Imogen Calderwood
GETTING into a Spanish university just got a degree easier for foreigners.
In a bid to attract more international students, Spain has eliminated its university entrance exam known as the Selectividad.
Education minister Jose Ignacio Wert described the exam as being ‘a huge barrier’ to attracting non-Spaniards to higher education in Spain.
Only some 74,000 foreign students were enrolled in Spanish universities last year, compared to 425,000 in Britain and 300,000 in Germany.
The old exam was apparently too difficult for non-citizens to pass, as it was in Spanish and rooted in Spain’s literature and school system.
The move is expected to especially appeal to Middle East and Latin American countries, areas where there has been a recent surge in higher education interest.
