How Does Education Work in Spain?

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I am in many groups on facebook that revolve around living in and moving to Spain. More and more frequently, I am being contacted directly about this topic, and seeing questions posted from parents that revolve around moving to Spain with kids. The number one concern is the education of their children. There are many issues, from language of instruction, english levels of Spanish schools, teaching/learning styles, etcetera. Spain has recently undergone some changes to their education system, which are still being implemented on a progressive basis. I am sharing a link below, that goes directly to the source. You may need a browser plug-in to translate.

A link to explain the recent changes to education in Spain: https://educagob.educacionfpydeportes.gob.es/lomloe/ley.html

We have two kids, one of which is in the obligatory school aged category, which is 6-16 years old, so I will chat a bit here about our experience with his education in Spain.

I have previously discussed this on a youtube video, but it is a few years old, and life has changed quite a bit since then, especially where education in Spain is concerned. We moved to Spain as home educators, and breaking that system down in our family has been a major undertaking for many reasons.

The TLDR version is that our oldest is now enrolled in school full time and enjoys it. Our youngest does not attend very regularly yet, but he does go. For more details, read on..

First of all, I will start with the basics:

School is required to be in-person and home education is not regulated.

In other words, it’s not legal or illegal, but they can make you put your child in school, so to me that means it is illegal. If you come to live in Spain on a residency visa, it is very complicated to not enroll your kids in school. This is because you have to show proof of registration when you go to renew your residency…so at least every X number of years, your child(ren) will have to be in a registered school. Obviously popping them in and out of school for visa reasons is unstable and stressful for most kids, so in good faith, I can’t recommend doing that.

In-person school is required for all minors aged 6-16 years of age.

Before and after, you can educate them however you please. School is not obligatory before 6 years old, however it is culturally accepted and expected to send children to school before 6 years of age. Most children in Spain, who come from Spanish family, will start school at 3 years of age. This is traditional, but it also serves a purpose. In Spain, the kindergarten level is three years long, with each year building onto the next. Kids go to school starting at 3 with year one of kindergarten, and then they finish at 5 with year three of kindergarten. This final year is the equivalent of what we call kindergarten in the United States. I am not going to get into the levels from the British system, because mixing the three systems makes it incredibly confusing.

All of this being said, up to this point, we have not sent our 4 year old to school on a very regular basis. He has been enrolled in school, but has not gone daily for most weeks. He normally goes 2-4 days a week. I will tell you that the teachers do not like it, and some are vocal about that and will give you a little attitude about it (or a lot of attitude about it). They have an ingrained belief system about school here, and it is just something that you have to accept or fall in line with. We have chosen to accept their views, but to still live within our own personal boundaries in regards to education for our child who is under 6 years old. He will continue going to school, to prepare him for the compulsory years, but for as long as it is not required, we will not force it on him. It is our inherit belief that children belong at home with their families being their primary caretakers and their source of education.

There are 3 categories of schools in Spain:

Public, private, & concertados…now what does all of this mean?

Full disclosure: I am not an expert on education or schools in Spain. This is only my experience and what we have learned since living here. I am not clueless on the topic, but neither do I know everything there is to know. If I get some facts wrong, please forgive me. You can kindly send me a message and I will consider an edit based on your remarks.

Public schools are quite similar to public schools in the United States, as far as funding goes.

There is no outside sponsor for the school. They are funded by the government. The schools are no longer allowed to have religious objects within the building (as far as I understand it), religious classes are still offered at some public schools, but only as an option, they are no longer required. Civics is offered as well, and may be the only option. My son has gone to a public school where they had the options of civics and then various religious class from a few different belief systems. Not every school has this option. Your experience will vary based on which region you are in and what that autonomous region requires of the public schools. Fees vary, but primarily you may lunch fees, before or after school care, school supplies, and books. There is some funding available to help with some of the expenses, which is need based.

Private schools are exactly as you would expect- privately funded.

They follow their own schedules, which may be similar to public schools, but not exact. For example, they may have a longer “semana santa” than public schools, they may have an extra day off here or there, they may attend schoolon a day that the public schools are out, they may have a slightly different end date than the public schools do. The hours and offerings are different, and they don’t necessarily have the best options for certain things, like services for neurodiversity, for example. Their fees may include all of the same fees as public schools, with the addition of a tuition fee, and possibly a daily uniform fee. In our experience, we did not have to buy many school supplies for the private schools. The tuition and/or materials fee that we had to pay covered those expenses, and the school took care of obtaining them and supplying them.

Concertados are a mix between public and private schools.

They are basically like charter schools in the United States. Concertados are semi-private schools that receive funding from both the government and private sources. Frequently, funding comes for a catholic church source. This may be an actual church, or it may be an organization which is part of the catholic church, but not the actual church. In this case, you will find a lot of religious things happening in these types of schools. They may have mass, they may celebrate catholic holidays, they will have statues and religious objects within the schools. This includes objects in the classrooms, where students may be taught to pray certain prayers or partake in the religious activities of the school.

Not all concertados are sponsored by a catholic organization. I know of a couple which a sponsored by protestant organizations, and I know of one which is Hebrew. These schools include the corresponding classes and activities of their sponsors. Once in a while, you can find a rare exception of a secular concertado, which is not sponsored by any religious organization and does not include any religious instruction, but it is a difficult feat to accomplish.

As far as uniforms go in concertados, they don’t all require a daily uniform, but some do. In these schools, the students where the daily uniform on any day that they don’t have PE. On PE days, they wear the PE uniform. The style of the daily uniform varies by school. The more religious schools will have more traditional/strict uniforms, while the more secular schools will possibly have more relaxed uniforms, or none at all.

Fees will include all of the same fees as the public schools, with the addition of possible uniform costs, a small monthly fee and a materials fee. A note on the monthly fee: legally it is referred to be a voluntary fee. Education is supposed to be free in Spain. Since concertados receive some public funding, they can not require a monthly payment, so they will likely give you the form to fill out for the payment, but there will be an option there for you to choose not to make a payment.

I am updating this post to add a bit of critical information that I have learned about the differences in concertados and public schools in Spain, that I think is very important to know.

Concertados will often refer to a “project” that they have, which I have always found curious, as we do not use that term in the United States. I have seen others ask about this terminology as well.

I have been told by a Spaniard that concertados have teachers who are required to fit the model of the concertado, whereas public schools do not have this same attribute. In public schools, the teachers teach and manage the classroom however they want, without much restriction from the school.

However, in concertados, if they do not work in the way the school is set up, or in other words, if they do not abide by the boundaries of the “project”, or if they get enough complaints from parents, they can be terminated.

THIS IS A HUGE difference in these two types of schools, and in my opinion is a reason to chose a concertado over a public school, if you can.

There are two different types of school schedules: Continua y partido?

Schools in Spain come in two different styles. On one hand you have schools that go all day long- 9 to 5pm. They have lunch in the middle of the day, and you have the option to pick up your child from school during this time for anywhere from 2 to 3.5 hours. The length of time varies by school. (I am saying that a lot in this post, but there is little that is consistent in Spain). On the other hand, you have schools that have a shorter day and go from 9 to 2pm, serving lunch from 2-4pm. Students can go home for the day at 2pm or they can eat at school, and then go home. In both cases, there are hours before and after school for those who need to go extra early or stay late. Extracurriculars are done after school for those schools that have shorter class days (9-2pm), whereas the 9-5pm schools will offer extracurriculars after lunch, in the middle of the day, and after school gets out.

Schools registration is done on a points based system.

Here is where things get a bit complicated, and to be honest, it is the first huge learning curve for adapting to the school culture in Spain. In the United States, if you find a school you like, you will usually prioritize living near it. In Spain, things don’t work like that. You might find a school you like, but living nearby does not automatically mean you will get into that school.

There is a points-based application system, where you earn points based on various things, such as, family size, income, proximity of your home or work to the school, whether or not siblings are currently enrolled in the school, whether or not there are documented (within the spanish system) disabilities (like autism, adhd, deafness, etc) <insert new idea for blog post here, because I can’t dive into this topic right now>. In short, you will have to find a home, get a padron, then apply to schools during or after the application period. The regular application period varies slightly be region, but it is generally in or around February-April of each year. This is the time when parents apply for their children to attend a list of schools that they have chosen. Generally, you will want to fill out the form online. To do this, you will need a digital certificate. Within the form, you will collect points based on your answers. At some point, you will be asked to list your preferred schools in order. You should have a list of at least 5 schools pre-selected in advance. Open house season is before the registration period, so if you are already living in Spain, you will have the opportunity to visit any school you are interested in during Open House season. If you aren’t, then you can try to do this virtually. Some regions will allow you to list more than 5 schools on your form.

Essentially, you fill in the form, submit it by the deadline, then wait for some set time period, and then you will be electronically notified of whether or not you got into the school of your first choice. If you did not, then you will wait a little longer to find out if you got into your second choice school, or some other school on your list, or no school from your list at all. Sometimes, all of the spots are filled, and then they will place your children in a school that has an opening, which may or may not be easily accessible from your home. If you have more than one child, there is no guarantee that they will get placed together in the same school.

Importantly, when you move to Spain during the summer, you will be stuck with doing late registration. At this point, many/most seats are filled in the schools, and your process will vary depending on region, but the instructions should be online on the education website for your autonomous region. For example, in Madrid, you take the forms to the schools near you and if they have a spot, they will put you in it. On the other hand, in Zaragoza, you go to the education center or you apply online via the link for late registration, and then you will be notified of where your kids can go.

Yes, it is confusing, so if you are thinking that right about now, you are correct. There are people who you can pay to help you. I am not one of those. I have simply read a lot on the websites of where we have lived and I have learned through “trial by fire” and have just figured it all out as I have gone on. Thank you google translate, it has helped me survive many different mountains in Spain. If you don’t have it downloaded onto your chrome browser by now, then you should definitely do that.

AMPA: Asociación de Madres y Padres

Within the schools is a parent-teacher association.

I don’t actually know how often teachers participate. I am choosing to refer to it as a parent-teacher association because it is the most similar term I can come up with from the United States. This group can have different names. The name AMPA comes from our experience in Madrid, however different regions or maybe even schools will have alternative names for it. Either way, the activities are generally the same. A significant responsibility of AMPA is to organize field trips. This is a big differences from the United States, where teachers typically organize field trips. In this case, as a parent, you have to pay to be a member of the organization. This gives two benefits, and maybe some more, depending on where you are and what is being organized. For one, you can attend the organizations meetings and participate in debate, conversation, and voting. It obviously gives you come insight into the inner workings of the school. Secondly, your payment will go towards field trips for your kids, and other extra activities that the school may do.

For example, maybe a special group comes to the school and does a performance for the students. If you are a paying member of AMPA, you will not have to pay extra for this. On the other hand, if you are not a member, then you will be asked to a pay a few dollars for your child to participate in the event. The same thing goes for field trips. The fees are not difficult to pay, so long as you have the means to pay them. AMPA and their field trip fees can be a topic of debate among Spanish parents. In my opinion, joining the organization keeps things simple for us. It also gets us into the whatsapp group (like we need more of those), and obviously it connects you with the bigger picture of what’s going on at the school.

Home Education in Spain

I would be remiss if I did not bring up this topic in this post. I am well informed on what is going on within the scope of homeschooling in Spain, and unfortunately, the picture is not pretty for home educators. It is virtually impossible to home school as a resident who requires constant renewal of residency with immigration. As for Spanish citizens or citizens of other European countries, who choose to come live in Spain, there are more possibilities. However, that does not mean it is a smooth road.

Essentially, anyone who can possibly get by with homeschooling is doing so by trying to stay “under the radar”. There are not many/any strong homeschooling communities in Spain. There is a lot of secrecy and hiding. People will stay in their homes until 2-3pm every day to hide their kids from the local community. Neighbors turn in neighbors for not sending their kids to school. Social services can pay you a visit if they receive a complaint from someone about kids being home during the day. It is a very tense situation. It is not impossible, but you also have to be prepared to give in if social services comes knocking, and enroll your kids in a school, OR you have to be prepared to prove your case, and possibly fight it in court. As part of that, you could have your kids removed from your care and placed with someone else. The picture is not pretty at all, and as a foreigner, it is downright scary! These things are not possibilities where I come from, so it is a completely destructive picture in my opinion. The stress of the whole situation basically means that if you move to Spain, you need to be prepared to send your kids to school. If you want to learn more or join a support group for home education in Spain, you can visit this website to see the best of what is offered here. On educacion libre dot org (click the image below), you can find a paid support group, where you can browse the forum and read about the different experiences of families who home educate in Spain, and get a good idea of what it is like to do that here. On this site, you can also find references to the laws in spain, and the arguments about why or why not homeschooling is allowed or not allowed ;).

I will now discuss the things that I have seen are a benefit to my kids from being in school in Spain.

While it was not easy for us to transition from home education to attending school in Spain, I can say with 100% certainty at this time, that it has been incredibly beneficial. Our first experience with education in Spain was a with a private Montessori school, which was not a good experience. Next, we utilized a hybrid democratic school, which was fine for its purpose, but they lost their registration, and so we could no longer use that school. Thirdly, my son attended a private British school- all in English with French and Spanish classes. This school was fine for what it was, but there were two “problems”.

1) He wasn’t learning Spanish. Everyone said he would learn at PE and lunch, but that did not happen and

2) He wasn’t academically challenged. Since he had been home educated, his education was quite superior and advanced compared to what he was receiving at this school. It was not a bad school, but he was academically above every subject they offered. The combination of not learning anything, having repetitive homework (which was too much and mindless), plus not learning spanish from attending school, led us to make a major switch and to pull him from that school and to place him in a concertado. The concertado was then walking distance from our home. They had a split schedule, so that the kids could leave for lunch, if the families chose it. The school was also completely in Spanish. While the school was not perfect, my son’s Spanish EXPLODED at this school. Within months he was seemingly fluent in the language on a conversational basis. It wasn’t like his spanish was perfect, but he was able to go into a totally public school at the end of that same school year, and he was 100% accepted as any other student, since he was speaking spanish very well. He immediately integrated into this public school environment, whereas his integration at the concertado was not so immediate (to say the least, it was very difficult).

This spanish concertado that he spent a few months at during his first full year of going to school full time in spain, was a hard transition. Learning the culture of the school, the breaks in the middle of the day, the language of instruction, the different way of teaching/doing/learning math, was all very challenging. Many families end up hiring tutors for their kids during the first year of spanish education. In our case, we did not do this because I was able to break down all of his subjects into english, teach him at home, and then rebuild the content back into spanish. He struggled in the first term, but was still successful with his classes. Same goes for the second term, where he really started to flourish in all subjects, except for Lengua (that is the name for the subject of Language Arts in Spanish). This particular school offered some help with language/culture classes, however since he was late in enrolling at the school, there were no formal spots open. Upon my advocation, he was given some space on a regular basis within the class, but I had to pressure administration to do this- and that has been the norm for us here. We must fight for what is best for our kids, regardless of language, country, or culture.

Ultimately, the two problems from the British school were solved at the concertado: he was academically challenged and he learned Spanish. Furthermore, he had a more fulfilling experience with the spanish school. He was involved in more cultural activities, he joined the school futbol team, he was provided with a sense of community there that he did not have at the other schools. His adaptation to Spain really made a big jump by attending this school.

Have questions? Please ask. I have tried to cover many related topics in this post, but I am sure there is more that I can add. Feel free to message me on IG.

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