A total of 43,899 students were placed in a public higher education institution during the first phase of the National Access Competition, marking a 12.1% decrease compared to last year. As a result, 11,513 spots remain available, the highest number in the past decade.
However, the placement rate reached an all-time high of 90.1%, an increase of four percentage points from 2024, according to data released this Sunday.
What Now? Key Dates and Considerations
When are the registrations?
Students placed in the first phase of the competition can register over the next four days, from August 25 to 28 (Monday to Thursday).
Until when can you apply for the second phase?
Applications for the second phase begin on Monday, August 25, and end on September 3. Results will be announced on September 14.
Students who were not placed, as well as those wishing to change courses, can apply for the second phase. However, “if these students are placed in the second phase, the placement in the first phase, as well as the registration and enrollment they have completed, are canceled,” emphasized the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation.
Candidates placed in the first phase who did not complete their registration and enrollment can also enroll again in the second phase.
In addition to the 11,513 remaining spots, the second phase opens new slots vacated by students who did not register. These new spots will be announced on September 2 on the General Directorate of Higher Education (DGES) website. At that time, it will also be possible to modify an existing application.
According to today’s data, 43,899 students were placed in the first phase of the National Higher Education Access Competition, which represents a decrease of 12.1% compared to last year.
What is the deadline to apply for a scholarship?
Students can submit their scholarship application within 20 business days following registration, if it occurs after September 30.
“If the registration occurs before September 30, the student always has a 20-business-day period to submit the application, even if this period extends beyond September 30,” noted DGES.
The entity also highlighted that the application can also be submitted between October 1 and May 31. In this case, “the amount of the scholarship to be awarded [is] proportional to the amount calculated according to the current regulation, considering the period between the month following the application submission and the end of the academic or internship period.”
DGES noted that to “ensure better conditions for the beginning of the academic year for students in need, decisions on scholarship applications submitted by students placed in the first phase of the national access competition who are beneficiaries of family allowance up to the 3rd level, will be made and notified immediately.”
Afterward, decisions and notifications regarding the allocation of the +Superior scholarships, which aim to support higher education attendance and contribute to the retention of young individuals in less populated and less demographically pressured regions of the country, will follow.
More than 32,000 students have already applied for scholarships this year, according to data released by DGES. You can perform a simulation here.
The number of disadvantaged students placed in higher education has decreased compared to last year, as fewer took advantage of slots created exclusively for students with limited economic resources.
What other supports might you be entitled to?
If you are a relocated student and have a spot in a residence of the public higher education institution in which you enrolled, you may request a housing supplement, which will be “equal to the base monthly amount paid by scholars in residences, up to a maximum of 17.5% of the social support index.”
“You may also be entitled to an additional month of this supplement when, through proof issued by the competent services of the institution in which they are enrolled, they demonstrate ongoing or completed academic activities, such as assessments, internships, or the preparation of a scientific dissertation, project work, or professional internship, subject to a final report, which involve maintaining their relocated status,” specified DGES.
Even if you do not have a spot in a residence, you can “benefit, during the academic period for which the scholarship is granted, from a monthly supplement equal to the actual expense for accommodation, substantiated by a receipt, up to a limit of 55% to 95% of the social support index, depending on the municipality where the higher education institution attended is located.”
Non-scholarship students, on the other hand, may receive support “up to 50% of the amounts set in the Higher Education Student Scholarship Allocation Regulation for the housing supplement, varying based on the municipality where the Higher Education Institution or its unit is located.” Nevertheless, it is necessary to submit the scholarship application by October 31.
There is also a relocation supplement, intended for “relocated scholarship students who are beneficiaries of the housing supplement,” with payment “in the months they benefit from that supplement, amounting to 40 euros, with an annual maximum of 400 euros.”
The government published on July 25 the start and end dates for all periods for the next academic year of 2025/2026. Only the start date of the academic year remains undefined, but it will be between September 11 and 15.
