School

Steps

1. Register on the padrón of your town hall with your children: it is the proof of address used for admission (sheet ES-ADMINISTRATIONS-TOUS-001).
2. Find the admission service of your autonomous community (Consejería de Educación or education department): it publishes the state and concertadas schools (private schools under contract, funded by the community) in your area, and the dates of the preinscripción (pre-enrolment).
3. You arrive for the September start: submit your application during the ordinary admission period (generally in spring), ranking several schools in order of preference. If there are more applications than places, the community applies criteria: siblings already enrolled, proximity of the home or of a parent's workplace, family income, large or single-parent family, disability.
4. You arrive during the school year: contact the admission service of your municipality or community (often called comisión de escolarización or municipal schooling office) for a late admission (fuera de plazo). The administration must guarantee a place during compulsory school age.
5. Take stock of the level: the school places the child according to their age, knowledge and school history, with support classes if language is a problem (specific programmes provided for by law, alongside the ordinary class).
6. Register for the canteen (comedor) and apply for grants (canteen, books, transport) from your community: amounts and conditions vary.

Documents

• Empadronamiento (padrón) certificate of the family.
• Passport or identity card of the child and the parents, NIE if you have one.
• Spanish libro de familia or the child's birth certificate (a translation may be requested; the rules vary by autonomous community, ask the school or the education administration of your community).
• Latest school reports and school certificate from the previous school.
• Vaccination record and health card (depending on the community).

Costs and timelines

• State school: free of charge from 3 to 16 (the second cycle of early childhood education, from 3 to 6, is free under the law). Materials, outings and the canteen may be paid for.
• Crèche (primer ciclo de educación infantil, 0-3): not compulsory; state places being developed, fees set by each community or town hall. Some communities have made schooling free in the state network: the Community of Madrid since the 2019-2020 school year (decree 28/2019: extended hours and meals remain paid), the Balearic Islands since 1 September 2023 (decree-law 5/2023: at least four hours of basic schooling per day, meals excluded, in the crèches of the state and complementary networks); elsewhere, families pay or receive aid (in Madrid, a grant of €177 per month, €283 depending on income, for a private crèche in 2026-2027). Ask about the situation in your community.
• 2026-2027 calendar: each community sets its own start, holiday and end-of-year dates. Start generally in September, end in June: the exact dates are published every year by the education consejería of your community (school calendar): check them before planning your move.
• French schools: fee-paying; fees specific to each school.

Common pitfalls

• Leaving it too late for September. The best schools fill up during the ordinary spring period. After that, you take the remaining places.
• Temporary address. Proximity is judged on the padrón: a temporary rental address may place you in a different catchment area.
• The language of instruction. The law guarantees teaching in Castilian and in the co-official language where there is one; at the end of compulsory school, the pupil must be proficient in both. In Catalonia, the main language of instruction is in practice Catalan (the courts have imposed a minimum of 25% of teaching in Castilian, including one core subject: ruling of the TSJC of 16/12/2020, final on 20 January 2022, the Supreme Court having declared the Generalitat's appeal in cassation inadmissible; Catalan law 8/2022 sets no percentage and remains contested, so the situation is still changing); in the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community, Galicia and the Basque Country, a significant part of the teaching is also in the regional language. For a child who speaks neither, find out about the language reception classes in your community.
• Recognition of studies: to enter a primary class or the start of ESO, the child is in principle placed according to their age and level. For the last years of secondary school and the Bachillerato, or for a diploma, an homologación or convalidación (equivalence) by the Ministry of Education may be necessary: ask the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports (homologation to the Graduado en ESO or the Bachiller, convalidation of a Bachillerato course; for the Bachiller, the last three courses are requested). Submission open all year; decision within 3 months once the file is complete, and with no reply the application is deemed rejected. A fee (tasa 079, form 790) is required, except for homologation to the Graduado en ESO: €49.76 in a Government Delegation in Navarre document of June 2025 on the homologation of vocational training; check the amount on form 790 when you pay.
• Basque Country and Navarre: several language streams (modelos) exist, with more or less Basque: a choice to be made at enrolment. In the Basque Country, decree 138/1983 provides for three models: A (Castilian, Basque is a subject), B (some subjects in Castilian, some in Basque) and D (Basque, Castilian is a subject); in Bachillerato and vocational training, only A and D legally exist (some "reinforced" A groups teach subjects in Basque). In Navarre, the pupil who chooses a model on entering the system must in principle follow it throughout their schooling (change through a separate procedure).

What changes by country of origin

• French-speaking families: the AEFE directory lists 23 schools accredited by France in Spain (consulted on 20/10/2026), three of which are directly managed: the Lycée français de Madrid, the Lycée français de Barcelone and the Lycée français international de Valence. Others are in Alicante, Bilbao, Ibiza, Las Palmas, Málaga, Marbella, Murcia, Palma, Reus, Zaragoza, Seville, Tenerife, Valladolid and around Barcelona and Madrid. French families can apply for school grants at the consulate (conditions set by the AEFE and the consulate of your place of residence).
• Other countries: there are also German, British, Italian or international private schools; check that they are authorised by the autonomous community and recognised by your country if you plan to return.
• British citizens (Scotland included): same admission rules; private British schools often follow the English curriculum, not the Scottish one.