About

Hi, I'm Alex. I've spent years inside this system.

I work as a career counsellor at an international school in Spain. I have spent years inside a system that is deliberately fragmented and very poorly documented in English.

There is no single source that explains how everything connects — the UNED, service selection, grade calculation, ponderación, which subjects count for which degree at which university in which region. Applying to Madrid is not the same as applying to Valencia or Barcelona. The rules for British students changed after Brexit. The rules for French students are different from the rules for Latin American applicants.

I have visited every major Spanish university. I know the admissions staff. I know which universities are genuinely international and which ones are not. I know which degrees in English have real places and which ones overstate availability. I know which cities work for international students and which ones are a difficult start.

I have worked with students from the UK, Ireland, France, and Latin America — each system with its own rules, its own recognition agreements, its own traps inside the UNED. I know them in detail.

"That form you filled in incorrectly — the one that assigned you a 6.59 when you should have had an 11 — I know how to reopen it and fix it."
— Alex

In practice

What this means in practice

Most advisors who deal with study abroad know the destination countries they specialise in. They know visas, accommodation, tuition fees. When it comes to the actual admissions process in Spain — specifically the UNED — the knowledge drops off sharply.

I have seen agencies advise British students using pre-Brexit rules. I have seen students from France apply for degrees their subject choices couldn't support. I have seen people arrive in Spain with an acreditación that capped their grade at a number that closed most public universities — when the correct service selection would have given them over 11.

None of those mistakes are unavoidable. They happen because the person giving the advice didn't know the system.

I do.

→UNED service selection from any educational system

→Grade calculation out of 14 — including ponderación subjects by degree

→Post-Brexit rules for British A-Level students

→Homologación vs convalidación — which applies to your country

→Specific services most advisors have never heard of

→Which public and private universities have genuine English-language places

→Finding the right university for your degree in your preferred region of Spain

→A Plan A, B and C — viable alternatives ready if your first choice doesn't work out

Free guide

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