How do schools work in Spain?

Spanish children start free infant school at 3 and compulsory school at 6, and the school year runs from September to June. You choose between free state schools, state-funded concertada schools and fee-paying private and British schools.

How the system is organised

Each region runs its own schools within national law, so calendars, admissions and languages differ. The school year starts in September and ends in June, with at least 175 teaching days for compulsory stages. Children are placed by age, so a child arriving from the UK may be a year ahead of or behind their English year group.

Types of school

British and international schools

Many British schools in Spain teach the English National Curriculum to IGCSE and A level or the IB. Two associations help you find inspected schools:

• NABSS (National Association of British Schools in Spain) has more than 80 member schools across Spain, founded in 1978. Members are authorised after inspection, and NABSS runs its own inspection service
• COBIS (Council of British International Schools) represents more than 400 schools and organisations worldwide, with 350 member schools in more than 80 countries

Typical fees, used in our cost calculator:

A national fee guide (January 2026) puts primary fees at roughly €6,000–11,000 a year at the budget end, €12,000–18,000 mid-range and €20,000–28,000 or more at the top, with secondary and exam years higher. Expect extras too: one-off registration fees (often €500–2,000), exam board fees, and English or learning support (often €2,000–6,000 a year). Ask each school for its full fee schedule, and ask your employer whether it will help.

Getting a place at a state or concertada school

Places are allocated once a year. When a school has more applicants than places, the law puts siblings at the school, living or working near the school, and family income first, with extra points for things like large families. You prove your address with the town hall register (padrón), so register as soon as you have a home. See NIE, TIE and padrón.

If you arrive outside the window, contact the regional education department: a child of compulsory school age is given a place according to age. Popular schools may be full, so you may not get your first choice.

Co-official languages

• Catalonia: Catalan is normally the language of instruction in state and concertada schools, with Spanish and a foreign language also taught. Courts have ordered a minimum share of teaching in Spanish, and this is still disputed. Newly arrived pupils can get intensive Catalan support in a welcome class (aula d’acollida), for up to 12 hours a week, while staying in their normal class
• Valencia region (including Alicante and the Costa Blanca): under Ley 1/2024, parents choose a base language, Valencian or Spanish, from infant school to Bachillerato. A child arriving from another education system can ask to be exempt from being graded in Valencian in the year they arrive and the following year
• Balearic Islands: Catalan is the main teaching language in state schools. A voluntary pilot lets some schools offer a choice of language for basic subjects
• Madrid and Andalusia (Málaga): Spanish is the only official language, so teaching is in Spanish

Recognising UK schooling (homologación)

According to Spain’s Ministry of Education, you don’t need to recognise UK studies for a child joining any year up to 4º ESO (age 15 to 16): they get a place by age. From Bachillerato (age 16) on, it is needed: a UK qualification must be recognised as equivalent to the Spanish Graduado en ESO or Bachiller (homologación), or UK studies as equivalent to 1º Bachillerato to join the second year (convalidación). An A level can’t be recognised as a specific Bachillerato track; it gets an overall grade. Documents need a Hague apostille. You can register the paperwork at the Ministry’s office in London or the Spanish consulates in Manchester and Edinburgh.