In Spain, adult education and training comprises a broad range of public and Publicly-funded private provision, both formal and non-formal, designed to respond to educational, personal and professional needs throughout life. This provision is structured around three major interrelated strands:

• Provision aimed at developing basic competences, including initial education and lower secondary education for adults, as well as basic-level vocational education and training, in order to ensure the acquisition of key competences and the qualification associated with compulsory education.
• Provision leading to the award of official qualifications in adulthood, covering Bachillerato (upper secondary education), intermediate and advanced vocational education and training, university studies, and the full range of access and certification examinations enabling entry to or accreditation of such studies.
• Provision geared towards professional skills development and employment, linked to active labour market policies and workplace training. This includes vocational training for employment addressed to both employed and unemployed persons, as well as initiatives such as company-based training schemes, individual training leave and training combined with employment.

Taken together, these types of provision enable adults to access, return to or progress within the education system, as well as to improve their professional qualifications and employability, through on-site, distance and blended learning modalities.

Provision to raise achievement in basic skills

Provision designed to enhance adults’ basic competences and language skills is mainly offered by the education authorities. Training with similar objectives also exists outside the formal system, for example in popular universities.

Aimed at young people and adults who left the education system without a qualification, its purpose is to facilitate the acquisition of basic education competences and knowledge. It is regulated by Orden EFP/822/2023, which structures this provision as follows:

Basic education for adults

Target group: persons who have not mastered basic instrumental skills.

• Access:
  • from the age of 18;
  • exceptionally from 16 in certain employment, sporting or personal circumstances, or due to lack of prior schooling;
  • guaranteed in prison institutions;
  • subject to an Initial Assessment of Learning (VIA) to determine placement in Level I or II (Article 10 of Orden EFP/822/2023).
• Organisation: two levels (Initial I and II), each lasting one academic year (extendable if necessary).
• Modes of delivery: on-site, distance or virtual distance learning.
• Assessment: continuous, formative and integrative, based on the assessment criteria of each area.
• Certification: successful completion leads to a certificate and access to Adult Secondary Education (ESPA).

Secondary education for adults

• Purpose: to obtain the Lower Secondary Education Certificate (Graduado en Educación Secundaria Obligatoria), while fostering personal, social and professional development.
• Access:
  • from 18 years of age (or from 16 in duly justified cases);
  • direct access to Level I with certification of Initial Education II;
  • in the absence of documentation, access is granted through VIA.
• Organisation:
  • Communication field, including the core curriculum elements of Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) relating to Spanish Language and Literature, First Foreign Language and, where applicable, the Co-official Language and Literature;
  • Social field, including Geography and History and Civic and Ethical Education;
  • Scientific-technological field, including Mathematics, Technology and Digitalisation, Physics and Chemistry, and Biology and Geology;
  • each field is divided into two levels (I and II), and each level into two modules; delivered over two academic years (with flexibility) in on-site, distance or virtual distance modes.
• Assessment: continuous, formative and integrative. In addition to end-of-term assessments each semester, there is an ordinary and an extraordinary assessment session.
• Certification: successful completion of the three fields at Level II leads to the award of the Compulsory Secondary Education Certificate. The certificate may also be awarded if the teaching staff consider that the learner has globally achieved the objectives, even without passing all fields. The authorities also organise open examinations for adults aged 18 and over.

Basic Vocational training for adults

Authorities may offer basic vocational training cycles for adults aged over 18 who do not hold a lower secondary qualification. These programmes last two years full-time in on-site mode and lead to the Technician Certificate (Título Profesional Básico). The qualification may also be obtained from the age of 22 through accreditation of professional competences or specific examinations.

Provision to achieve an official qualification in adulthood

Education authorities facilitate adults’ attainment of official qualifications certifying basic, transversal and professional competences, thereby improving their opportunities for lifelong learning and employability. In addition to formal provision, examinations are organised to obtain qualifications or gain access without prior enrolment.

Post-compulsory and higher education

There is also the possibility for adults to have access to Bachillerato and vocational training. The education authorities take the necessary steps to ensure the provision of post-compulsory education for adults and organise public distance education, which must include the use of information and communication technologies.

Adults may access Bachillerato, vocational education and training and university studies through specific provision and flexible modalities, including distance education.

Bachillerato for adults

• Access: from 18 years of age and, exceptionally, from 16 in justified employment, sporting or personal circumstances. The academic requirement is the Compulsory Secondary Education Certificate or equivalent.
• Organisation: in on-site mode, timetables are adapted to facilitate attendance; in distance mode, learners may enrol in as many subjects as they wish, subject to progression rules and compatibility; there are no compulsory lessons, but tutorial support is provided (in person or remotely); in on-site mode, two organisational models exist:
  • Model A: subjects grouped into three blocks over three academic years;
  • Model B: same structure as mainstream Bachillerato (two academic years).
• Assessment: continuous and subject-based. In both modes, final assessments are conducted on-site. There are termly assessments, as well as ordinary and extraordinary sessions.
• Certification: the Bachillerato qualification is awarded upon successful completion of all subjects or all but one, provided academic conditions are met. It has the same validity as the mainstream qualification.

Learners holding certain prior qualifications referred to in Article 23 of Real Decreto 243/2022 may obtain the Bachillerato qualification under the procedure established therein.

Vocational Education and Training for adults

Allows training to be combined with employment through full provision (complete cycle) or partial/modular provision (independent modules).

• Access:
  • to partial provision: general age and academic requirements;
  • to intermediate VET: Lower Secondary Education Certificate, Basic Vocational Qualification or passing an entrance examination;
  • to advanced VET: Bachillerato qualification, specific course following the Technician certificate, entrance examination or university entrance examination for over-25s;
  • to specialisation courses: aimed at VET graduates (according to specific decree requirements).
• Organisation: on-site, blended and distance modes, with flexible methodology and ICT-based learning in distance mode. Ongoing monitoring and tutorial guidance are provided.
• Assessment: by professional modules, based on competences and learning outcomes. In distance provision, the final examination is on-site and complemented by continuous assessment.
• Certification:
  • completion of the cycle leads to the award of the Technician or Advanced Technician certificate;
  • partial completion allows cumulative certification of Vocational modules, with accreditation effects within the National System of Qualifications and Vocational Training.

University education

There is no specific university pathway exclusively for adults, but part-time study is possible. Distance higher education is widely available, primarily through the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), as well as through other public and private universities.

Access, certification and qualification examinations

Education authorities organise examinations enabling adults to access studies or obtain qualifications without prior enrolment.

Examinations must ensure equal opportunities, non-discrimination and universal accessibility for persons with disabilities.

Provision aimed at professional skills development linked to active labour market policies and workplace training

Vocational training for employment constitutes a central pillar of Spain’s active labour market policies. According to Article 12.4 of Ley 3/2023 de Empleo, it forms part of Axis 2 (Training), which includes initiatives aimed at learning, reskilling and upskilling, as well as work-based training, enabling workers to acquire new competences or improve their qualifications and professional experience throughout life.

The system targets both employed and unemployed persons, prioritising those facing greater difficulties in accessing or retaining employment (e.g. long-term unemployed persons, those over 45, low-qualified individuals, migrants, women victims of gender-based violence and persons with disabilities). Its main objectives are to promote lifelong learning, improve employability and align available skills with labour market needs, while contributing to business productivity and competitiveness.

Law 30/2015 regulates the structure and principles of the Vocational Training for Employment System, organised around four main initiatives:

• Company-based training for employees.
• Training provision for employed workers, including sectoral and cross-sectoral programmes and professional qualification and recognition schemes.
• Training provision for unemployed workers, including programmes linked to personalised integration pathways, specific programmes for groups with particular needs and programmes with recruitment commitments.
• Other initiatives, including individual training leave, training combined with employment, training for public employees and professional guidance services.

Training is delivered on-site, through distance learning or in blended mode, and is subject to continuous evaluation of quality, labour market impact and professional performance. Accreditation is granted through diplomas or certificates of attendance, and competences acquired may be assessed and accredited through procedures regulated within the Vocational Training System.

Liberal (popular) adult education provision

Spain does not have a distinct liberal (popular) adult education sector as structured in some other European countries. Activities focused on personal development, cultural participation, creativity and socio-cultural enrichment are mainly offered as non-formal education and do not constitute a regulated subsystem with its own identity.

State legislation recognises these activities as part of lifelong learning (Articles 5.1 and 5 bis of Ley Orgánica 2/2006 de Educación, as amended), assigning Education authorities responsibility for promoting programmes aimed at personal development and social participation among adults. In practice, organisation and management rest largely with regional and especially local authorities, which integrate them into cultural and community programmes (popular universities, cultural centres, civic centres and third-sector organisations).

Unlike provision leading to official qualifications or employment-related training, this strand does not benefit from stable, ongoing state funding, but is financed through specific programmes and calls, regional and municipal budgets and, in some cases, participant contributions. Participation is voluntary and open to all adults. Duration varies according to the programme, and it does not lead to an official qualification nor is it linked to the Spanish Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (MECU). There are currently no centralised national participation statistics due to the heterogeneous and decentralised nature of the provision.

Other types of publicly subsidised provision for adults

In Spain, publicly funded adult education and training provision is covered by the strands described above. This includes basic and secondary education for adults, vocational and occupational training, university studies, vocational training for employment, liberal (popular) adult education and guidance services. There are no other systematic public or publicly subsidised programmes beyond those already mentioned.