamental pathways: the basic competencies accreditation process, preparatory courses for access, and access exams.
Thus, the basic competencies evaluation and accreditation process, aimed at individuals over 18 years old who, without meeting the traditional academic requirements for Vocational Training access, have knowledge acquired through work experience, non-formal education, or informal learning. It allows for the official recognition of basic competencies in communication in Spanish, Mathematics, and Digital skills.
The evaluation will be carried out through interviews, evidence analysis, and, if necessary, a specific test. Participants will receive an official certification, valid nationwide, indicating their level of competency which can be used to access medium-level training cycles or other educational pathways.
The process will be open and ongoing, without the need for specific calls, and will take place in designated public educational centers in all Andalusian provinces: the eight Provincial Institutes of Permanent Education (IPEP) and their two sections (SIPEP) in Algeciras and Linares. Applications can be submitted through the Virtual Secretariat of Educational Centers or in-person starting from the second quarter of the 2025/2026 academic year.
Another pathway is the update of preparatory courses for accessing vocational training, aimed at individuals without academic access requirements. By successfully completing these courses, students can directly participate in the admission process for medium or higher-level Vocational Training. Courses can be taken in-person and, as a novelty, also remotely (for higher-level access). Admission for these courses started on June 15th and will extend until June 25th. They will be taught starting in September at certain Secondary Education Institutes and Provincial Institutes of Permanent Education (IPEP), which can be found in the published vocational training offering.
Preparatory courses for accessing medium-level training cycles are aimed at individuals of at least 17 years old, completed in the year of course completion, who do not hold a Compulsory Secondary Education certificate. For higher-level access, the courses target individuals of at least 19 years old at the beginning of the course who do not have a Baccalaureate or equivalent certificate. The contents cover basic competencies (communicative in Spanish, Mathematics, and Digital) and, for higher-level access, also specific key competencies (Multilingual, Entrepreneurial, in sciences and in technology and engineering) based on the professional field one wishes to access.
Renewal of access exams
Lastly, the Department renews the access exams for Vocational Training cycles, which are announced annually through a resolution in the second quarter of the academic year and demonstrate sufficient knowledge to successfully pursue these studies. The requirements to participate are the same as for access courses, and passing them allows access to any training cycle nationwide.
The exams maintain the same content structure as the access courses. In the case of the access exam for higher-level access, different options can be chosen to prioritize access to specific professional fields. Additionally, it will be possible to take both the preparatory course and the access exam without a limit on attempts to improve grades, and recognition of prior learning will be facilitated through exemptions and validations.
With this new framework, the Department establishes a more flexible, accessible, and diverse personalized access system to vocational training, in line with the European Council’s recommendations for recognizing lifelong learning and work experience. This initiative represents a further step in the modernization of Vocational Training, with a focus on equal opportunities, employability, and the integration of lifelong education for adults.