Schools In Spain - Options For Education

So many people ask us about the kids education in Spain and it is never easy to answer. You see we can’t speak for all of the schools in Spain, we can only share with you our experience. We are certain that everyone has different experiences depending on location, type of school and the biggest variable, the students attending.

We are often asked about schools in Spain and sometimes in neighboring France as well. You will need to do your research, but we will do our best to share some of the information with you and some additional resources too.

Currently the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte or MECD) has overall responsibility for education in Spain but the 17 autonomous regions make most of the decisions regarding their own education systems.

School in Spain – Schedules

The school calendar and daily schedules vary based on Autonomous Community, with a few subtle differences in holiday time at the Province and even local city level.

School Calendar

Typically the school year is from the 2nd week in September through the 3rd week in June. You may give or take a week depending on where the school is located and the type of school.

School hours in Spain

There isn’t one standard across the country, so you will need to do your research based on the area you would like to live. Alternatively, you may choose to live in an area because of the school schedule they follow. Some schools have 1 continuous session during the day and others have 2 sessions, where the kids go home for a 2-3 hours in the middle of the day.

School hours in Spain for primary grade levels:
1. From 9am – 2pm, with option for comedor
  (lunch and supervised play 2pm – 4pm)
2. From 9am – 12pm and 3pm – 5pm with option for comedor
  (lunch and supervised play 12pm – 3pm), the “break hours” may vary slightly in your area.
3. Lunch is usually at home from 2pm – 4pm, so the break at school for 30 minute recess snack.
4. International school is often a full day, from 9:45am – 5pm
School hours in Spain for secondary grade levels:
1. From 8:15am – 2:50pm (some schools offer afternoon or night options)
2. International school is often a full day, from 9:45am – 5pm

For us, it was important not to have to run the kids back and forth to school multiple times during the day. We wanted the schedule with just one session. We will share with you the details of our experiences in the very Spanish coastal town of Almuñécar.

Our experience with Public School in Spain

Autonomous Community – Andalucia
Province – Granada
Municipality – Almuñécar

Primary School

Hours 9am – 2pm, with 30 min recess at 11:15am
Schedule – One subject is covered every 45 minutes through out the day. Typically Math and Language are daily and other subjects rotate. (Music, Art, Science, Social Studies, Physical Education, Religion, English)
Before school care 7am – 9am, for a fee
Afterschool – Comedor 2pm – 4pm, for a fee with lunch
Activities – there are many after school activities offered usually from 4pm – 6pm

Secondary School

Standard Hours 8:15am – 2:50pm,
with 2 breaks 10:15am – 10:35 and 12:35pm – 12:50pm
The school operates until 9:00pm, for those who require an alternate schedule (typically older students who work)
Schedule – One subject is covered every 60 minutes through out the day. Typically Math and Language are daily and other subjects rotate. (Music, Art, Science, Social Studies, Physical Education, Religion, English)
Activities – there are many after school activities offered usually from 4pm – 6pm

Spanish School Vocabulary

Comedor – It’s typically lunch and supervised play for 2 hours. This is an additional fee and there are options for financial assistance. In our school this was 4.50€ per day per child. Our school did not have a full kitchen, so meals were catered in each day.
Recreo – Recess! Who doesn’t love recess? Well, they usually just receive about 30 minutes and this includes anytime they want to take to eat a snack or have a drink. Depending on the school facilities and AMPA (Parents association, like PTA), they may or may not sell food items. Typically kids bring a snack and drink from home.

Spanish Education System

Attendance is compulsory from ages 3-16, so they don’t really understand or acknowledge the concept of homeschool. If your children are living in Spain, it is expected they will be enrolled in school. We do however know many people who are residing in Spain and are not registered with the school. This can be accomplished depending on your citizenship, visa option and/or the luck you have at your foreigners office.

If you are a non-EU citizen and are here on a visa, you will need to register at the foreigners office. They usually request to see the enrollment papers for school when you apply for the child’s NIE (National Identity Extranjeros – Foreigners ID Card), but we have renewed 2 times now and were only asked to show them once. It all depends on who is behind that desk and how closely they follow the rules.

As far as attending school, there are a few options to choose from.

Types of Schools in Spain

Colegios públicos – State-funded public schools.
Colegios concertados – State-funded private schools, there may be fees you need to pay in some locations as it is not fully funded.
Colegios privados – Private schools. Since some private schools are publicly funded, the line between public and private is blurred. It is common for these to be Catholic schools.
International Schools in Spain – I guess this would fall into the private schools in Spain, but they are usually with a curriculum from another country, most often an English-speaking country (British, American or Australian). The International School in our town is a British curriculum. The international schools do tend to have more hands on experiences, supplies and more organized activities.

Acronyms used for various schools in Spain

CEIP – (Colegio de Educación Infantil y Primaria) Primary School
- Infantil – preschool ages 3-5
- Primary School preschool – grades 1- 6
IES – (Instituto de Educación Secundaria) Secondary School grades 7-10. It is also known as ESO – (Educación Segundaria Obligatoria), Second Obligatory Education.
Once a Spanish student graduates from ESO, students have three different choices:
1. Bachillerato – Grades 11-12, Junior and Senior year in high school, but it isn’t mandatory. It’s intended for college prep. Students who successfully complete the requirements of the Spanish high school Baccalaureate will receive a diploma. They may then opt for vocational training, a university education, or in some cases both. In order to continue on to the university they must take an entrance exam (Prueba de Acceso a la Universidad – PAU). The test results together with the student’s academic record and grades will determine not only access to the university but also which degrees the student can pursue.
2. Vocational/Professional training (Electrician, hairdresser, etc.)
3. Enter the work force

More resources for Expat Education in Spain and beyond

More about our experiences with schools in Spain & Spanish Education System

We have found that the education is quite different in Spain compared to the one school we attended in North Carolina. We find that the classrooms are extremely basic here in Spain and there just isn’t much funding in the way of supplies and hands-on materials for the kids. Sometimes it does feel like we are stepping back in time with all lecture based classes with loads of memorization and homework. I am not sure if this is for all public schools or just ours. For us, the priority was for the kids to be immersed in Spanish and have a social outlet.

The school grounds are very basic with a blacktop/cement play area and possible a basketball hoop or fútbol goal posts. There aren’t usually many playgrounds or supplies on campus at our school. That said, they do walk to many of their field trips and they do sometimes go to the community pool or to the beach for the Physical Education class. So they do use the environment around to meet the needs rather than having it on the school grounds.

The kids are getting the basics for sure, but their schools are small and don’t really have the staff or funding to cater to special needs or gifted. The entire class is taught at one level and there isn’t too much of special attention to allow students to work at different levels. This may be different in larger schools or larger cities, but it isn’t the case at our schools.

All of that said, the kids are each excelling and absolutely love their schools. They are very happy and well-rounded and don’t really remember much from the USA to compare schools. Both of our kids are curious and tend to be ahead of the game in many areas, so we do continue to supplement their education at home. Here are some of the things we did when we were homeschooling and much of it still applies while attending public school.

Now that we are staying in Spain longer than the intended 1-2 year immersion, we are looking at other educational options for the future. Both of our kids will be university bound and we need to investigate the options we have for them. If we are still in Spain, it may be that we send our kids to private or international schools for their last 2 years of high school. Who knows what we will do, but we are starting to investigate options.

We do know that the University systems in Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands are excellent and low-cost compared to the USA. So we are researching many options and will keep you posted as we progress.

If you are at all concerned about the education, grades and having something like “home”, then you may want to look into the international school options. They aren’t located everywhere, so if this is your choice it may dictate where you should reside as well.

We are now in the process of researching universities in Spain and Europe. We will document what we find along the way. For now here is what we have for you to study in Spain in English or Spanish for your degree.

If you would like more information about moving to Spain, we have plenty to share. We also offer consulting services to help answer your questions.

If you are a non-EU citizen and would like to know more information about obtaining a long-term resident visa, we can help you with that as well. Read Live In Spain!

Well there you have it. I am sure there are still more questions which need to be answered, but this should be a good starting point for you. Do you have any other questions about schools in Spain or education?

If you have any personal experience with schools in Spain you would like to share, please do so in the comments below. Let us know the type of school, age of your kids (at the time) and location within Spain. Thanks!

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