Procedure 7: Adult education (EPA and free exams for ESO)

What you need to have ready

1. Cl@ve/certificado digital/DNIe to ID yourself on your CCAA sede.
2. DNI/NIE and, if required, a certificado de empadronamiento recent.
3. Certificates of prior studies (if you want exenciones) and disability documentation (if you need adaptaciones).
4. Scanner or PDFs ready, reasonable size (less than 5 MB per file usually avoids errors).

Documentation

1. Identity: DNI/NIE in force. Passport if applicable, with NIE.
2. Residence: empadronamiento if the community requires it for its convocatoria.
3. Academic: grade certificates or history to request exenciones of ámbitos.
4. NEAE/disability: report/certificate if you need adaptaciones of time or materials.
5. Contact details: working email and mobile.

Step by step

1. Find the convocatoria on the Education portal of your CCAA: search for “Educación de Personas Adultas (EPA/CEPA)” or “Pruebas libres ESO”. Official examples: Andalucía (https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/educacion/), Madrid (https://www.comunidad.madrid/servicios/educacion), Cataluña (https://educacio.gencat.cat).
2. Enter the online trámite and log in with Cl@ve/certificado. If there is no online procedure, you’ll find instructions for cita previa and in-person registro.
3. Fill the application: personal data, choose centre or exam sede, mark if you ask for exenciones or adaptaciones. Read your CCAA notes (some sort by baremo or quotas).
4. Attach the documents as PDFs: identity, empadronamiento (if needed), grade certificates for exenciones. Name files without accents/ñ and in lowercase.
5. Submit and keep the justificante of registro. If you go on paper, book a cita and hand in copies at the CEPA or registro they indicate (don’t improvise with another office, they may reject it).
6. Check provisional lists on the same page. If excluded, subsanación within the deadline (usually short). Then they publish definitive lists and llamamientos.
7. Attend the centre/exam with your DNI and the resguardo. For EPA, if you get a place, complete the matrícula on the dates indicated or you lose it.

Tricks that save you time

1. Use Chrome or Firefox for the sede and keep PDFs <5 MB. Many sites choke on big files.
2. Scan in black and white unless colour is explicitly required. Lower DPI to shrink files.
3. If you plan to request exenciones, get the certificates before the convocatoria opens.
4. Turn on alerts for your CCAA portal or check the page daily during publication windows (lists and llamamientos appear suddenly).
5. Save your justificante and the PDFs in a dated folder. They may ask for them at matrícula or on exam day.

Common mistakes that can derail the procedure

1. Leaving it to the last day: the sede crashes and you miss out.
2. Uploading wrong documents: unsigned/unstamped or expired certificates; they exclude you and there’s no miracle.
3. Not checking provisional lists: you miss the subsanación and lose your place/exam.
4. Picking the wrong centre/sede: changing it later is almost impossible.
5. Missing matrícula or the exam: it counts as renunciation; wait for the next convocatoria.