MASTER’S DEGREE IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AND COMMUNICATION IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AND PROCESSING (UNED)

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA

As described in the previous section, this master’s degree is primarily aimed at students holding a bachelor’s degree in Philology, but its approach and content allows it to be completed by students with a different profile relevant to the master’s degree, such as, for example, by students holding a degree in Translation, Library and Information Science, Humanities, Information Technology or Education, after passing a subject of the levelling course module, as the case may be. As mentioned above, there will be a Degree Committee to ensure that, prior to the master’s degree, each student who does not hold any certificates attesting their language skills or technological competency acquire additional training through passing one or both subjects of the levelling course module, depending on their academic (and, exceptionally, professional) career. This committee will be formed by a subset of the course teachers, representing the various subjects of the programme.

To study this master’s degree, it is necessary, firstly, to have a user-level competency in managing basic information and communication tools (web browser, email client, etc.). Also, due to the fact that most of the learning takes place online, students will be informed about the prerequisite of having a continuous fast and stable Internet connection. Secondly, it is required that students have a B1 level reading comprehension in English according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (sufficient for accessing and understanding the numerous sources, systems and bibliographic resources indicated by the teachers). Given the status of English as lingua franca in the academic and research field, these resources do not usually have versions in other languages. Both the described digital and language skills have to be attested with certificates when applying. 

By prioritising academic profiles, which will always be available for future students, along with the rest of the course information in their virtual guide and other media, as mentioned above, it aims to guide and benefit the students themselves, ensure the advanced level and quality of the course and promote compensatory actions against possible deficiencies. Therefore, given that a certain level of agreement is required between the bachelor’s degree that gives access to the master’s degree and the chosen itinerary, the Degree Committee will make a decision in case of other qualifications not mentioned in the previous list, and ultimately, reserves the right to make a selection of candidates to ensure that their profiles match the content of the course.

As a general criterion, applicants must have completed at least the equivalent of 60 credits in language-related subjects throughout their graduate studies. Also, due to the interdisciplinary nature of the master’s degree, students are required to have sufficient digital competence as users (obtained through training courses, professional activity, etc.). Students who do not meet these requirements are offered the possibility of gaining credits with the levelling course module in any of these fields, as a requirement for final admission to the master’s degree.

The Degree Committee, in addition to the possession of one of the above listed qualifications (which must be accredited by documents as a general requirement for admission to any official postgraduate programme at UNED), will positively assess other merits (which must also be accredited) in the application for admission or pre-enrolment. A summary of the main criteria for admission and the scale to be used for this purpose is listed below:

- Aimed at graduates interested in gaining knowledge in information and communications technology in language education and processing.

- The language of instruction of the master’s degree is Spanish, so it is advisable to have a minimum B2 level (according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). On the other hand, the students of the programme are strongly recommended to have at least B1 level reading comprehension, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and following the recommendations of the Bologna Process, in order to access the numerous bibliographic resources and information systems related to the content of the course, only available in English.

- Students are recommended to have language skills and user-level computer competency. Those who have not received any language or computer training must take the 5/10 credits of the levelling course module that will be determined by the Academic Coordinating Committee.

According to regulations approved at the Governing Board meeting held on June 26, 2012, when academic records that fail to show the overall average rating certified by the University of Origin have to be verified, it is considered that the overall average grade will be 1.00 or 5.00, as appropriate in each case (RD 1497/1987 or RD 1125/2003).