Top-level athletes: university access

Top-level athletes are recognised because they have an accreditation document issued by the President of the CSD, and their name appears in the BOE. In any part of the world, whoever has special aptitudes in sporting disciplines, and is of an eligible age to represent teams in the major leagues, becomes a talent that can be polished at universities. It is an undeniable reality that access to university for top-level sportsmen and women is the best opportunity that can be offered to those who wish to study at the most prestigious centres for the training of professionals.

In Spain you can also take advantage of this opportunity when you meet the following conditions.

Cut-off mark for top-level athletes

The cut-off marks for top-level sportsmen and sportswomen must meet the standards of excellent marks and without deferments.

To find out the cut-off marks for access to university for top-level athletes, you can look them up on the RTVE website. There they compile the marks for access to higher studies in all Spanish public universities.

In private universities, the cut-off marks have a wide range of acceptance for regular students. But when it comes to high-level or performance athletes, there is little flexibility in this respect.

Requirements

If you are interested in applying for a quota for access to universities for high-performance athletes, you should know that there are special requirements for your case. These include

• General documentation required to access a quota at any university.
• Being formally recognised as a high-level or high-performance athlete. That is to say, recognised by the Consejo Superior de Deportes, the publication of the BOE or the BOJA or the body responsible for issuing this certification authorised by the autonomous community.
• Participate in the competition for a quota of 3% of those reserved for this type of qualification.
• If the degree is for graduates in Physiotherapy or Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, the quota reserves amount to 8%.
  Price

Most private universities offer places available to study as a high-performance athlete. With the possibility of obtaining a scholarship for a percentage of between 50 and 70% of the payment to be made.

Certain conditions apply, depending on the centre for which you are applying.

At public universities in Spain, the type of financial aid that you can receive as a high-performance athlete has to do with covering the cost of residence, the cost of the degree course and the various fees that are generated by keeping you active.

Tuition

Becoming a high-performance student at public or private universities in Spain is a great merit that not everyone can achieve. Especially, because the quotas that are offered are limited to very low amounts. In addition, the requirements have something extra with respect to regular students.

The maximum number of places that can be offered by the university to which you apply as a high-level or high-achieving student is 8% of the available places for each academic period, depending on the speciality in which you want to study.

Scholarships and grants

In Spain you will have the opportunity to receive a study grant for undergraduate and double degree levels. Through the ADO programme, which is made up of a group of grants for athletes who have been certified as high-level or Olympic performance athletes.

They were created with the aim of promoting the education required by sportsmen and women who represent Spain in the Olympics.

The main documents you must have in order to apply for the scholarship to study as a high-level or performance athlete are:

• Birth certificate, original and copy.
• Clave Única de Registro de Población, original and copy.
• Proof of address, original and copy.
• Proof of opening a bank account in the bank indicated by the institute granting the scholarship, original and copy.
• Application for Economic Scholarship Technical Support, original.