Spain's general study grant 2026-2027: am I eligible, and for how much?
Independent site: not the Ministry of Education
Enter how many live at home, the family income and what you will study (parents: answer for your child): the simulator tells you whether you would get a grant and how much money is guaranteed, under the rules published in the BOE.
Status on 8 November 2026: the 2026-2027 window closed on 19 May 2026 and the 2027-2028 call has not been published yet. If you already applied, keep an eye on «Mis notificaciones». Outside the window, only a late application is possible, until 31 December 2026, if the main earner dies or is forced to retire. If you start studying in 2027, these are the 2026-2027 figures and serve as a guide. What to prepare before the next window
Example, not your result yet· change a figure to see yours
Your estimated grant 2026-2027
Free tuition + €60
Yes, you would get a grant. Guaranteed money: €60, the minimum of the variable amount. The rest of the variable amount is shared out at the end of the year and nobody can predict it to the euro. At threshold 2 there is no €1,700 income-linked amount: it only reaches threshold 1. Free tuition is not money in your account: the university does not charge you for first-time credits.
| Tuition waiver | First-time credits free |
| Variable amount (guaranteed minimum) | €60 + share-out |
| Threshold reached (1 is the best) | Threshold 2 |
Indicative estimate using the BOE figures of 12 March 2026. Only the Ministry's decision awards the grant.
| Threshold | Maximum income | What it gives |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | €22,107 | Everything: €1,700 income-linked, residence, excellence, variable amount and free tuition |
| 2 | €38,242 | Residence, excellence, variable amount and free tuition (basic grant only below university level) |
| 3 | €40,773 | Free tuition and excellence (basic grant only below university level) |
We ask for no name, ID or email: the calculation runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent anywhere.
Spain's general state study grant for 2026-2027, widely known as the beca MEC, is awarded on three family income thresholds and a wealth limit set by Royal Decree 179/2026, plus an academic requirement in the call of 23 March 2026. For a household of four, the thresholds are €22,107, €38,242 and €40,773 of 2025 income. Up to threshold 1 you get the fixed income-linked amount of €1,700; up to threshold 2, the residence amount of €2,700 if you study far from home, and the variable amount; up to threshold 3, the tuition waiver at university, the basic grant of €300 below it, and excellence, from €50 to €125. Every fixed amount can be worked out to the euro. The variable amount cannot: it is shared out at the end with a formula whose inputs only the Ministry holds, so the simulator only shows its guaranteed minimum of €60. This year's application window closed on 19 May 2026.
The three questions the Ministry decides, in order
- 1. Which income threshold does your household reach?
2025 income of the counted members, after deductions. Above threshold 3 there is no grant.
- 2. Is family wealth over the limit?
Flats other than the main home, land and savings income count, each with its own limit. A family business only rules the grant out if it turns over more than €172,000 a year.
- 3. Do you meet the academic requirement?
A 5 in year one; from year two, your field's share of credits passed: from 65% to 90%.
Two cases worked out under the rules
Lucía is in her second year of Nursing in another city. Her family of four has a family income of €21,000: threshold 1, below €22,107. She passed everything with an 8.3 average, which the Health Sciences coefficient turns into 8.72. She is due €1,700 income-linked, €2,700 residence if she proves her rent and €75 for excellence: €4,475 in fixed amounts, plus free tuition and a variable amount of at least €60.
Marcos is starting higher vocational training in his home town. His family of three has €30,000, between threshold 1 (€17,685) and threshold 2 (€32,201). He gets no income-linked or residence amount, but does get the €300 basic grant and the €60 minimum of the variable amount: €360 guaranteed. If his family went above €32,201, the variable amount would go and the €300 would remain.
Both examples use the simulator above. Change the figures and watch the components move: crossing a threshold by a single euro changes the result. That is why income deserves a check with its own calculator, and wealth another, as it gets the grant refused even on a low income.
| People | Threshold 1 | Threshold 2 | Threshold 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €8,843 | €13,898 | €14,818 |
| 2 | €13,264 | €23,724 | €25,293 |
| 3 | €17,685 | €32,201 | €34,332 |
| 4 | €22,107 | €38,242 | €40,773 |
| 5 | €25,644 | €42,743 | €45,572 |
| 6 | €29,181 | €46,142 | €49,196 |
Dates of the 2026-2027 call
Dates from the Official Gazette and the text of the call. Under each one, who has to act.
- Thresholds and amounts published in the Official Gazette (BOE)Official publication
- The call is published in the BOEOfficial publication
- Application window opens (8:00)You: apply
- Window closes, after extension (15:00 mainland time)You: apply
- Regions and universities finish checking personal and family dataThe authorities: nothing for you to do
- Regions and universities send grades and fixed amounts to the MinistryThe authorities: nothing for you to do
- Last day for a late application, only if the main earner dies or is forced to retireExceptional cases only
Each component, with its calculator
Income and amounts
- Income thresholds 2026-2027The three family income limits by household size, and which one you fall under
- Family income and deductionsFrom the tax return to the figure compared with the thresholds, deduction by deduction
- Family wealthFlats, land, savings and businesses: when wealth costs you the grant even on a low income
- Grant amountsThe parts of the grant, how much each is worth and the threshold each requires, by studies
- Variable amountThe share-out formula, how your grade and income weigh in, and why nobody can give you the exact figure
- Residence grantThe €2,700 for studying away from home: who gets it, up to which income and what you must prove
- Tuition waiverFirst-time credits free up to threshold 3: how much you save and what is left out
By studies
- Academic requirementsWhat share of credits you must pass in each field, and what grade is needed in year 1 and for a master's
- Grade average and excellenceThe entry grade for the grant, the credit-weighted average and the excellence amount it brings
- Upper secondary and VETBasic grant, income-linked and residence amounts in bachillerato and intermediate, higher and basic VET
- Master's grantTuition, income, residence and excellence for an official master's: entry grade, coefficient and year two
Deadlines and steps
- Calendar 2026-2027From the royal decree to payment: application window, selection deadlines and the decision
- Refused grant: deadlinesFix, object or appeal: the deadline you have depending on what you were notified, and how to count it
- Paying the grant backWhen the grant must be repaid: passing 50% of credits (40% in sciences and technical fields) and attendance
How the simulator calculates and where the figures come from · Who publishes this site
Understanding the grant in depth
What the general grant is and who runs it
The general grant, often called the beca MEC after the ministry's old name, is the State's study aid for post-compulsory education: upper secondary, vocational training, arts and sports education, language schools, degrees, master's degrees and more. Two texts govern it each year. The first is a royal decree on thresholds and amounts; for 2026-2027, Royal Decree 179/2026 of 11 March. The second is the call by the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sport, published in summary in the Official Gazette of 25 March 2026, which applies the permanent framework of Royal Decree 1721/2007.
The Ministry's call does not apply to university students with administrative residence in the Basque Country to non-university students at Basque centres, or to students whose family home is in Catalonia (article 68): their grants depend on the Basque Government and the Generalitat. For Catalonia, the variable amount is calculated jointly with the Ministry's. This site only calculates the Ministry's call.
Family income, step by step
The income compared with the thresholds is 2025 income of all counted members: parents or guardians, the applicant, unmarried siblings under 25 living at home and grandparents registered at the address. For each who filed a return, the general and savings tax bases are added and the tax due is subtracted. Deductions then apply to the total: half the income of anyone who is not a parent, €525 or €800 per sibling in a large family, €1,811 or €2,881 for disability, €1,176 for each university student away from home if there are two or more, and €500 for a single-parent family.
The family income calculator does these sums with your figures and tells you which threshold you land in. The full table by household size is under income thresholds.
Wealth and businesses
Even with income below threshold 1, the grant is refused if the family holds property, land or savings income above the limits in article 11 of the Royal Decree: €47,200 of cadastral value in flats other than the main home, after a coefficient based on the revaluation year; €14,450 of rural land per member; €1,900 of interest, dividends and gains. When there are several items their percentages are added and the limit is 100. And if family businesses turn over more than €172,000, there is no grant. The family wealth page works it out.
Academic performance
The first year of a degree needs an entry grade of 5.00, which is 0.6 times the upper secondary average plus 0.4 times the entrance exam. From year two, a share of credits enrolled must have been passed: 90% in Social Sciences and Law and in Arts and Humanities, 80% in Health Sciences and 65% in Sciences and in Engineering and Architecture. For a master's, a 5.00 entry grade and everything passed for year two. In upper secondary and VET, no repeating and every subject passed but one, or 85% of the hours. Details under academic requirements, master's and upper secondary and VET.
After the award
The grant does not end once paid. At the end of the year, a university student must have passed at least 50% of credits, or 40% in sciences and technical fields; otherwise everything except tuition is paid back. In upper secondary and VET you must attend 80% of classes and pass half, or everything is paid back. The paying back page works it out. If you receive a proposed refusal, you have 10 working days to object; the decision can be appealed for reconsideration within one month: the deadline calculator gives you the exact date.
Common questions
Tap a question to see the answer.
Is this site the Ministry of Education, or does it process the grant?
No. Cálculo Beca is an independent site: it is not the Ministry of Education and does not handle applications. It is published by Radif Partners, which awards no grants and sees no files. Applications are made only on the Ministry's e-office, and the Ministry awards the grant using tax and college data. Here we only calculate, with the rules in the Official Gazette.
Is anything I type into the simulator sent anywhere?
No. The rules of the Royal Decree and the call are inside the page itself and the calculation runs in your browser. There is no account, no contact form and no database. If you use the share link, the figures sit in the address and only whoever opens it sees them. You can try as many cases as you like without leaving a trace.
Why doesn't the simulator give the exact total grant?
Because one part, the variable amount, is shared out once the Ministry knows how much money is left after the fixed amounts, how many holders there are and the grade of the top ten per cent in each field. Those figures are not published in advance. The simulator adds up the fixed amounts, which are exact, and shows the €60 variable minimum; the variable-amount page explains the formula.
Which income should I enter in the simulator?
Family income for grant purposes for 2025: for each member who filed a return, general tax base plus savings tax base minus tax due, added together, then the deductions for large families, disability or siblings. If you do not know it, the family income calculator works it out from your parents' tax return.
Can I apply if I am a foreign national?
The call requires Spanish or EU nationality. EU citizens and their family members must be permanent residents or employed or self-employed, and non-EU nationals follow immigration law, generally with legal residence. All this as at 31 December 2025. For the tuition waiver on its own, these requirements do not apply.
Can I combine the general grant with a regional grant?
It depends on the other grant. Under article 55 of the call, top-up grants that public administrations pay from their own budgets are not incompatible, nor are Erasmus or collaboration grants. Other benefits for the same purpose are, unless their rules declare them compatible and compatibility is requested from the Directorate-General for Educational Planning and Management.
Where is the application made, and with what?
Online, using the form on the e-office of the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sport, signed with one of the electronic signature systems the e-office accepts. Under-18s are signed for by their legal representative, and the other counted members authorise the data checks with their signature (article 47). The 2026-2027 window closed in May 2026.
Rules this page is based on
- Royal Decree 179/2026 of 11 March, income and wealth thresholds and grant amounts for 2026-2027 (BOE no. 63, 12 March 2026)
- Resolution of 23 March 2026, general grant call for 2026-2027, full text (National Grants Database, BDNS 894743)
- Royal Decree 1721/2007 of 21 December, rules for personal study grants (BOE, consolidated text, last update published 12 March 2026)
- Summary of the 2026-2027 general call (BOE no. 74, 25 March 2026)
- Summary of the Resolution of 18 May 2026 extending the application window (BOE no. 122, 20 May 2026)
- Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sport: variable-amount simulator (latest year set up: 2025-2026)
- Ministry of Education e-office (application, «Mis expedientes», «Mis notificaciones»)
- BOE State Agency: legal notice and reuse conditions (standard licence of 27 June 2024)
Prepared by Radif Partners
Publisher of independent calculators on Spain's general state study grant: income and wealth thresholds, fixed amounts, academic requirements and each call's calendar
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As of 2026, figures re-read in the BOE on