The Official State Gazette has published the call for general grants for the academic year 2021-22, from the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MEFP) and the Ministry of Universities, which came into force on 3 August. It has also published the call for grants for students with specific educational support needs (NEAE).

The budget for scholarships and study grants has increased by more than 128 million euros, to 2,038 million euros, partly to include the entry of new beneficiaries as a result of the crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. This is the third consecutive year that its funding has increased. Since 2018, the budget has increased by 39.6% and the number of beneficiaries by 24.5%.

In the case of the general call for grants, the deadlines for submitting applications are until 30 September 2021, inclusive, in the case of grants for non-university students; and until 14 October 2021 in the case of university students.

All the information on requirements, deadlines, amounts and procedures to apply for these grants and aid are available on the grants portal of the MEFP and the Ministry of Universities. The aim is to centralise the information and make it more accessible.

According to estimates by the MEFP and the Ministry of Universities, some 850,000 students will benefit from this call for general grants: 390,000 of them from university education and 460,000 from non-university education.
In the 2020-21 academic year, some 362,783 university students and 427,810 non-university students received these grants.

Aid for students in basic vocational training increases

Among other new features, this call for applications increases the amount of the basic grant for students in basic Vocational Training from 300 to 350 euros (the basic grant is the one received by non-university students who do not receive an income-related grant).

On the other hand, a pass mark will be the grade required to obtain the scholarship for non-qualifying master’s degrees.

In addition, for students who are victims of gender violence, the requirement of accreditation by an educational authority that the applicant’s lower academic performance is directly related to the violence suffered is eliminated.
Finally, the extraordinary measures adopted during the Covid-19 crisis are maintained, so that subjects, credits or modules that have not been taken or adequately assessed will not be taken into account for the purposes of awarding the grant.

Aid for students with specific educational support needs

In the case of the call for applications for grants for students with specific educational support needs, the application deadline is 30 September 2021, inclusive.

One of the new features of this call for applications is the inclusion of pupils with severe communication and language disorders among the beneficiaries of these grants, which will now include five groups: disability, high abilities, severe behavioural disorder, autism spectrum disorder and the aforementioned severe communication and language disorder.

All these measures are in addition to the increase in the fixed amounts by 100 euros, the raising of the income threshold 1 and the pass mark for access to these grants, improvements introduced in the previous call for applications. They are part of the reform of the State System of Grants and Study Aids being carried out by the Government, with the aim of making them available to those who need them most.