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There are three types of school on the Island: local Spanish, Private English, and Private International.

Local Spanish schools teach in Spanish, and qualifications obtained enable kids to go on to university, technical education and training on the Island or on the mainland. The children will take English as a secondary languages. To be offered a state school place, you need to prove you live in the local area (by showing your Empadronamiento certificate which is only available with Residencia). There are some forms to fill in and paperwork that the school will want to have copies of (passports, medical records (especially vaccination records), passport photos, and birth certificates). They will also ask for your previous year’s tax return, but if you are new to the island you won’t have one, so they will accept your children and wait for this to be supplied later. You may need to supply a certificate from the Island Tax Office stating you haven’t earned on the island in the previous year. They will also usually wait for your social security number as you need to have a job with a contract to get one or register as self employed to have one. If your local school has no places in your child’s year, then you will be offered a place at the next nearest school with space. Most of the local schools do not require a uniform, but some have an optional one. Text and exercise books are expected to be purchased by the parents at the beginning of each school year (September). The hours of local schools are typically Primary 9 – 1 & Secondary 8 – 2. The pupils take a snack for the morning break, and lunch is eaten at home. If you live more than 3Km from the nearest school your child is entitled to a free place on the school bus (subject to availability) which has certain pick up and drop off points in the area.

The private option costs approximately 4000€ per annum per child dependant on age. The private English school options are:

The British school of Lanzarote (Tahiche)
This is predominantly Spanish pupils having an English education. The school is small as well as the class sizes and teaching is personally geared towards each pupil. There is a school uniform at this school.

Colegio Hispano Britanico (Puerto del Carmen)
This is mainly English pupils getting an English education. The standard is quite high and aimed at getting pupils into higher (University) education. It is a large school. There is no uniform. The school is quite focussed on sport and has several teams that complete with other schools around the Canaries.

The private International school options are:

Centro Educacional Daos (Matagorda)
This is a trilingual school (English, Spanish and German). It has a uniform. It opened in 2007. It has a different approach to the other schools in that the teachers rotate, and the children stay in the same classroom, the lessons are taught in a rotation of the 3 languages.

Colegio Arenas International (Costa Teguise)
It is part of a group of schools in the Canaries Islands. There is a school uniform. Classes are held in Spanish and in English. There are a lot of after school activities on offer.

Please contact us if you would like more information and their contact details.