The Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), is the only state-run Spanish distance-learning university, with headquarters in Madrid, Spain. It the largest university in Spain with more than 180,000 students. UNED was founded in 1972 following the idea of the UK's Open University to provide quality higher and continuing education opportunities to all through a distance education system. It awards the same qualifications as other Spanish universities, and has the same entry requirements. This implies that it is not 'Open': Even if the study is at distance, admissions are as strict as for 'on-site' education, and exams are supervised like in the rest of Spanish universities. However, some special features of UNED make it different from most other Spanish universities: It is nationwide in scope, applies the most advanced teaching technologies, and has a wide social influence with radio and TV programming. UNED’s mission is to be present as a centre of excellence throughout the world. UNED currently has 60 study centres in Spain and 20 abroad, thanks to the cooperation of local institutions. These centres provide face-to-face sessions with professors once a week.