Organic Law 4/2007, 12 April, which amended Organic Law 6/2001, 21 December, on Universities (Spanish Universities Act), established a new structure for university degree programmes and degrees in Spain in line with the aims set for building the European Higher Education Area.
Royal Decree 1393/2007, 29 October, in accordance with the provisions of Section VI of Organic Law 4/2007 on Universities, established the regulatory framework for the organisation and verification of recognised university degrees.
The above Royal Decree lays down that ANECA shall establish the procedures, protocols and guidebooks for the verification of recognised degree programmes. It also lays down that ANECA must evaluate the study programme proposals, in accordance with these protocols and verification guides. Pursuant to the stipulations of the Royal Decree, ANECA shall carry out the following measures:
- Publish the evaluation criteria, protocols and procedures.
- Select the reviewers by means of a public call to be made public in February 2008.
- And, in collaboration with the Spanish Universities Council, provide the universities with online facilities for the processing of applications. [FAQs on the Software].
The VERIFICA software XML schema (version 3 // software programme) is made available for universities wishing to develop their own software packages that can exchange information with the programme developed jointly by the Spanish Universities Council and ANECA for processing applications for verification. The programme contains an import/export module for information from the application memorandum.
Once the information has been entered, the university must use the Council/ANECA programme to review the information and print out the application, which is to be signed by the legal representative and submitted to an administrative registry.
Lastly, ANECA has set up an e-mail account verifica@aneca.es for enquiries and assistance to applicants. Enquiries will be replied to within forty-eight hours.