cricketman

I am saying Spanish degrees are often harder than UK degrees. That does not mean that they are better! Of course they are not better. Spanish universities are very under-funded and students get very little individual support from tutors and research funding is almost non-existent

But, Spanish universities are a good option, especially if they are well known in their field. Basically because they are cheaper, and you get to enjoy Spain in the process.

If you have a good degree from a Spanish unversity and speak fluent English and Spanish then the world is your oyster. The only problem may be if you want to be a research scientist because few Spanish universities have the budgets, although that could change again in 5-10 years time

As for EU law, I am not an employment lawyer, but a Spanish engineering graduate is not equivant to a UK one. Although I think the Plan de Bolonia again looks to redress this and nowadays any Spaniard with a 5-7 year degree is given a Masters rather than a Bachelor degree

EnglishPatriot

I think British universities in general are over-priced for what they offer.

British universities suffer from similar problems that you describe Spanish universities as having. Huge lectures and poor support from lecturers.

This is compounded by the fact that the actual number of hours in class are very low, so most of the time students are expected to effectively self-study concepts.

At £9,000 a year, British universities offer poor value for money in my opinion.

EnglishPatriot

Furthermore, as you rightly state, the effective tax rate on graduates will be 60%, which makes it even harder to earn a decent salary from British degree.

chopera

Have you considered teaching in international schools, or Spanish private schools rather than Spanish public ones? You probably get paid more and you can skip all of this.

jackytoo

Spain doesn't have one university in the worlds top 100 rankings so they can't have a very good reputation overseas!

cricketman

On the purely academic front, no

But this does not have to be a barrier to employment. My wife had a very good job in London with a Spanish degree. Being bi or trilingual and having a degree from any university in Europe is very appealing for employers

I have a very good degree from one of the best UK universities, but what made my CV stand out as a graduate is that when my degree finished I went to Spain to learn Spanish and took an internship at a Spanish insurance company.

Nowadays you dont get any job on academic results alone. Employers want people with initiative

jackytoo

I did a year student exchange in Sevilla and worked in a bank during holidays. All arranged by the University. They organise it better now with Erasmus etc. We were mainly ignored and at the bank was only given filing, post etc. I learnt more by having a Spanish boyfriend

cricketman

At my internship I had a great time. Used to go for coffee with the rest of the team twice a day who couldnt have been more welcoming and friendly. It did wonders for my confidence in Spanish and also in the workplace.

EnglishPatriot

Earlier on you were insisting that Spanish degrees are much more academically rigorous than British degrees, so why don't the university rankings reflect this?

It could be due to the rankings having an Anglophone world bias, but that said there are still some non-Anglophone universities that rank in the world top 100.

According to The Times ranking, the non-Anglophone countries which have at least one university in the top 100 are:

Switzerland, Japan, Sweden, China, Germany, South Korea, Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

In fact, the Times don't even rank any Spanish university in the top 200.

cricketman

Universities are ranked on a number of things, but they are never ranked on how hard their degrees are.

They gets lots of points in the ranking for providing support for students, producing original research, worrying about student welfare, having schemes to help ethnic minoties or low income families, having good quality accommodation, and having low drop out rates, the % students with a job after graduating, % students with a high earning job after graduating, providing career advice, having links to industry etc.

On all of the above a Spanish university would get very few points, possibly none! Spanish universities teach to a mass of students and a massive proportion fail each year. This is bad for the majority of students but the creme de la creme do rise to the top

When I went to Sheffield University in the late 90s it was ranked number 1 in the Guardian league table, even above Oxford and Cambridge, I think it was because they had lots of cool bars and a great student union but 10 years later and they had dropped 25 places. I doubt that the actual university has changed, but the ranking system probably has

me me

Why would the tax on a graduate be 60%?

RacheyBabes

Hi. I may have missed something but in case I haven't, I will add my tuppence worth.

After many years I have finally got myself ready to ask for the professional recognition in Spain of my qualifications and experience as a teacher. I am planning to go to hand all of my many bits of paper to the junta tomorrow.

I will be submitting a modelo de solicitud de reconocimiento de titulos obtenidos en la Union Europea para el ejercicio de las profesiones reguladas por la directiva 2005/36/CE.

As far as I am aware, there is no cost to this.

I am under no illusions that this piece of paper that I will hopefully receive will make it easy to present myself for oposiciones, but I do think that it may help me to work in a concertado in the future. Obviously anyone hoping to make it through oposiciones needs to have as many qualifications as possible recognised, but if I understood correctly, the question was about being able to work as a teacher, and in theory, this piece of paper may do it for me!

I was intending to ask for a grado at the level of licenciatura as well, but I am reconsidering this as it costs 93 euros, and I'm not sure that I will make use of it. There is no way that I would ever ask for a named degree as I am not prepared to undertake any further undergraduate studies.

I hope that this post has answered your question - yes EU law says that Spain must accept all EU teaching qualifications, and yes, as far as I am aware, Spain does so. I think the problem is that so few people have been through this process, that there is a lot of misinformation out there which confuses us.

PS: in case it is at all relevant - all masters are convalidated with a Spanish university (not the Department of Education) and it is your responsibility to find a uni that offers an identical masters (I have considered doing this as well).

Rosemary

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

grandwazzoo

Heyho everyone. I'm currently doing a PGCE in English back in the UK, but have taught in Spain for 4 years and plan to return next year. Girlfriend, weather, I'm sure you've all been through the same process.
Anyway, I want to know what the deal is with private schools. I understand that working in the state sector is very difficult, and might be something for the future, but all I have read so far here is that private schools would bypass a lot of red tape. How much exactly? Would I, with a PGCE and 4 years experience of English teaching in private language academies, get work relatively easily? Or, failing that, would I have a cat in hell's chance?
Thanks in advance for the information!

Rosemary

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary