Design Schools and Programs in Spain

Design Studies in Spain

Design uses creativity and technique to shape visual identities, objects, interiors and fashion collections. In Spain it can be studied through three different official routes: university, higher schools of design (higher artistic education, enseñanzas artísticas superiores) and vocational cycles in Plastic Arts and Design. Each has its own entry requirements and qualification.

How design studies are organised

• University bachelor's degree (grado). Bachelor's degrees normally have 240 ECTS credits, spread over four years of 60 credits. The Register of Universities, Centres and Degrees (RUCT) lists official degrees with names such as Design, Fashion Design, Interior Design or Industrial Design Engineering and Product Development; the last one is an engineering degree with a more technical profile.
• Higher artistic education in Design. Taught at higher schools of design (escuelas superiores de diseño). Under Royal Decree 633/2010 they consist of four years of 60 credits (240 in total) in four specialisations: Graphic, Product, Interior and Fashion design, and the qualification is official, with academic and professional validity throughout Spain. The new Artistic Education Act (Ley 1/2024) organises these studies as bachelor's and master's degrees, placed at the same level as university degrees in the Spanish Qualifications Framework (MECES), and is being introduced gradually between 2025 and 2027.
• Vocational cycles in Plastic Arts and Design. These are intermediate and higher level professional programmes leading to the qualifications of Técnico and Técnico Superior de Artes Plásticas y Diseño. Most last two years and include a period of practical training in companies, studios or workshops.

Many private schools also offer their own courses, diplomas and master's programmes (illustration, animation, 3D design, video games). These are the school's own qualifications, not official degrees.

Master's and doctorate

After a university bachelor's degree, students can take an official master's degree of 60, 90 or 120 ECTS credits. Higher artistic education has its own master's level, including research-oriented programmes, and Ley 1/2024 allows doctoral programmes in the artistic disciplines.

Admission and language

To enter a university bachelor's degree, students who completed secondary school outside Spain usually apply for accreditation from UNEDasiss, the UNED service that assesses the academic records of international students and runs subject-specific tests. They then apply for a place at each university, within its own deadlines.

Higher artistic education in Design also requires passing a specific entrance test, held at least once a year. Higher vocational cycles ask for the Spanish Bachiller (or a vocational Técnico qualification) plus a specific test, with exemptions for example for students with the Arts track of the Bachiller. Applicants without the academic requirements can enter from the age of 19 by passing an entrance test.

Most programmes are taught in Spanish, but there are bilingual options: the Universidad de Navarra, for example, teaches its Grado en Diseño in Spanish and English. In regions with a co-official language, such as Catalonia, check the language of each course.

Where to study design in Spain

Madrid and Barcelona account for more than half of the schools on this page, followed by Seville. Some examples:

• The Centro Superior de Diseño de Moda de Madrid (CSDMM), part of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, teaches the official bachelor's degree in Fashion Design and a double degree in Fashion Design and Commerce with the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
• IED Madrid offers the Título de Grado en Enseñanzas Artísticas Superiores de Diseño, higher vocational cycles, master's programmes and its own diplomas.
• The Universidad Francisco de Vitoria in Pozuelo de Alarcón and the Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona have official bachelor's degrees in Design. Navarra's has 240 credits, 60 places and workshops in three fields: fashion, services and product.
• In Barcelona, the Universitat de Barcelona and the Universitat Ramon Llull have bachelor's degrees in Design, and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya teaches an online degree in Digital Design and Creation (Diseño y Creación Digitales). The Universidad de Vic-Universidad Central de Catalunya offers, among others, degrees in Design and in Industrial Design Engineering.
• Outside these cities, the Universidad de La Laguna (Tenerife) teaches a 240-ECTS Grado en Diseño, and the Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera (Alfara del Patriarca, Valencia) a degree in Industrial Design Engineering and Product Development.

Recognition of the qualification

The exact name of each official university degree can be checked in the RUCT. Holders of a foreign qualification who want it recognised in Spain should distinguish between two procedures under Royal Decree 889/2022: homologation, which gives access to a regulated profession, and the declaration of equivalence, which certifies the academic level (bachelor's or master's).

Careers

The specialisations mark the main paths: graphic design and visual communication, interior design, product design and fashion design, as well as digital design, animation and video games. Graduates work in design studios and agencies, in companies' product, brand or communication departments, in fashion and cultural industries, as freelancers or in teaching.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an entrance test to study design in Spain?

Higher artistic education in Design and the vocational cycles in Plastic Arts and Design have a specific entrance test, with some exemptions. For a university degree, students from abroad usually obtain UNEDasiss accreditation and then meet each university's admission criteria.

Can I study design in English in Spain?

There are some bilingual programmes, such as the Universidad de Navarra's Grado en Diseño, taught in Spanish and English, but most programmes are in Spanish.

Do private design school courses lead to an official qualification?

Not necessarily. Official qualifications are the university bachelor's and master's degrees in the RUCT, the higher artistic education qualifications and the vocational cycles; a school's own courses and master's programmes are qualifications of that school.