Admission criteria (PhD in Education)

Access requirements

Article 7 of Rector's Resolution 42/2012 of February 6, ordering the publication of the Doctorate Regulations of the University of Murcia, establishes the requirements to access a doctoral programme:

  1. According to the regulations governing access to any official doctorate programme (Royal Decree 99/2011, of 28 January), candidates must be in possession of an official bachelor’s degree or equivalent and a master’s degree.
  2. In addition, students who are in any of the following cases may also access:
    1. Have an official Spanish university degree, or of another country belonging to the European Higher Education Area, giving access to a master’s degree programme as per the provisions of Article 16 of Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29 October, and have passed a minimum of 300 ECTS of official university studies, of which, at least 60 must be at master's degree level.
    2. Have an official Spanish Graduate Diploma containing, according to EU law, at least 300 ECTS. These graduates must compulsorily complete the training supplements referred to in article 7.2 of Royal Decree 99/2011, of January 28, unless the syllabus of the corresponding degree includes credits in research training that are equivalent in training value to research credits in master's programmes.
    3. University graduates who, after obtaining a training place in the corresponding test to access specialised health training, have successfully passed at least two years training in a programme to obtain the official title of one of the specialities in Health Sciences.
    4. Have a qualification obtained in accordance with foreign education systems, it need not be officially recognised, the General Doctorate Committee will verify that this qualification accredits a training level equivalent to that of the official Spanish Master's degree and gives access to doctoral studies in the country where it was issued. This admission does not imply, in any case, the official recognition of a student’s previous degrees nor its recognition for purposes others than accessing doctoral education.
    5. To be in possession of another Spanish title of doctor obtained according to previous university regulations.

Access profile

Admission to the Doctoral Programme in Education of the University of Murcia requires the applicant to have completed a Bachelor’s or Master's degree in the field of Education (for instance, the Bachelor's Degree in Early childhood education or Primary Education, the Bachelor’s Degree in Pedagogy, the Master’s Degree in Research and Innovation in Early Childhood and Primary Education, the Master's Degree in Education and Museums: Heritage, Identity and Cultural Mediation, the Master's Degree in Musical Research ..., all of which are official degrees currently being taught at our university).

Given the existing heterogeneity in current university qualifications (in terms of subjects to be studied, credits distribution, organisation of studies ...), the Academic Committee will ensure that applicants prove that they possess the necessary qualifications, in the field of Education, to fulfil the programme. Additionally, in view of the accumulated experience, it will make public and regularly update – at most every six months - a list of degrees giving access to the programme.

Admission criteria

The selection process will be carried out by the Academic Committee. For the selection of students, the following scale will be taken into account:

Academic merits

University degrees

  • Master's Degree in the field of Education (no training complement required) (5 points)
  • Other Master’s Degrees in the field of Education (in need of training complements) (1 point)
  • Bachelor's Degree in Education, Pedagogy, Social Education or equivalent in the field of Education (3 points)

Academic record of Master’s degree (for qualifications included in group a. above)

Calculated with the criteria established by the University of Murcia to assess any academic qualification (up to 2 points)

Academic record of the Master’s degree (for degrees in b. above)

Calculated with the criteria established by the University of Murcia to assess any academic qualification (up to 1 point)

Scholarship-predoctoral contract (obtained through a public call) (3 points / year) (up to 6 points) Scholarships and aids for initiation to research (0.5 points / year) (up to 1 point)

Professional merits

  • ANumber of years of teaching experience (1 point / year) (up to 3 points)
  • Tutorship practices and/or internships in degrees related to Education (0.5 points / year) (up to 3 points)
  • Other professional merits (up to 2 points)

Training merits

  • Courses, seminars, conferences … taught (up to 2 points)
  • Courses, seminars … received (up to 2 points)
  • Publications (articles, books ...) (up to 2 points)
  • Participation in working groups, innovation projects (up to 2 points)
  • Accredited level of a foreign language of the EHEA at B1 level

Other merits

  • Other merits (up to 1 point)
  • If necessary, and so considered by the Committee, applicants may be interviewed (up to 3 points)

At the University of Murcia, Resolutions on admission to doctoral programmes are issued by the Rector, at the proposal of each programme Academic Committee, notwithstanding possible delegations of competences or signature to deans of faculties or directors of doctoral schools.

The lists of admitted students to the doctoral programme will be published in the TOUM (Official Notice Board of the University of Murcia). Other means of publicity may be established by rector’s resolution.

The provisions of the regulations and instructions for admission and enrolment at the University of Murcia, as approved for each academic year, will apply to the admissions procedure.

As established by the Regulation of the University of Murcia, for students with special educational needs derived from disability, the selection and admission procedures will include appropriate actions to favour, as far as possible, equality in access conditions and full integration. To that purpose, we will count on our counselling support service (SAOP) and on the collaboration of some specialists from the Faculty of Education, who will assess the need for possible curricular adaptations, itineraries or alternative studies.

Doctoral students admitted to the programme must be enrolled annually at the University of Murcia for doctoral tutorship. Registrations will take place at the authorised management unit, according to the requirements established in the complementary rules and admission and enrolment instructions approved by the University of Murcia each academic year.

Students with Special Educational Needs

Article 8 of the Doctorate Regulations of the University of Murcia states that in the event of students with special educational needs derived from a disability, the selection and admissions systems and procedures will include the relevant action to favour, as far as possible, equality in the access conditions and integration in all aspects. To do so, the Service of Attention to Diversity and Volunteers (ADV) will evaluate the need for possible syllabus adaptations.

Number of places available: 80