2. The educational system in Spain is based on the Organic Law for improvement of Quality of Education (Ley Orgánica
para la Mejora de la Calidad Educativa ) which makes education compulsory and free for children between 6
and 16 years old.
It includes primary education from ages 6 to 12 and compulsory secondary education going up until age 16
and secondary education phase in which students are required to complete the Spanish School Leaving Certificate
(ESO).
Above the age of 16, students can choose whether or not to continue with post-compulsory schooling which
involves taking the Bachillerato (equivalent to British A-Levels) and Vocational Training courses .
After completing the Bachillerato, pupils can take entry exams (selectividad) to the universities they wish to apply to.
3. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOL IN SPAIN
Schools in Spain are generally divided into 3 main categories: state schools,
privately run schools funded by the state and purely private schools.
State schooling is free up to university, but parents are responsible for buying
their own children’s school supplies including textbooks and other reading
materials. In Andalusia, textbooks are free for students.
The majority of public and private schools in Spain are co-educational and
operate on a Monday to Friday timetable.
4. PRIMARY SCHOOL
Structured as three year cycles:
First Cycle: 6 to 8 years of age.
Second Cycle: 8 to 10 years of age.
Third Cycle: 10 to 12 years of age.
5. SECONDARY SCHOOL
Consists of 4 years, structured as two cycles since the Organic Law for
improvement of quality of education of 2013:
-First Cycle: 1st, 2nd and 3rd year.
-Second Cycle: 4th year.
The second cycle contains two options: one geared towards the Spanish
Baccalaureate, and the other towards vocational training.
6. SPANISH BACCALAUREATE
There are two parts, a core curriculum with the compulsory subjects, and a specialist part with a few pre-selected
branches to choose from:
-Plastic Arts, Image and Design.
-Performing Arts, Music and Dance.
-Nature and Health Sciences.
-Sciences & Engineering.
-Social Sciences.
-Humanities.
7. UNIVERSITY
There are more than 70 universities throughout Spain, more that 50 are public and the rest, more
than 20, are private universities.
They are distributed throughout the country but the biggest and most important cities have the highest
number of universities, in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.
University studies in Spain according to EHES are divided into three different stages, Grade degrees
(undergraduate studies), University Master degrees (graduate studies) and Doctoral degrees
(postgraduate studies).
8. Undergraduate studies, leading to Grade degrees, are taught in the
following fields and sub-fields:
Arts and Humanities, Sciences, Health Sciences, Social Sciences and Law,
Engineering and Architecture.
9. MOST IMPORTANT UNIVERSITIES
1. University of Barcelona.
2. Autonomous university of Barcelona.
3. Pompeu Fabra university.
4. Autonomous university of Madrid.
5. University of valencia.
10. MOST IMPORTANT UNIVERSITIES
1. University of Barcelona.
2. Autonomous university of Barcelona.
3. Pompeu Fabra university.
4. Autonomous university of Madrid.
5. University of valencia.
Notes de l'éditeur
Examinations are held at the end of the first semester, in February, and at the end of the second semester, in June. However, there are some variations between universities.