Local administrations participate in educational management through their municipal departments and in coordination with the regional educational administration, even though they do not hold the status of educational administration. They must coordinate their actions to ensure the effective use of resources and the proper provision of educational services.

Educational institutions, thanks to their autonomy, adjust resources, organisation, and pedagogical action to the needs of their students and their environment.

Administration and Governance at Local Level

Autonomous communities may delegate certain educational functions to municipalities. There is no common municipal structure, but there is usually a department of education, adapted to the size and resources of the municipality.

Municipal councils are responsible for the creation, maintenance, and supervision of buildings for early childhood, primary, and special education; collaboration in the provision of land for new schools; and monitoring compliance with compulsory schooling. They may create municipal school councils and are represented in the regional school councils and in those of the schools. They may also use educational facilities outside school hours, subject to the school’s timetable.

The MEFD and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) have signed successive agreements (2004, 2010, 2022) to integrate educational action at the local level, update guides and catalogues of good practices, organise seminars and competitions, and support actions against absenteeism and in favour of coexistence. The FEMP Education Area aims to adapt the regulatory framework to local resources, guarantee post-compulsory provision in rural areas, maintain institutional cooperation, and contribute to SDG 4, which calls for ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities.

Administration at institutional level

Non-university institutions

Organic Law 2/2006 on Education (LOE) dedicates Chapter II of its Title V, amended by Organic Law 3/2020 (LOMLOE), to the autonomy of schools through the educational project, the management project, and the rules of organisation and operation, allowing educational action to be adapted to their context. Schools may develop innovations, programmes, forms of organisation, and extensions of schedules or calendars, as permitted by each educational administration and without discrimination.

Scholl autonomy covers pedagogical and curricular aspects, organisational matters, resource management and quality improvement actions.

Educational Project: in Article 121, the LOE establishes that the educational project must include at least:

• analysis of the environment;
• curriculum specifications;
• education in values;
• measures for attention to diversity;
• tutorial action;
• coexistence and reading plans;
• measures to compensate for deficiencies in linguistic communication competence;
• measures to promote and provide training in equality, particularly between women and men;
• an improvement plan, subject to periodic review.

Organisational Management: educational institutions must draw up::

• the coexistence plan;
• specification of students’ rights and duties;
• corrective measures applicable in case of non-compliance with duties;
• actions for the peaceful resolution of conflicts;
• an annual general programme and a final report each academic year.

Education authorities regulate protocols on bullying and violence and the responsibilities of the welfare and protection coordinator. Educational institutions must ensure that the educational community is informed of the existing action protocols and that the actions provided for are implemented and monitored.

Management of resources: public schools may acquire goods, contract services, manage staff, prepare the management project, and assume other delegated responsibilities. Administrations allocate additional resources according to needs and projects, always with accountability. Schools may obtain supplementary resources with prior approval from the school council.

Quality Actions: these include honorary measures and improvement actions, always subject to accountability.

University institutions

Organic Law 2/2023 establishes that the autonomy of Spanish universities is expressed through the following powers:

• establishment of the university’s strategic lines, organisation, and structure;
• preparation of the Statutes (public universities), rules of organisation and operation (private universities), and other internal regulations;
• election, appointment, and removal of governing and representative bodies, as well as economic and financial autonomy;
• definition of the offer of official and proprietary degrees (including lifelong learning), preparation and approval of curricula, and awarding of official and own degrees;
• establishment and implementation of research, knowledge transfer and innovation programmes;
• selection, training, promotion, and working conditions of teaching, research, and administrative staff and determination of staffing structures;
• regulation of student admission, retention requirements, assessment of knowledge, management of records, tutoring, and support programmes;
• promotion and management of mobility programmes, and support for scholarships and grants;
• development of internal quality assurance systems, internationalisation policies, relations with other entities, and rules of coexistence and conflict mediation.

Governance at institutional level

 Non-university institutions

Governing Bodies:

• Collective bodies: school council and teachers’ assembly.

• Individual bodies: school head, head of studies, secretary, and those determined by each administration.

In publicly funded private schools, there must be a school head, a school council, and a teachers’ assembly; private schools determine their own structure.

School Council: a body for community participation composed of the school head, head of studies, municipal representative, teaching staff, families, students (depending on the stage), administrative and services staff, and the secretary (with voice but without vote). Its functions include approving and evaluating school projects and the annual general program (PGA), participating in the selection and, if applicable, dismissal of the principal, deciding on student admission, promoting coexistence, equality, and violence prevention measures, reviewing behaviours contrary to coexistence, approving supplementary resources, and analysing the school’s functioning and outcomes. In publicly-funded private schools, it also participates in the selection and dismissal of teachers and in approving fees for extracurricular activities.

Teaching Staff Assembly: the teaching body responsible for educational planning and coordination: it proposes school projects, approves curriculum specifications, sets guidance and assessment criteria, promotes innovation, coordinates the election of its representatives, participates in the selection of the principal, and in evaluating the school’s functioning.

Other Bodies: teaching coordination bodies, including teaching coordination departments in secondary education.

Welfare and Protection Coordinator: this role is mandatory in all schools, regardless of ownership, according to LOMLOE and LOPIVI, for the prevention and early detection of violence.

Participation Bodies

Students: they participate through class representatives and associations, which promote coexistence, collaborate with teachers, represent the group, and organise activities. Administrations facilitate the right of association and the creation of federations.

Families: they may form associations to support their children’s education, collaborate in school activities, and participate in school management. They may use school spaces for their activities. Educational administrations promote the creation of family associations, federations, and confederations.

University institutions

Public universities

Their statutes regulate the University Assembly (highest representative body), the Governing Council (highest governing body), the Social Council (social participation), and the Student Council. There may also be school and faculty councils or department councils.

Single-person bodies: rector, vice-rectorates, secretary general, managing director, and deans or directors. The term of office is six years, single and non-renewable. Elections must ensure a balanced composition between women and men. Universities have equality and diversity units, university ombuds services, service inspections, and support services.

Private universities

Their internal regulations define their governing bodies and procedures, ensuring balanced representation and the predominance of teaching staff in academic decisions. The appointment of the rector must include consultation processes with the various groups.

Student sector participation bodies

the State University Council for Students is the highest body for deliberation, consultation, and representation of university students before the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities. Its functions are detailed in Article 51 of Royal Decree 1791/2010, which approves the University Student Statute.