UMA admission for international applicants: route, tests, fees and visa

You enter a Grado (bachelor's degree) at the Universidad de Málaga (UMA) through one application listing all your choices in order of preference to the Distrito Único Andaluz (DUA), and your route depends on your school-leaving diploma.

UMA's admission FAQ explains that to apply for any degree and centre of the Universidades Públicas de Andalucía you fill in one application within the application period. UMA adds that the application is single and lists all your choices in order of preference, so UMA and other Andalusian public universities sit on the same list.

For curso 2026-2027, foreign applicants with a bachillerato from outside the EU and without a reciprocity agreement had their own fase de extranjeros, with applications from 6 to 19 March 2026. The fase ordinaria, for applicants who had met the access requirements, took applications from 11 to 22 June 2026. Both windows have closed; they show the pattern of the year, not your curso 2027-2028 deadlines.

The curso 2027/2028 call on UMA's home page is international mobility within Grado studies, not admission.

Language and fees at a glance

UMA's international pages state that the main language of teaching at the Universidad de Málaga is Spanish. Some Grado pages list English next to Spanish as Castellano, Inglés: Derecho, Estudios Ingleses and Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte (CAFD). The double Grado in Economía and ADE is a double Grado with subjects in English. UMA does not describe any of these Grados as taught wholly in English.

The CAFD page sets language entry requirements of its own: at least B1 English, and Spanish at C1 (DELE or SIELE) for foreign students from non-Spanish-speaking countries. These rules belong to CAFD and do not apply to every Grado.

General Library at the Teatinos campus

UMA's public prices for Curso Académico 2026/2027, the latest published, charge 12,62 € per credit in first enrolment, the same figure in group 2 and groups 3 to 5 of Grados. UMA writes amounts with a decimal comma, so the comma separates euros from cents. Prices for curso 2027-2028 are not yet published. Foreign students over eighteen who are not EU nationals and hold neither Spanish residence nor a study-stay authorisation pay these prices provisionally, a rule the fees chapter explains.

The Universidad de Málaga (UMA) is a public university in Andalusia with two main campuses in the city of Málaga, Teatinos and El Ejido, and its news on the start of curso 2026/2027 reports more than 40.000 active students and 78 Grados y Dobles Grados. UMA writes thousands with a dot, so that figure means forty thousand.

Teatinos, El Ejido and the other UMA sites

UMA describes the Campus de Teatinos as the core of the university city, holding most of UMA's academic centres and services, and well connected to the city centre. The Campus de El Ejido sits next to the historic centre of Málaga and is formed by the faculties of Bellas Artes and Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales and the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura, together with the Pabellón de Gobierno, the Paraninfo and the Teatro Cánovas.

UMA's Rectorado stands at the foot of the Alcazaba, facing the Parque and Puerto de Málaga; the city also hosts UMA's Centro Internacional de Español, and the Grice-Hutchinson experimental centre lies near the airport. UMA also has buildings at the Málaga Tech Park and in places such as Ronda and Antequera. In the province, UMA names the Centro de Enfermería in Ronda, Magisterio in Antequera and the Estación Experimental La Mayora in Algarrobo.

University of Malaga building in the city centre

What UMA says about its history

UMA's presentation page says the university has been sharing the future for 50 years and describes UMA as a dynamic, global university in constant evolution, driven by innovation, research and young talent's path to employment and entrepreneurship. That presentation page prints no founding year.

UMA in numbers, curso 2026/2027

UMA's news on the start of curso 2026/2027 reports 10.353 new-entry places for a demand of about 14.000 students who chose UMA first. The same news item counts more than 600 Erasmus+ universities in Europe and about 200 partners in the rest of the world. Two UMA pages give different counts of master's and doctoral programmes, so both appear below.

The home page counter carries no date, while the news item names curso 2026/2027. For a Grado applicant the two pages agree on the number that matters: 78 Grados y Dobles Grados.

The rankings UMA lists on its own page

UMA's rankings page says its latest results show UMA as a stable institution on the global scene, in most cases in the top third worldwide. The positions below are UMA's own summary of each ranking, cited from UMA's page. For the QS World University Rankings, UMA's page gives no position, only that UMA is stable in the world range and in the top third globally.

UMA's rankings page also says UMA is the 5th Spanish university in international (PCT) patent applications. Rankings are context for your choice of university; they play no part in Grado admission, which runs on the nota de admisión.

UMA offers 78 Grados y Dobles Grados in curso 2026/2027, and the main language of teaching at the Universidad de Málaga is Spanish. A few Grado pages list English next to Spanish, and UMA's language page says that in most cases only part of the studies can be taken in English.

UMA's Grado catalogue groups the offer in five branches: Arte y Humanidades, Ciencias Sociales y Jurídicas, Ciencias de la Salud, Ciencias, and Ingenierías y Arquitectura. Each Grado belongs to a faculty or school. In health sciences, for example, UMA lists Enfermería, Fisioterapia, Podología and Terapia Ocupacional at the Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Medicina at the Facultad de Medicina, and Psicología and Logopedia at the Facultad de Psicología y Logopedia.

The Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales teaches double Grados such as ADE and Derecho, and Economía and ADE, next to single Grados. Some UMA Grados are shared with another university, such as the Grado en Estudios de Asia Oriental por la Universidad de Sevilla y la Universidad de Málaga. Outside Málaga city, UMA's catalogue lists the Centro de Magisterio María Inmaculada in Antequera, with Educación Infantil and Educación Primaria, and the Centro de Enfermería Virgen de la Paz in Ronda.

Which UMA Grados list English

Each UMA Grado page has a line called Lenguas utilizadas (languages used). Where it reads Castellano, Inglés, English is used alongside Spanish; it does not mean the Grado is taught in English. The double Grado in Economía and ADE goes furthest: UMA calls it a double Grado with subjects in English, taught in a single group of 75 students (numerus clausus).

The two places columns come from two UMA pages and differ for several Grados: the Grado page gives the number in the Memoria de Verificación, the approved design of the degree, while the cut-off list gives the places offered next to the NOTA CORTE 25/26, the cut-off of the curso 2025-2026 admission. Both are shown because UMA publishes both.

Bilingual labels and English-taught groups

UMA's cut-off list names two programmes with a bilingual label: Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte (enseñanza bilingüe) and the Doble Grado en Economía y en Administración y Dirección de Empresas (formación bilingüe). UMA's list names no Grado with an English-taught group (grupo en inglés). Group names in the Distrito Único Andaluz search menus cover all Andalusian public universities and are not UMA programmes.

What UMA tells international students about language

UMA's language page for international students explains that the teaching language of each subject applies to all its parts: a subject taught in Spanish runs wholly in Spanish, including classes, guided work, assessed activities and exams. The same page says UMA offers a selection of subjects taught in English in different faculties, with limited places, and usually only part of the studies can be taken in English.

Those English-taught subjects are not open to everyone in every faculty. At the Facultad de Marketing y Gestión, the Facultad de CC. Económicas y Empresariales and the Grado en Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte, subjects in English are restricted to the faculty's own students, and exchange students cannot request them. For mobility students, UMA recommends at least B1 Spanish, with B2 preferable; that is advice for exchange students, not a Grado admission rule.

Your route into a UMA Grado depends on the school system of your diploma. UMA says the documents to attach depend on the cupo of your preinscripción. Check the route and documents that apply to you before submitting your application.

The PAU at UMA

The Prueba de Acceso a la Universidad (PAU) is regulated by Real Decreto 534/2024, de 11 de junio. The PAU dates are explained in the PAU chapter.

European Baccalaureate, IB and EU systems: PAU registration

UMA's PAU registration page lists students with European Baccalaureate studies, studies from EU systems with international agreements, or the International Baccalaureate diploma. Check your degree-admission route separately from PAU registration.

Confirm your diploma's admission route

For questions about your diploma and admission documents, contact UMA through its Gestor de peticiones for preinscripción.

Other foreign systems: the fase de extranjeros

UMA's preinscripción page says the fase de extranjeros is open to foreign applicants with a bachillerato from systems outside the EU and without a reciprocity agreement on the Bachiller title.

Homologación still pending: PAU registration

UMA's PAU registration page lists students with studies homologated or in the process of homologación to the Spanish bachiller. Confirm the separate preinscripción requirements before applying for a Grado.

For curso 2026-2027, the latest published, UMA's preinscripción page listed four application windows, all in 2026 and all closed: the fase de extranjeros from 6 to 19 March 2026, the fase ordinaria from 11 to 22 June 2026, the fase extraordinaria from 9 to 14 July 2026 and otros plazos from 25 to 30 September 2026. The curso 2027-2028 calendar is not yet published, so these dates show the pattern, not your deadlines.

The four phases and who could apply

The fase de extranjeros was open to foreign applicants with a bachillerato from school systems outside the EU and without a reciprocity agreement. The fase ordinaria took applicants who had met the access requirements in the ordinary sitting of the year or in any earlier sitting. The fase extraordinaria filled the places left vacant after the adjudicaciones of the fase ordinaria, and otros plazos covered Grados that still had vacant places and no waiting list.

UMA's Guía de matrícula for curso 2026-2027 gave 3 to 24 July 2026 for matrícula in the fase de extranjeros. In a new cycle, check the dates in your own DUA application.

How you apply and how many Grados you can list

UMA states that to apply for a Grado you must file an online preinscripción through the Distrito Único portal, in the relevant phase and within its official period. You do not need a password to start: you can enter with your DNI or passport number or a digital certificate, and once you finish you set a password to see your application, the adjudicación and the waiting lists.

The preinscripción is one application: UMA's FAQ says the application is single and lists, in order of preference, all the degrees you want. You can ask for a place in as many degrees as you wish, but once you are admitted to one, your lower preferences drop out, and the order of preference is always binding for the adjudicación. Put the Grado you want most first. Questions go to UMA's Gestor de peticiones for preinscripción.

After each adjudicación

Every adjudicación needs an action from you. UMA's FAQ says that each time you must check your application and always do something: enrol, reserve and/or confirm your place on the waiting list. If the system marks your place as matrícula obligatoria while you wait elsewhere, you enrol and tell the university it is a conditional matrícula, which means a refund of the public prices you paid if you later withdraw.

Documents for the application

The documents depend on your quota: UMA lists the documents to attach according to the cupo of your preinscripción.

UMA's PAU page marks the CONVOCATORIA 25 | 26 as FINALIZADA. Before choosing your tests, confirm the requirements for your diploma and intended Grado with UMA.

The PAU at UMA: the 2026 sitting

The Prueba de Acceso a la Universidad (PAU) is the Spanish university entrance exam, regulated by Real Decreto 534/2024, de 11 de junio. UMA's PAU page marks the CONVOCATORIA 25 | 26 as FINALIZADA: the ordinary sitting took place on 2, 3 and 4 June 2026, with provisional marks released on 11 June, and the extraordinary sitting on 30 June, 1 and 2 July 2026. UMA has not yet published the dates of the 2027 sitting.

How to read admission cut-offs

The nota de corte is set by the last applicant admitted to the degree and centre who enrols, and depends each year on places, applicants and their marks. The cut-offs chapter lists past results for individual Grados.

Confirm your admission subjects

Confirm the admission subjects and any ponderaciones for your intended Grado before choosing your tests. Questions can go to UMA's Gestor de peticiones for preinscripción.

Check the fase de extranjeros requirements

The fase de extranjeros is open to foreign applicants with a bachillerato from systems outside the EU and without a reciprocity agreement. Confirm the requirements for this phase before applying.

UMA's latest list of cut-off marks, the NOTA CORTE 25/26, ran from 13,133 for Medicina down to 5,000 for Grados such as Estudios Ingleses. These are results of the curso 2025-2026 admission, a reference for your choices, never a minimum or a forecast for curso 2027-2028.

What a nota de corte is

UMA defines it precisely: the nota de corte is set by the last applicant who is admitted to the degree and centre and enrols, and each curso it depends on the number of places offered, the number of applicants and the marks they bring. UMA's cut-off page repeats that the cut-off is set by the last admitted applicant and the marks are only a reference.

The cut-offs on the Distrito Único Andaluz website are the final ones of applicants in the ordinary June sitting, taken from the last admitted list published in November, and they only serve as a reference for the following curso. UMA's FAQ puts the warning in capitals: never assume that a mark above a past cut-off will get you a place the next year. List enough Grados in your preinscripción to cover a cut-off that rises.

Cut-off marks UMA lists for curso 2025-2026

UMA prints marks with a decimal comma, so 13,133 is a mark just above thirteen. The list gives the cut-off and the places offered for each Grado. Health sciences lead: Medicina at 13,133 with 185 places, Enfermería at 12,182 and Fisioterapia at 11,953.

In law and business, Derecho closed at 8,628 and Administración y Dirección de Empresas at 7,500, while the double Grado in ADE and Derecho needed 9,171. The bilingual double Grado in Economía and ADE closed at 7,468, and Bellas Artes at 8,934.

Several Grados show 5,000, as Estudios Ingleses did: the last applicant admitted had that mark. Translation into English, the Grado en Traducción e Interpretación (Inglés), closed at 5,423. A low past cut-off makes a place likely only if demand stays the same; UMA does not promise it.

The places in this list are the places offered for that admission. For some Grados they differ from the places on the Grado's own page, which comes from the Memoria de Verificación: Medicina shows 185 here and 170 on its Grado page, Derecho 285 and 325. Both figures are UMA's.

UMA sets no general Spanish certificate for Grado admission, but the main language of teaching at the Universidad de Málaga is Spanish, so your Spanish decides whether you can follow the degree. One Grado sets its own language entry rules: Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte (CAFD) asks for English at B1 and, from foreign students of non-Spanish-speaking countries, Spanish at C1 (DELE or SIELE).

The access requirements of the DUA admission Acuerdo for curso 2026-2027 are about your diploma and tests, not languages, and UMA's Grado pages add a language certificate only where a Grado says so. Spanish still runs through every part of a Spanish-taught subject: UMA states that subjects taught in Spanish run wholly in Spanish, including classes, guided work, assessed activities and exams. Plan for a level that lets you sit exams in Spanish from the first semester.

The bilingual Grado in CAFD

UMA's cut-off list names the Grado as Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte (enseñanza bilingüe), and its Grado page lists the languages as Castellano, Inglés. The CAFD page sets the entry rule as at least the B1 level of English of the Common European Framework of Reference, in addition to the general access requirements. For foreign students from non-Spanish-speaking countries it adds Spanish at C1 at least, proved with DELE or SIELE. Both rules belong to CAFD only.

The B1 language rule for every UMA degree

UMA's Guía de matrícula sets a language rule for graduation rather than entry: to be issued a UMA Graduado/a degree, you must prove a language other than Castilian and the other co-official Spanish languages at B1 at least, or at a higher level if the degree's Memoria de Verificación sets one. Ask your faculty which certificates it accepts for this rule.

Spanish for exchange students

UMA's advice on Spanish level is written for mobility students, who come for a semester or a year: UMA recommends that mobility students have at least a B1 level of Spanish, with B2 preferable, and says no official Spanish certificate is required for a mobility stay at UMA, though some subjects may set their own language requirements. Exchange is not degree admission, so this advice does not set the level for a full Grado.

UMA also states that it offers a selection of subjects taught in English in different faculties, and the offer varies by centre. That selection supplements Spanish-taught degrees: the same page says that in most cases only part of the studies can be taken in English.

Of the UMA Grado pages for Medicina, Bellas Artes, Traducción e Interpretación and Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte (CAFD), only CAFD prints an access requirement beyond the general rules, English at B1 and, for foreign students from non-Spanish-speaking countries, Spanish at C1. Medicina asks for nothing extra on its Grado page; what makes it hard is competition, with a cut-off of 13,133 in the curso 2025-2026 admission.

Medicina: no extra test, a very high cut-off

UMA's Medicina page lists 170 places in the Memoria de Verificación and Castellano as the language used, and it prints no access requirement line of its own, unlike the CAFD page. UMA's cut-off list for the curso 2025-2026 admission gives Medicina 185 places offered and a cut-off of 13,133, the highest in that list. UMA writes marks with a decimal comma, so that cut-off is a mark just above thirteen.

Two UMA pages give two numbers of places for Medicina, the Memoria figure of 170 and the 185 places offered next to the cut-off, and both are shown here. The cut-off is a past result, not a minimum for curso 2027-2028: your nota de admisión decides your place.

CAFD, Bellas Artes and Traducción e Interpretación

The CAFD page states: besides the general access requirements, you must prove at least the B1 level of English of the Common European Framework, and foreign students from non-Spanish-speaking countries must prove Spanish at least at C1 (DELE or SIELE). That is the only Grado-level access rule among these pages.

Bellas Artes and Traducción e Interpretación print no aptitude test (prueba específica) and no extra requirement. The Bellas Artes page lists 85 places and Castellano as the language. The Traducción e Interpretación page lists 150 places and the languages Castellano, Inglés, Francés, Alemán, Italiano, Árabe and Griego; UMA's cut-off list gives a separate line per language, such as the Inglés line above.

Is there an interview?

UMA's admission pages describe no interview for school-leavers. For a school-leaver from abroad, the place depends on the nota de admisión and your order of preferences.

Once admitted, you enrol online through UMA's automatrícula in the window of your adjudicación: UMA's Guía de matrícula for curso 2026/2027, the latest published, set windows such as 3 to 9 July 2026 after the first adjudicación of the fase ordinaria, with documents due by 31 October 2026 for an online matrícula. The curso 2027-2028 guide is not yet published.

How you enrol

UMA's guide says the matrícula must be done by the electronic procedure, except in the cases that use the in-person procedure or the special procedure for mobility students. If you were admitted through the Distrito Único Andaluz, you get your Pin UMA from the automatrícula link to enter your matrícula. You can also enter with a Certificado Digital, a Spanish electronic certificate that you also need to hand in documents.

In a new cycle, follow the dates your own DUA application shows.

Documents after you enrol

UMA's guide stresses, in capitals, that all required documents must go through UMA's Sede Electrónica, so you must have a Certificado Digital. New students prove their identity with the DECLARACIÓN RESPONSABLE DE DATOS PERSONALES (ANEXO P), and foreign students must provide their Número de identidad de extranjero (NIE) for the degree certificate to be issued.

If you entered with a diploma from a non-European system without a reciprocity agreement, homologated to the Spanish bachiller, you hand in the credencial de homologación issued by the Ministerio or a Comunidad Autónoma, by 31 October 2026 under the curso 2026-2027 guide. The same applies to students who passed the access tests at a Spanish university and hold homologated foreign studies. For an electronic matrícula in curso 2026-2027 the documents are due by 31 October 2026; for an in-person matrícula, at the moment you enrol. If a required document is missing, UMA treats the matrícula as withdrawn and archives the file.

Paying, and what happens if you do not pay

How and when you pay depends on your enrolment date, on whether you applied for the Ministerio beca, whose deadline ended on 19 May 2026, and on the mode you choose: a single payment, two instalments, or eight monthly instalments. You can pay online during automatrícula by card, Bizum or bank transfer, later on UMA's student portal, or at any Banco Santander office. If you are still waiting for a place at another university, UMA advises you not to pay the matrícula yet.

An unpaid matrícula counts as withdrawn: if the public prices are not paid on time, the matrícula is archived and marks obtained in between lose effect. You can recover it by paying, and UMA says the recovery takes effect within two working days of the payment. Under the curso 2026-2027 guide, a new student whose matrícula is still archived on 15 June 2027 loses the file in the degree and the place won in admission; that date belongs to the curso 2026-2027 rules, not to your curso 2027-2028 matrícula.

UMA charges a public price per ECTS credit, and its tariffs for Curso Académico 2026/2027, the latest published, set 12,62 € per credit in first enrolment in every group of Grados, plus 59,10 € to open your academic file. Prices for curso 2027-2028 are not yet published.

UMA's price annex covers Títulos de Grado taught in UMA's own centres and sorts Grados into groups by field. The price of a credit depends on how many times you enrol in the same subject: the first enrolment costs the same everywhere, and repeats cost more, most of all in engineering, the experimental sciences and health sciences. UMA writes amounts with a decimal comma, so the comma separates euros from cents.

Your total for a year is the credits you enrol in multiplied by the price of your group. UMA's annex prints prices per credit, not a yearly total, so build your budget from the credits of your own study plan.

Administrative fees on first enrolment

On top of the credits, the annex charges for administrative services: opening the academic file (Apertura de Expediente Académico) costs 59,10 €, and keeping your data and issuing the identity card costs 5,70 €.

Foreign students without Spanish residence

UMA prints no separate tariff for non-EU students, but it attaches a condition. The annex says the teaching prices apply provisionally to foreign nationals over eighteen who hold neither temporary or long-term Spanish residence nor a study-stay authorisation, except EU nationals and those under the EU regime, and without prejudice to reciprocity and UMA's agreements.

Under the curso 2026-2027 annex, affected students must hand in to their centre's Secretaría, before 1 November 2026, proof of residence or study-stay authorisation, or the receipt of the request; otherwise UMA issues a complementary charge that can reach 100% of the real cost of the teaching. If you come from outside the EU, apply for your student visa early enough to hold the document, or at least the request receipt, by the date your own annex sets.

Centros adscritos

Some UMA Grados are taught at attached centres (centros adscritos). For these, UMA's annex says it lists only the amount payable to the Universidad de Málaga: 30% of the teaching prices of UMA's own centres and 100% of the administrative prices. For group 1 that UMA share is 3,79 € per credit in first enrolment. The attached centre's own charge does not appear in UMA's annex; ask the centre for it.

The largest reduction at UMA, the Junta de Andalucía bonificación of 99%, applies to credits you passed in first enrolment the year before, so it lowers your second and later years, not your first-year matrícula. In the first year, help comes from UMA's own becas for curso académico 2026/2027, the national Ministerio beca and the exemptions in UMA's enrolment guide.

The 99% bonificación

UMA's Guía de matrícula for curso 2026-2027 grants the bonificación to students who passed subjects in first enrolment in curso académico 2025/2026 at the own or attached centres of Andalusian public universities, in official Grado or Máster degrees. The amount is 99% of the number of credits passed in first enrolment in curso académico 2025/2026 multiplied by the credit price; credits from Andalusian UNED centres count only for students registered as residents (empadronados) in Andalusia.

A new student has no credits passed the year before, so the bonificación does not reduce year one. If the same rule continues, the credits you pass in first enrolment in your first year reduce the price of your second year. If you also held the Ministerio beca, the bonificación covers the part of the curso 2026/2027 matrícula the beca does not cover, and you must state in the matrícula that you applied for the beca.

Under the curso 2026-2027 guide, an exemption applies if you belong to the group on any date between 1 September and 31 October 2026 and prove it at enrolment. For a large-family title issued outside Andalusia, UMA asks for the original and a copy, or an electronically verifiable title issued by the competent Spanish public administration, so a family title from another country is not listed as proof.

UMA's own becas

UMA's Servicio de Becas manages the study grants for UMA students. For curso 2026-2027 UMA lists becas de matrícula for students enrolled in official Grado studies in curso académico 2026/2027, with the call published, and a Beca de Manutención for living costs in the last quarter of 2026, with a provisional resolution published. Bellas Artes has a beca for teaching materials in the second year.

UMA also lists the Beca de cohesión social for Grado students enrolled in curso 2025/2026, with three modalities: matrícula, residencia and comedor, under the general, academic and economic requirements of its call. Amounts and conditions sit in each convocatoria, and UMA's becas page does not state a nationality condition, so read the call before you count on a beca.

The Ministerio general beca

UMA lists the Beca de carácter general del Ministerio de Educación under Curso 2026/2027; for that curso, the application window ended on 19 May 2026. If you apply, you first pay only the administrative prices, and the academic prices wait for the beca decision. UMA's beca pages do not set out whether foreign nationals qualify; check the conditions of the Ministerio's own call.

UMA offers three routes to a room: its own Residencia Universitaria Alberto Jiménez Fraud, subsidised places in partner residences (residencias conveniadas), and a free housing service for renting. For curso 2026-2027, the latest published, the residence call closed on 25/05/2026 and the partner-residence call on 25 June 2026, so plan your housing in spring, before you know your admission result.

The Residencia Universitaria Alberto Jiménez Fraud

UMA's residence is organised in apartments with two and three rooms, double or single, where students share a bathroom, a living room and a small kitchen. The apartments sit in a closed compound with a restaurant, laundry, an assembly hall and security around the clock, and the apartments are cleaned twice a week. Electricity and water are paid separately and shared among the apartment's students, and you bring your own bed linen or rent it at the residence.

UMA's residence page prints no amounts: prices depend on the student's income level and the room type, and change each curso académico with the consumer price index (I.P.C.). Places go through a call published each curso académico around April, which mainly scores family income, the distance of your home address and your academic record. Late applications go onto the waiting list.

The residence call for curso 2026-2027 opened at 09:00 on 15/05/2026 and closed at 14:00 on 25/05/2026. The final allocation for curso académico 2026/2027 also set the waiting list. Questions go to UMA's Servicio de Acción Social at alojamiento@uma.es.

Partner residences (residencias conveniadas)

UMA has agreements with private residences and runs a call for subsidised places in residencias conveniadas for UMA students who will study a Grado, Máster or Doctorado in curso 2026/2027. UMA's housing page shows the partner residences as logos and links; check each residence's own prices and terms before you apply.

Renting a flat with UMA's housing service

UMA's Servicio de Alojamiento guides and advises the university community in looking for housing, and its help is completely free, both for people looking for housing and for owners. It lists four housing modes: renting a flat (Alquiler de Viviendas), the Residencia Jiménez Fraud, living with older people (Con Personas Mayores) and the partner residences. UMA's housing pages state no rent levels for Málaga.

More university housing is planned: UMA's curso 2026/2027 news says UMA is advancing the tender of a student residence on the Teatinos campus with more than 1.000 places. No opening date is given, so do not count on it for autumn 2027.

UMA presents its two campuses as more than places to study: Teatinos and El Ejido are spaces of culture, sport, entrepreneurship and international connections, and its Vivir la UMA pages group housing, library, culture, sport and health services. UMA's page for exchange students describes Málaga as a coastal city with an average temperature of 23 °C.

What Vivir la UMA covers

Deportes UMA runs an activities programme with monthly enrolment, a university flat rate (tarifa plana) or tickets per session, internal competitions (Trofeo Rector), university teams and support for high-level athletes (DUMAN). It also offers facility booking, sports medicine, sports volunteering and credit recognition for sport. UMA's sport page lists these options without prices.

For curso 2026/2027, UMA's news says the sport area runs a new sports programme with a tarifa plana across Teatinos and El Ejido, after hosting the FISU World University Championship in padel. On the culture side, UMA's Vicerrectorado de Cultura extends its theatre, dance and creative-writing workshops to El Ejido and prepares the 36th edition of FANCINE, its international fantastic-film festival.

Teatinos and El Ejido

Teatinos is UMA's main campus: UMA calls it the core of the university city, with most academic centres and services, well connected to the city centre and a reference point of young life in Málaga. El Ejido is the city-centre campus, next to the historic centre, with Bellas Artes, Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales and Arquitectura, plus the Paraninfo and the Teatro Cánovas.

Getting around is simple according to UMA's page for exchange students, which mentions buses, the metro and a direct link to the international airport. That page is written for incoming exchange students; the climate and transport lines are context, not part of admission.

Spanish and language courses

To improve your Spanish, UMA's language page tells you to contact the Centro Internacional de Español (CIE), which is based in Málaga city. The Vivir la UMA page also lists a Centro de Idiomas. UMA's student-life pages do not list the courses, levels or prices of either centre, so ask the CIE directly before you plan a preparatory Spanish course.

If you are not from the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland, UMA's student-visa page says you need a student visa to study in Spain for more than 3 months, applied for in person at a Spanish embassy or consulate once you hold UMA's acceptance letter. That residence document also matters for your fees: under the curso 2026-2027 price annex, proof is due before 1 November 2026.

The student visa

UMA's visa page, which sits in its section for incoming students, says the visa must be requested in person with the official form at the Spanish embassy or consulate of your country of origin, before you arrive in Málaga, and you can start as soon as you receive UMA's acceptance letter. All third-country students are responsible for requesting their visa or any other procedure the Spanish embassy or consulate sets.

Do not travel without it: without a student visa you cannot extend your stay in Spain as a student, and the visa goes in your passport before you leave and is shown at the border. One exception on the page applies only to exchange students: third-country students with a study residence permit from another EU country who come to UMA as exchange students need no visa beforehand. A full Grado is not an exchange, so that exception does not cover degree students. UMA also warns that it is not responsible for the information on the external sites it links.

Residence and your fees

UMA's price annex applies the tariffs provisionally to foreign nationals over eighteen who hold neither Spanish residence nor a study-stay authorisation, except EU nationals and those under the EU regime. You must then take the document, or the receipt of your request, to your centre's Secretaría by the date in the annex; for curso 2026-2027 that date is 1 November 2026. Start the visa early so this date never catches you without papers.

Support on arrival

UMA's page for international students lists the UMA International Hub (Centro Internacional de Bienvenida), language of teaching, housing, visas, the International Relations office for administrative steps, and a Buddy Program. The incoming-students page and its welcome meetings are built for exchange students: to come that way, your university needs a bilateral agreement with UMA and must nominate you. As a full Grado student, start with the International Hub and your faculty's Secretaría.

UMA suits you if you can study in Spanish, want low public fees, 12,62 € per credit in first enrolment in the tariff for curso 2026-2027, and hold a diploma with a clear Distrito Único Andaluz route. Health sciences are the hard case: Medicina closed at 13,133 in the curso 2025-2026 admission, a past result rather than a minimum.

Who UMA suits

Language comes first: the main language of teaching at the Universidad de Málaga is Spanish, and only a few Grados list English next to Spanish. CAFD, the bilingual Grado in sport sciences, asks foreign students from non-Spanish-speaking countries for Spanish at C1 (DELE or SIELE); other Grados set no Spanish certificate, but their classes and exams run in Spanish.

Next steps for entry in curso 2027-2028

Every date below comes from the curso 2026-2027 cycle, the latest published, and shows the month to plan for, not your deadline.

Start the homologación and the visa early. A non-EU student who enrols without residence pays provisionally, with a complementary charge up to 100% of the real cost if the residence or study-stay document is missing by the date in the annex.

What to confirm with UMA or the DUA

• The curso 2027-2028 preinscripción calendar and prices.
• The ponderación value of each admission subject for your Grado.
• Your Spanish: the B1 to B2 advice on UMA's language page is written for mobility students, not for degree admission.
• How you will meet UMA's graduation rule of a language other than Castilian at B1 at least.
• Whether a UMA Grado runs an English-taught group: UMA's cut-off list names none.
• Prices of the partner residences and the conditions, including nationality, of UMA and Ministerio becas, which sit in each call.

Official pages of Universidad de Málaga (UMA), UCAS, gov.uk and the ranking publishers. Applicant reports, where shown, are self-reported and labelled.

La UMA comienza el curso 2026/2027 con más oferta académica, impulso científico y campus sostenibles - Universidad de Má · ACCESO - Preinscripción a Grados · Secretaría General · Movilidad y Proyectos Internacionales - Idioma de enseñanza y asignaturas · OFERTA DE GRADO - Notas de corte · Visado de estudiante · ALOJAMIENTO - Servicio de Alojamiento · ACCESO - Preguntas Frecuentes · Inicio - Universidad de Málaga · Grado en DERECHO - GRADO EN DERECHO · Grado en ESTUDIOS INGLESES - GRADO EN ESTUDIOS INGLESES · Doble Grado en ECONOMÍA Y ADE - DOBLE GRADO EN ECONOMÍA Y ADMINISTRACIÓN Y DIRECCIÓN DE EMPRESAS · Grado en CIENCIAS DE LA ACTIVIDAD FÍSICA Y DEL DEPORTE - GRADO EN CIENCIAS DE LA ACTIVIDAD FÍSICA Y DEL DEPORTE · CONOCE LA UMA - Campus · UNIVERSIDAD - Conoce la UMA: 50 años impulsando el talento y la innovación · La UMA en Rankings · OFERTA DE GRADO - Oferta de Grados · Grado en TRADUCCIÓN E INTERPRETACIÓN - GRADO EN TRADUCCIÓN E INTERPRETACIÓN · Grado en ADMINISTRACIÓN Y DIRECCIÓN DE EMPRESAS - GRADO EN ADMINISTRACIÓN Y DIRECCIÓN DE EMPRESAS · Grado en MEDICINA - GRADO EN MEDICINA · Grado en BELLAS ARTES - GRADO EN BELLAS ARTES · ACCESO - Prueba de Acceso a la Universidad | PAU 2026 · ACCESO - Procedimiento de Inscripción | PAU - Universidad de Málaga · Secretaría General · BECAS - Becas propias de la Universidad de Málaga · BECAS - Becas · Becas Ministerio de Educación, FP y Deportes · Residencia Universitaria "Alberto Jiménez Fraud" · Otras residencias conveniadas · VIVIR LA UMA - Tu Mundo. Tu Universo · Estudiar en la UMA · VIVIR LA UMA - Deportes UMA · ESTUDIAR - Internacional

Photos: Aerial view of the Teatinos campus of the University of Malaga: photo Gvillalobos, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons · General Library at the Teatinos campus: photo Gvillalobos, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons · University of Malaga building in the city centre: photo Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons