The Spanish Education System

The Spanish education system was altered in the year 1991; one year after the Ley Organica de Ordenacion General del Sistema Educativo (LOGSE) (Law on the General Organization of the Educational System) was passed. Improving the infrastructure provides for free and compulsory education for students 15 and younger. All students must receive training for basic vocational skills during their secondary education. The Spanish education system also provides for religious instruction, which is optional depending on the choice of the students.

The Spanish education system is organized in six stages: infant education from years 3 to 6, primary education from years 6 to 12, compulsory secondary education from 12 to 16 years of age, post-secondary education, which includes the middle grade of vocational training from 16 to 17 years of age, and university education. Schools in Spain can be divided into state schools, privately run schools funded by the state, and purely private schools. According to data for the year 2008-2009, state schools educated 67.4%, private but state funded schools 26.0%, and purely private schools 6.6% of pupils the preceding year.

In Primary Education, students study the Spanish language, Math, Conocimiento del Medio (a compendium of biology, history, geography, general and local knowledge and social awareness), Physical Education, Arts and Crafts, and a second language, usually English. A wider range of subjects are taught in Secondary Education, including a language choice between French and English. At the end of four years, students may leave school, or attend a two-year Bachelor´s academic course (in Arts, Humanities, Natural and Health Sciences and Technology), or enroll in practical training courses on office and administrative skills, mechanics, catering, and hairdressing.

Successful baccalaureate students attend a university of their choice to pursue higher education. The most notable Spanish universities are the Complutense University of Madrid, the University of Barcelona, the University of the Basque Country, the Technical University of Madrid, the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the University of Granada and Carlos III University of Madrid.

Students within the Spanish education system are admitted once a year in September, according to the calendar year of their birth. The registration period for all ages is in May for the following September, and may be done via the local town hall, or by applying directly to a school. The school year starts in mid-September and ends in the third week of June. There is usually a break of two weeks at Christmas and about a week and a half for Easter. There are no half-term holidays as such, but there are short breaks throughout the year, which are organized around national, regional and local saints´ days and festivals. There are two kinds of timetables: a divided day, which allows at least two hours for lunch, or the innovation of the “jornada continua,” a blocked day which finishes in the early afternoon.