The ¡Estupendo! Blog Site

Education in Spain is compulsory for children aged from 6 to 16 years old. Please find Estupendo’s guide to the local Spanish state school education system.

The school system is known as Ley Orgánica de Educación (LOE) and is provided free of charge to Spanish residents. The schools are divided into the following levels:

Jardin de Infancia: Nursery for babies of 0 to 3 years of age

Educación Infantil: Pre-school for children of 3 to 5 years of age

Educación Primaria: Primary school for children from 6 to 11 years of age

Educación Secundaria Obligatoria: Secondary school for children of 12 to 15 years of age

Bachillerato: Further education (two years) for students of 16 to 17 years of age

Nursery

We have previously published a list of nurseries in Lanzarote, you can enrol your baby / toddler for part or full time as required and each have their own fees. Nursery education will focus on developing your child’s physical and mental skills, in the final year they learn to read, write and know their alphabet.

Pre School (Infantil)

Children from the age of 3 to 5 years old have the option of attending a pre school (infantil) but it isn’t compulsory. These classes are free of charge and offered at most primary schools, but there can also be separate facilities called Colegios Infantiles. Children are offered places from September of the autumn that they are three years old.

Primary School (Colegio)

Children from the age of 6 to 11 are required to attend primary school (colegio). There are three, two year periods of classes:

First Cycle: Children from 6 to 8 years of age

Second Cycle: Children of 8 to 10 years of age

Third Cycle: Children of 10 to 12 years of age

Pupils are taught Spanish, Conocimiento del Medio which includes history, geography and biology, physical education, art and a second language. Religion (catholic) is taught but optional. There isn’t any national testing at Spanish primary schools, pupils will start taking exams are part of their courses from their third year. If your child has not reached the required standard in the second year of each of these above courses, they may be asked to repeat that year – you should expect your child to repeat once as it will take a year for them to become fluent and understand all of their classes. Many Spanish children also repeat, classes are of mixed ability and it is preferred they understand the course before advancing to the next level.

Secondary School (Instituto)

Children from the age of 12 to 15 are required to attend secondary school (instituto). Secondary education is normally referred to as ESO – Educación Secundaria Obligatoria. They have two levels, each for a two year period therefore four years of school:

First Cycle: Children of 12-14 years of age

Second Cycle: Children of 14 to 16 years of age

Successful students are awarded their secondary education certificate which is required to enter the optional further education (bachillerato and university). Students reaching 16 but who may have repeated earlier in their school year can elect to leave school without qualifications after their 16th birthday or they continue until attaining their leaving certificate. A student must pass all but two of their subjects to attain their school leaving certificate. Again, if a pupil does not reach the required standard at the end of the year, they may be asked to repeat or take recuperation exams during the summer.

Further Education

Children have to be at least 16 years old to work in Spain. When they leave the obligatory secondary education, if they want to continue their education, their choices are:

Ciclos Formativos de Grado Medio: Vocational Training

Programas de Cualificación Inicial Profesional: Training Programme to learn a profession in one year

Bachillerato: Continues the general education and the path to University

Bachillerato

These are two year courses, students are required to continue on some compulsory subjects which is Spanish plus a foreign language (English, German, French & Italian), philosophy, physical education and history plus your preferred option of:

Art: History of art, sculpture & painting

Nature & Sciences: Biology, chemistry, physics including math's

Sciences & Engineering: Physics, math's, chemistry including technical drawing

Humanities: Latin, Greek, history of art

Uniform, Books & Materials

Although the education is provided free for children aged from 6 to 16, parents are expected to provide the books and materials required for the year. Each September the school will provide a list of text books and materials required such as folders, writing and art books, pens, pencils, paints, etc. You need to budget from 100 – 150 Euros per child for these.

Lots of the schools still don’t have a uniform, some are optional and others have chosen to have a compulsory one. There are uniform shops in Arrecife or you can contact Unicoles in English.

School Hours

The schools have slightly different opening hours, some start at 8:00, 8:30 and 9:00 and then finish at 13:00, 13:30 and 14:00 so check with your local one as to their actual time.For a few weeks either side of the summer holiday, the pupils finish an hour earlier due to the heat.

The children take a snack and a drink but finish in time to have lunch at home. Some primary schools offer afternoon classes (comedor), the children stay for lunch and further activities until 4pm.

Transport

Each school has a free bus that collects children who live more than 3km away as long as you have been allocated a school place within your area. If your child is attending a school outside the catchment area you will need to transport them to and from the school.

School Reports & Parents Evenings

Each pupil has a report at the end of each term, you are required to go to the school to collect the report and meet your child’s teacher to discuss their progress. Additionally you can visit the school each week, their tutor will confirm a time when they are available to see parents for a more regular update if preferred.

Qualifications

The Spanish school leaving certificate is equivalent to GCSE´s.

The Bachillerato is equivalent to A Levels.

Students wishing to go to Spanish University have to have achieved the necessary qualifications (Bachillerato) and also take an entrance exam called Prueba de Acceso (PAU) which consists of six tests.

As the school leaving certificate is not inferior to a number of GCSE’s and the Bachillerato is not inferior to a number of A Levels, students have the appropriate grades required fro entrance into Universities in Europe (including UK).