The UPC postpones the launch of the new medical degree

BarcelonaA twist at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC). After it was announced a year and a half ago that The UPC will launch a faculty and a degree in medicine next year., now the university has taken a step back and wants more time to launch these studies. As has been advanced The Country And the ARA has confirmed that the UPC has decided to postpone the launch of the degree in medicine until at least the 2027-2028 academic year.

According to sources at the UPC, after receiving recommendations from the Agency for the Quality of the University System of Catalonia (AQU) regarding the proposal, the governing team – which took office last June – considered that it was better to "delay" the start of these studies "not until next academic year, the next one." The AQU confirms that the UPC began the verification process to teach the medical degree, but that before completing the process the university stopped it.

For a Catalan university to receive the green light to launch a new degree, the proposal must go through an evaluation process. Broadly speaking, to open a new degree, the university must submit its proposal to the Ministry of Universities, which is the one who requests the AQU to prepare a report. AQU sends a preliminary document to the university with observations and recommendations and the university can present allegations before the agency issues its final report, giving the green light or not to the proposal for this new qualification. Furthermore, before being able to offer new courses, the university must receive verification of the qualification from the University Council, which reports to the ministry.

50 places

In April of last year, the former rector of the UPC, Daniel Crespo, announced, together with the mayor of Terrassa, Jordi Ballart, the intention to create a Faculty of Medicine, which would be launched in the 2026-2027 academic year and would have the Terrassa University Hospital as its reference center. The plan was for the programs to initially have 50 places and for the first graduates to graduate from the faculty in June 2032.

On the same day of the announcement, government sources admitted to ARA that they were still waiting to hear the details of the proposal and described the announcement as a "declaration of." In fact, the same sources warned that the deadline for having it ready [the 2026-2027 academic year] could be longer than initially stated.

Now, with the AQU procedure halted, we'll have to see what new timeframes the rector's new team will set for launching medical studies at the UPC and whether classes will finally begin in the 2027-2028 academic year or later.