Schools in Spain


Schools in Spain, public and private schools, take a look at both options to see which type of Spanish school would suit your child. There is the public ( free ) schools in Spain and the private which offer either a Spanish curriculum or if looking at an International private school, this would be following the English national curriculum. Private school fees vary from region to region. They can be from £2000 per term to £5500 per term. Secondary education being more expensive than primary education. If you have a child of secondary school age, that has never been in the Spanish educational system and cannot speak any Spanish then you should seriously consider an International fee paying school to allow them to have the best chance of educational success.
Children from 3 to 5 years old in Spain have the option of attending the Pre-school stage (infantil or popularly known as preescolar), this is not compulsory as school age being at six in Spain. It is also It is regarded as an integral part of the education system with infants’ classes at almost every primary school. There are some separate nursery schools (Colegios Infantiles).

Children (whose parents chose that they should) enter pre-school (Educación Infantil) in the autumn of the calendar year in which they turn three years old. Spanish students aged 6 to 15 undergo primary (colegio) and secondary school (instituto) education, which are compulsory and are free of charge. Where your children will go to school will depend on how close they live to the school. Successful students are awarded a Secondary Education Certificate, which is necessary to enter the post-compulsory stage of Schooling (principally the Bachillerato) for their University or Vocational (Formacion Professional) Studies. Once students have finished their Bachillerato, they can take their University Entrance Exam (Pruebas de Acceso a la Universidad, popularly called Selectividad) which differs greatly from region to region.

Below are some points on how to register you child into a Spanish state school.
Registering for a state school in Spain

If you are planning to educate you child via the Spanish state system there are a few things that you need to do in order to register your child with a Spanish state school. This is what our friends did.
Their first visit was to the Culture House where a form was collected in order to initially register the children. Ensure that you take with you, your passport, the child’s passport and proof of your address such as a rental contract.Take your completed form to the Town Hall, Estadistica Office. There will be a small fee to pay per child. The next day return to the Town Hall to collect the stamped forms.
Take the forms back to the Culture House where they keep the forms and give you a list of your nearest schools. As in the UK there is a catchment area. You apply for a place at your nearest school. At any point you may find a translation service valuable. At the school take with you a copy of your child’s birth certificate, a copy of their passport, copies of your passports, copies of any immunisations and 2 current photographs of your child, plus the filled in application form.
The school will then give you a list of the required text books and equipment that you will need to purchase for your child. The school will not provide these, you will frequently need to order them from a bookshop and if they don’t arrive on time, phone the bookshop. Do not expect them to contact you. Books can be obtained sometimes from the department store El Corte Ingles, Bookworld Espana is very helpful and in all the towns there are bookshops that will be able to help you. There may be a school uniform but it is not compulsory in the state system. The school day will be shorter than it is in the UK.