How to enrol a foreign child at school in Spain

If you’re considering making the move to Spain with your kid/s, one of the main concerns you’ll be having will no doubt be their schooling.

Even in your own country and language there’s a lot of information to take in and a lot of decisions to make when it comes to your child's education.

In Spain, this is even more so -- public school or private school? What about Spain’s semi-private school system? Should you enrol them in a local school and hope they learn Spanish, or put them in an international school and pay for private Spanish lessons on the side?

How do you apply and enrol?

The system

The first thing to understand is how the Spanish system works. It's likely similar to what you're used to, although there could be some differences.

We'll start with state education. In Spain the state sector covers public education from nursery and infant school all the way up to university:

• Nursery/infant education (educación infantil): from 0-6 years and non-compulsory.
• Primary education(educación primaria) from 6-12 years and compulsory.
• Secondary education(educación secundaria, known as ESO) from 12-16 years of age and compulsory.
• Baccalaureate/A-levels (bachillerato) from 16-18 years of age, non-compulsory.
• Vocational Training (formación profesional, known as 'FP') non-compulsory vocational training for those with ESO studies, available from age 15 or 17 depending on region.
• University (universidad) non-compulsory public university system, for which you'll usually need ESO and bachillerato studies to apply.

READ ALSO: Is doing vocational training in Spain worth it?

Semi-private schools, private schools and homeschooling

You may not want to enrol your child in the local public school. You may want to go private or, as is possible in Spain, semi-private.

One quirk of the Spanish system is that there are state-subsidised private schools, known as colegios concertados in Spanish. Though this might sound like an oxymoron, concertados are sort of a half-way house between the public and private systems.

They’re often Catholic schools, and the fees are usually quite low, relatively speaking, because the school also receives some funding from the state. Obviously it depends on the school and each is different, but parents that go for concertados generally do so for the academic standards, discipline, better facilities and smaller class sizes. The students often wear uniforms, something incredibly rare in state schools in Spain.

READ ALSO: Spain's state-subsidised schools break law by charging 'fees' for free education

Of course Spain also has regular private schools (colegios privados) which are fully financed by tuition fees. They have complete control of their own curriculum, staff, application process, and even term times and holidays.

As such, each school will have its own application process and requirements.

For those readers considering homeschooling your children, homeschooling is a bit of a legal grey area in Spain and is not regulated the same everywhere. It is certainly legally possible but with some caveats, which you can read all about in The Local's coverage via the link below.

READ ALSO: What are the laws on homeschooling in Spain?

What are the requirements for enrolling in a Spanish state school?

There are no concrete requirements per se because in theory all children in Spain are by law entitled to an education, even if their parents are illegal immigrants or living in an ‘irregular’ situation.

There will be plenty of administrative tasks to do, however, as there often are with anything official in Spain. 

How to enrol your child at school in Spain

The exact process for application and enrolment will depend on the school itself, as well as where in the country you are. But there are two main things you need to do when enrolling your child in a Spanish school.

The first is to make sure they’re registered with the town hall (ayuntamiento) in the padrón register. This is basically to register your child as living in the municipality, and will be essential when applying to schools in the area.

Depending on where you live, this can be done at the town hall itself or is available to do online in certain municipalities. You’ll need your residency documents, proof of address, your NIE and passport when registering yourself and your child.

READ ALSO: Everything you need to know about getting your padrón town hall registration in Spain

Then you’ll need to start on the actual school application process. Usually in Spain you will, if going into the public school system, put forward a list of preferences to the local educational department.

Do your research first. Find a school that suits your child and think about any needs they might have in terms of curriculum, learning difficulties, school size, accessibility, and so on. Perhaps there's a school nearby with a large non-Spanish population that you think would make integration easier, or maybe you want your child to go to a traditional local school and have an authentic Spanish experience.

The specifics of the application process depend on where in Spain you are, but the town hall may be able to help guide you through things.

Again, it depends on the region and specific school, but other documents you may need to provide include:

• Birth certificate
• Your 'family book' record (libro de familia)
• Empadronamiento certificate
• Social security number
• Vaccination record and/or medical history

Note that it's likely schools or education departments could request sworn translations of these documents if they aren't in Spanish.

READ ALSO:

• How much should you pay in Spain for a 'sworn translation'?
• Libro de Familia: Spain to scrap its marriage and baby booklet

What about the language barrier?

One of the main if not the main concern of parents enrolling their foreign children in a Spanish school is the language barrier.

For some it’s a big enough worry to stop them enrolling their child in a public school at all. While it can certainly be a scary transition to make, you’d be amazed at how quickly kids can pick up languages. Many language experts say the best process to learn is the 'full immersion' approach, and by dropping them into a Spanish public school this will certainly be the case.

Obviously it’s hard to say, but it’s probable that some private schools may have more English speaking teachers, whereas in your average Spanish state school it may just be the English teacher and that’s it.

Age obviously plays a role here too. It would be far easier for a 6 year old to settle in and pick up Spanish than a 16 year old, both socially and in terms of language barrier.

For this reason, as well as concerns about curriculum, university applications and transferring qualifications, some parents opt to send their older kids to private and/or international schools where classes are taught in English. Often this is done in combination with Spanish classes on the side. Spain is full of international schools, many of which teach British or American curriculums. 

However, if you want your child to learn Spanish and intend to go for a public school, do your research before applying and see if any schools in the area have experience of integrating non-Spanish speaking kids.

READ ALSO: Is bullying a problem in Spanish schools?

In this writer’s experience of public schools across Andalusia, Murcia and Valencia, some do set up transition programmes or teach the kids separately for a while before putting them into class.

With the influx of Ukrainian refugee children to Spain in recent years, it’s likely schools have become more flexible about this than in previous years.

To complicate things even further, remember that in certain parts of Spain, Spanish (castellano)will not be the main language used to teach classes. In Catalonia, Valencia, and the Basque Country, for example, some if not all of the classes will be taught in the regional language, so be sure to do your research before enrolling your child.

READ ALSO: Spaniards have second lowest level of English in EU