Studying in Cádiz: University, Admission, Costs and Housing

In short: Studying at the Universidad de Cádiz does not automatically mean studying in Cádiz: the university has four campuses in four cities. First find out where your degree is taught, then sort out the rest. Admission with Abitur or Matura goes through UNEDasiss and the Distrito Único Andaluz, the first year costs 757.20 euros (as of October 2026), and many subjects are within reach even without extra exams.

The Universidad de Cádiz: four campuses, four cities

The Universidad de Cádiz (UCA) is the public university for the whole province. Three of its campuses are located around the Bay of Cádiz and are connected to each other by train and bus. The fourth is in Algeciras on the Strait of Gibraltar, a good 100 kilometres further south, and is a study location in its own right.

Campus	Location	Subjects (selection)
Cádiz	Old town on the peninsula	Medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, philology and history, economics
Puerto Real	Campus at Río San Pedro, between Cádiz and El Puerto	Marine and natural sciences, engineering, nautical studies, psychology, teacher training
Jerez de la Frontera	east of the centre	Law, criminology, business administration, advertising and PR, nursing
Algeciras	Bay of Gibraltar	Engineering, nursing, law, business administration

In Cádiz itself, the faculties are housed in historic buildings in the old town, a few minutes from the sea. This is also where you will find the Oficina de Internacionalización in the Edificio Hospital Real on Plaza Falla. Puerto Real is the opposite: a modern campus surrounded by greenery, where almost everything scientific and technical is concentrated, including the centre for marine sciences.

What the UCA is known for

Its profile is the sea. Marine sciences, nautical studies and maritime transport, marine engineering and shipbuilding are hardly offered anywhere else in Spain in this density, and the bay with its shipyards, port and navy is the perfect setting. On top of that there is aerospace engineering in Puerto Real and, in Algeciras, engineering subjects linked to one of the largest ports in the Mediterranean.

Language of instruction

Teaching is in Spanish. The UCA keeps a list of individual subjects taught in English, but you cannot complete an entire degree with them. As everywhere in Andalusia, you must prove a foreign language at B1 level before finishing your Grado.

Admission with Abitur or Matura and what studying costs

Places are not allocated by the UCA but by the Distrito Único Andaluz (DUA), the joint procedure of all public universities in Andalusia. For this you need the Acreditación from UNEDasiss: this office of the distance university UNED converts your Abitur or Matura into a Spanish entrance grade of up to 10 points. With the optional subject exams (PCE) you can reach up to 14 points.

• Application to UNEDasiss: possible in 2026 from 4 February to 1 December. Apply early so your grade is ready for your application.
• Application on the DUA portal: in 2026 from 11 to 22 June, first allocation on 3 July.
• Important at the UCA: you apply for a degree at a specific campus. Law in Jerez and law in Algeciras are two separate entries with different grades.
• Enrolment: only a few days after each allocation. If you do not respond, you lose your place.

Notas de corte 2025/26

The nota de corte is the grade of the last person admitted. The UCA publishes it itself. The following values apply to the ordinary phase of the 2025/26 academic year, and the scale goes up to 14:

Degree	Campus	Nota de corte 2025/26
Medicine	Cádiz	13.157
Aerospace engineering	Puerto Real	12.471
Nursing	Cádiz	12.089
Physiotherapy	Cádiz	11.692
Biotechnology	Puerto Real	11.382
Psychology	Puerto Real	11.190
Primary education	Puerto Real	8.770
Law	Jerez	7.949
Law	Algeciras	6.902
Nautical studies and maritime transport	Puerto Real	6.730
Marine sciences	Puerto Real	5.000
Business administration	Cádiz	5.000

A value of 5.000 means that every applicant with university entrance qualifications got a place. So for marine sciences, the university’s flagship, you do not need PCE. For anything above 10 points there is no way around the subject exams. The values change every year, and in 2024/25 many were slightly higher. How PCE and grade calculation work is explained in the guide Studying in Spain.

Costs per ECTS and discounts

Prices are the same throughout Andalusia (as of October 2026). A Grado costs 12.62 euros per ECTS on first enrolment, i.e. 757.20 euros for 60 ECTS. If you repeat a subject, you pay 25.25 euros per ECTS for it. A Máster costs 13.68 euros per ECTS, professionally qualifying Másters 12.62 euros. On top of that come 59.10 euros for opening your file and 5.70 euros for the student card.

From the second year, Andalusia waives 99 percent of the costs for all credits you passed at the first attempt in the previous year, with no income limit. You can pay in one go or in up to eight instalments.

Enrolment on site: documents and language level

You complete enrolment (matrícula) online, and the secretariat of your campus then checks your documents. You should have ready:

• ID card or passport
• Acreditación from UNEDasiss and final school certificate
• Allocation from the DUA portal
• IBAN for direct debit if paying in instalments
• from the second year, the declaration for the 99 percent discount

The secretariat will tell you the exact list and the form the documents must take. For medicine and nursing with placements in hospitals, you also need a Spanish certificate of no sexual offences for the protection of minors, which the UCA also requires from exchange students.

We have not found a confirmed fixed language requirement for admission to a Grado in Andalusia. A good benchmark is what the UCA requires from exchange students: at least B1, B2 in medicine. For a full degree with exams in Spanish, you should arrive with B2. Courses are offered by the university’s language centre, the Centro Superior de Lenguas Modernas (CSLM) on Calle Ancha in the old town.

Living for several years: first the campus, then the city

Where you live depends entirely on your campus. Rents differ noticeably. For September 2026, Idealista lists these asking prices for entire flats:

• Cádiz: 12.4 euros per square metre, which works out at around 870 euros for 70 square metres
• El Puerto de Santa María: 12.2 euros
• Chiclana: 11.8 euros
• Jerez de la Frontera: 10.6 euros

The report does not give separate figures for Puerto Real, San Fernando and Algeciras, and the provincial average is 11.6 euros.

Where students live

• Cádiz campus: in the old town, for example in La Viña, El Mentidero or El Pópulo, with old buildings, narrow alleys and your faculty around the corner. Or in the new town beyond the Puertas de Tierra along the long avenue, closer to La Victoria beach and with more modern flats.
• Puerto Real campus: in the Río San Pedro district right next to the campus or in the town of Puerto Real. Many prefer to live in Cádiz, San Fernando or El Puerto and commute.
• Jerez campus: in Jerez itself. The city is big enough for its own student life and noticeably cheaper.
• Algeciras campus: in Algeciras. Commuting from the Bay of Cádiz is not practical.

The summer contract trap

Cádiz sits on a narrow peninsula and cannot grow. Housing is scarce, and all along the coast owners prefer to rent to holidaymakers in summer. That is why many contracts only run from September to June. For a degree lasting several years this is a nuisance: you clear out every year and search again. Ask specifically for a normal residential tenancy contract for the whole year. The differences are explained in Finding a flat in Spain.

The UCA has its own housing office (Oficina de Alojamiento) and a Colegio Mayor in Cádiz, a hall of residence with community life. Places and current prices are listed on the Colegio Mayor’s website. Most students live in a shared flat and later move into their own flat with friends.

Monthly budget, part-time work and transport

There are no official figures on students’ living costs in Cádiz. The following table is our own estimate for life in a shared flat. Idealista gives no figure for rooms in Cádiz, and the Spanish average in the first quarter of 2026 was 430 euros.

Item	Range per month (estimate)
Room in a shared flat including bills, Cádiz	320 to 450 euros
Room in a shared flat including bills, Jerez or Puerto Real	260 to 380 euros
Groceries	180 to 250 euros
Mobile phone and share of internet	15 to 30 euros
Transport (higher if you commute)	10 to 50 euros
Leisure	80 to 150 euros
Tuition fees spread over twelve months (first year)	around 65 euros
Total	around 650 to 1,000 euros

Comparison figures for all of Spain can be found under Cost of living in Spain.

Working alongside your studies

As an EU citizen, you may work without a permit. However, the province of Cádiz has one of the highest unemployment rates in Spain, and steady part-time jobs are rare. Your best chances are seasonal work in hospitality and tourism, at the surf and kite schools along the coast, language teaching or remote work. For any contract you need an NIE and a social security number: see Working in Spain.

Train, bus, ferry

The bay is well connected. The local trains (Cercanías) run from Cádiz via San Fernando and Puerto Real to Jerez and stop at the Puerto Real campus. There are also regional buses, the Trambahía tram and ferries across the bay. The card of the transport consortium (Consorcio de Transportes Bahía de Cádiz) is valid on buses, ferries, Cercanías and Trambahía, gives you around 30 percent off the single fare and free transfers. With the Tarjeta Joven for young people you get a further 20 percent. During the semester, the consortium adds extra bus services to the campus. In 2026 the state Abono Único for Cercanías and regional trains costs 30 euros a month for under 26s.

Life in Cádiz and the honest downside

Cádiz is small, old and almost entirely surrounded by water. You can walk around the old town in half an hour and keep finding yourself back at the Atlantic, and the city beach La Caleta lies between two fortresses. The carnival in February is the best known on the Spanish mainland. The climate is mild, much more pleasant in summer than inland, but the Levante wind often blows for days on end. More about the city under Cádiz sights, and about the beaches under Costa de la Luz.

Jerez is the largest city in the province, with sherry bodegas, horses and flamenco: see Jerez de la Frontera. It also has the nearest airport, while Seville and Málaga have more connections.

The downside is the fragmentation. If you study in Puerto Real and live in Cádiz, you commute for years. Friends from other subjects live in other cities. Algeciras is a port and industrial city that has nothing to do with the postcard image of Cádiz. And the province’s job market is weak: if you want to stay after graduating, you need patience or a job that does not depend on location.

Paperwork for a degree lasting several years

Get the formalities done in your first semester, and you will have peace for the rest of your studies.

• NIE: you need the foreigner identification number for an employment contract, many rental contracts and the bank: Applying for an NIE.
• Padrón: registration at the town hall of the municipality where you live, i.e. in Cádiz, Puerto Real, Jerez or Algeciras: Empadronamiento.
• Bank account: useful for rent, instalments and contracts: Opening a bank account in Spain.
• Health insurance: the EHIC covers necessary treatment in the public system. For several years, check with your insurer how you stay covered: Health insurance in Spain.

Only coming for one or two semesters? Then read Erasmus in Cádiz.

Frequently asked questions

Cover image: Puertomenesteo · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0