There is one very common expectation, and it causes almost every call we get on this subject: that the sworn translation of a transcript will arrive with the average already converted to the Spanish 0–10. It will not, and that is not an oversight. That calculation simply is not a translator's to make.
This guide sorts out who does what: which documents you gather, what the translation carries across, and where the number actually comes from.
What grade average equivalence is, and when you are asked for it
The declaration of grade average equivalence is a procedure run by the Spanish ministry responsible for universities, by which an average grade obtained abroad is expressed on the Spanish 0–10 scale. It is applied for online and carries a fee.
It appears whenever a call for applications needs to compare academic records against each other: scholarships, admission to studies, employment pools, selection processes. The body cannot rank candidates while mixing an Italian 30, a British 2:1 and a Spanish 8.4, so it requires everyone to arrive on the same scale.
Two neighbouring procedures are worth keeping apart from it:
- Homologación recognises your foreign degree against one specific Spanish qualification. Different procedure, different effects. We cover it in translations for degree recognition.
- Equivalence of academic level places your qualification at a level of the Spanish system, without equating it to a particular degree.
None of the three replaces the others. Some calls ask only for the grade average, and plenty of people have their degree recognised only to find they still need the grade equivalence to apply for a scholarship. Read what your specific call asks for before starting any procedure.
What information to gather
The procedure is resolved on the basis of what your transcript says, so what matters is that the transcript says all of it. Before you start, check that you have:
- The complete academic transcript, with every subject and every mark. Complete includes the reverse sides: many transcripts have the grading legend printed on the back.
- The original grading scale, as explained by the issuing university: what counts as a pass, what the maximum is, and what the wording means.
- Credits or study load for each subject, if the home system records them. A weighted average needs the weights.
- The current instructions for the procedure, downloaded on the day you file and not months earlier.
That third line is the one most often missing. If your transcript does not show the load of each subject, ask your university for it before translating anything: adding it afterwards means a new document and therefore a new translation.
What the translation carries across, and what it does not
This is the boundary worth being clear about, because it explains why the translation does not hand you a Spanish number:
| Transcript detail | Where to find it | Who interprets it |
|---|---|---|
| Mark for each subject | Body of the transcript | Nobody: it is carried across as is |
| Wording of the grade | Next to the mark, or in the legend | The wording is translated, not equated |
| Scale and pass mark | Legend, usually on the back | The original explanation is carried across |
| Credits or study load | Its own column, where it exists | The figures are carried across |
| Average on the Spanish scale | Not in the transcript at all | The Ministry's procedure |
A sworn translation of your academic transcript reproduces the first four rows faithfully. The fifth is not translated because it does not exist in the original: it is produced by the official procedure.
An example of why this is not a technicality. A British transcript may grade the degree as a whole with a classification — First, Upper Second — which is not a number. An Italian one may mark out of 30. A Dutch one may mark out of 10, but with the pass threshold at a different point on the scale, so that a 6 does not mean what a Spanish 6 means. A translator "converting" any of the three would be inventing. What a translator does instead is make the document say exactly what it says, so that whoever holds the competence can apply their own criteria.
If your university issues a Diploma Supplement, include it: it describes the home grading system in more detail than an ordinary transcript. What it adds and what it does not, in the academic information in the Diploma Supplement.
Who does which part
Split up, the work looks like this:
You gather the complete originals, check what the call requires, file the application and pay the fee.
The sworn translator renders the content of the transcript into Spanish — marks, wording, scales, credits — and stands behind that fidelity with a signature and a stamp.
The Ministry applies its own conversion criteria and issues the declaration with the mark on the Spanish scale.
Which yields one practical piece of advice: if someone offers you a translation "with the grade average already calculated on the Spanish scale", be wary. Either they are calculating something that is not theirs to calculate, or they are copying a number from somewhere. Neither of those is a sworn translation.
A last pass before you file
Put the translation and the original side by side. This is where problems usually show up:
- Your name, exactly as it appears on the identity document you are applying with. One initial too many or a second surname missing is enough to trigger a request to correct it.
- The academic periods: years, semesters, start and end dates.
- Every subject, including credited, recognised and non-numerically graded ones.
- Reverse sides and legends. If the original has text on the back, the translation must carry it.
- Consistency of the figures between translation and transcript: if the original says 240 credits, the translation says 240.
Send us the complete transcript — reverse sides included — the body it is going to and your deadline, and we will give you the exact price and turnaround.