Marbella & Costa del Sol Property

Education in Spain

State or Private Education ?

State Education

Spain has a state funded school system as well as private schools and a range of international and foreign schools. Around 30% of Spain´s schoolchildren attend private schools the majority of which are co-educational. International and foreign schools are the only schools which use English as the teaching language. If your children attend any other schools they will be taught their lessons in Spanish. Many people with younger children opt for spanish state schooling. The younger a child begins to learn a second language, the easier it is for them to speak it.

A Spanish state school will also help both pupil and parent integrate into the local community. It is also worth bearing in mind that transferring a child from state education into private education is a far easier process than transferring a child from private education into a state school. Compulsory education begins at six years of age with the children attending primary school which, in most cases, is local. This lasts for eight years when, at fourteen, the child receives a school leaving certificate. Those with higher marks are able to attend a higher secondary school with less academic pupils moving onto a vocational school. Different areas have different processes but most state schools will take children from the age of 3 or 4. There are also a number of high quality nurseries available across the coast. Enrolling in a Spanish school requires an interview. New arrivals in Spain must have their children’s education record verified which can be a long and expensive process. This is called convalidation.

A pupil will not be accepted without the necessary paperwork so it is best to get this done before arriving in Spain so the child can immediately enter upon arrival in the Country. To enrol you must also have: ·proof of convalidation· (see above), your child’s birth certificate or passport, proof of immunization, proof of residence in the form of a bill in your name (if you haven’t got one then a rent receipt, or lease is acceptable) and a passport-size photograph (for a student ID card) for a child entering secondary school. Registration in most state schools begins in May for September enrolment.

Spanish school hours: These vary from place to place and according to type of school. One typical schedule would run from 0900 until 1700 with a two hour break for lunch; another typical schedule would go from 0900 with no break and finish classes for the day at 1400.

Private Education

Here on The Costa del Sol you will find a wide variety of English private schools available with state of the art facilities and with small classes for a more personalised attention. Some schools even take boarders for parents who need to travel.

So, if your children are studying for O or A level exams when you make the move to Spain or maybe you simply wish them to continue along with the same curriculum offered in the U.K., then there’s no problem.

Many of the English private schools are long established, and some having been in the teaching business for nearly forty years.
So, rest assured that your children will receive an excellent education here in Marbella following a British curriculum but also, appropriately, with a strong emphasis on the Spanish language.

The kids will still have the opportunity to make Spanish friends however as a growing number of forward thinking Spanish parents now send their children to English language private schools in order to get a head start in this ever more international world in which we live.

Many of the English private schools listed here are members of NABSS – the National Association of British Schools in Spain and are inspected regularly by government certified inspectors as they would be in the U.K.

Page Updated  29/10/2010