Accessibility

The education authorities are responsible for carrying out preventing and compensatory actions in those territories within their sphere of management that are at a disadvantage, providing them with the necessary economic resources and support.

These actions have two objectives:

• avoid inequalities on geographical, social, economic or other grounds
• ensure the best conditions for pre-primary schooling.

In particular, these actions are aimed at specific schools or geographic areas and, mainly, at rural schools, 'the education authorities shall take account of the particular nature of rural school in order to provide the necessary organisational means and systems to address their specific needs and ensure equal opportunities':

• provision of financial and material resources to guarantee pupils’ cost-free education either in their own municipality or area of schooling, or in neighbouring areas. For more information, see Organisational variations and alternative structures in early childhood education and care
• annual regulation of financial assistance aimed at covering enrolment and tuition fees in a publicly-funded private school or private school. For more information, see Early childhood and school education funding
• authorisation for the creation or closure of pre-primary education units.

The aspects to be considered when planning educational provision in a specific geographical area are:  

• urban areas: the birth rate, the increase in the number of foreign pupils and the growth of population in emerging areas
• rural areas: the difficult access to geographical areas, birth and death rates, the ageing of the population and the number of seasonal workers.  

In addition, territorial cooperation programmes take into account the following criteria for the territorial distribution of economic resources:

• depopulation
• the geographical dispersion of the population
• insularity
• the specific needs of schooling in rural areas.

Admission requirements and choice of ECEC institution

Pre-primary education is the stage prior to basic and compulsory education.

The following are enrolled in this stage:

• pupils aged between 3-4 months and 6
• pupils with special educational needs and socially disadvantaged pupils: it is governed by the principles of normalisation and inclusion, ensuring non-discrimination and equal access to and continuance in the education system
• pupils of foreign origin within the compulsory schooling age: attention is paid to their circumstances and age.

For more information, see Special education needs provision within mainstream education.

Parents or legal guardians can choose the preferred school for their children, either public or private. There is only one access requirement: the year of birth of the pupil.

Schooling in the second cycle of the stage is free, both in public schools and publicly-funded private schools. The education authorities are responsible for regulating pupils' admission, with two objectives:

1. guarantee the right to education, equal access and parents or guardians' freedom to choose the school
2. achieve a correct and balanced distribution of pupils with no discrimination because of ideological, religious, moral, social, gender, racial or birth reasons. The Constitutional Court has recognised the right of single-sex schools to be publicly funded.

Only if public schools and publicly-funded private schools do not offer enough places to meet the demand, a series of priority admission criteria, which are common and applicable throughout the State, are applied:

• having siblings enrolled in the school or parents or legal guardians working at the school
• proximity of the parents or legal guardians' home or of their workplace (of either parent)
• yearly family income, according to calculation specificities applied to large families
• disability of the pupil or of either of his/her parents or siblings.

Still, if there are not enough school places, the following are given priority in the schooling area corresponding to either of the parents or legal guardians’ place of residence or employment:

• students whose schooling is due to forced mobility of either parent
• or to change of residence in cases of gender-based violence.

The Autonomous Communities and local authorities may establish other criteria within their sphere of competence, and schools themselves may set some additional criteria.

Admission is the responsibility of the education authorities of each Autonomous Community. To this end, they constitute commissions or bodies of admission which guaratee and establish the corresponding ways for the families to appeal against the decisions taken in the said procedures.

The School Board is in charge of admission in public schools, while in publicly-funded private schools the person in charge is the owner.

Private schools have autonomy for establishing their own admission procedures.

Age levels and grouping of children

Pre-primary education caters for children from birth to 6 years of age.

This educational stage consists of two cycles:

• the first cycle caters for children from birth to age 3. The minimum age for access is 3-4 months, depending on the Autonomous Community in question
• the second cycle caters for children from 3 to 6 years of age.

Class groups are normally created according to the year of birth in both cycles.

Each group has a class teacher assigned, who, as far as possible, keeps the same group of pupils throughout the whole cycle.

Professional figures in pre-primary education:

• responsibility for drawing up and monitoring the pedagogical plan: professionals who hold a Bachelor degree in Pre-Primary School Teacher, or the School Teacher degree with a specialisation in pre-primary education 
• first cycle of the stage: professionals holding the Pre-Primary Education Advanced Technician certificate may teach or support school teachers, as determined by the education authorities
• second cycle of the stage: classes are taught by pre-primary education school teachers, who can be supported by school teachers in other specialities if necessary.

For more information, see Initial education for teachers working in early childhood and school education.

In the first cycle, the teacher/pupil ratio per unit is regulated by each Autonomous Community:

• children under 1 year of age: most education authorities establish a maximum of 8 children per unit
• children between 1 and 2 years of age: between 12 and 14 children
• children between 2 and 3 years of age: between 16 and 20 children
• second cycle:  a maximum of 25 pupils per unit is established. In this case, the ratio is regulated by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport as well as each education authority within their own territory.

Organisation of time

The education authorities of the Autonomous Communities, within the scope of their educational powers, establish the school year and school holidays, taking into account the minimum requirements regulated by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training.

The duration of the school year tends to be regulated separately for each cycle.

In the case of schools providing the first cycle of the stage, the number of school days may vary depending on:

• the needs of families
• the possibilities for organisation
• more flexible working time arrangements of the educational staff
• the stable functioning of groups and compliance with the ratio established in the regulations.

The duration of the school year ranges between ten and eleven months in most Autonomous Communities.

The second cycle is regulated like the rest of non-university educational stages: it comprises a minimum of 178 school days, organised in terms and distributed between the first fortnight of September and the end of June.

School holidays are spread throughout the whole school year as follows:

• 11 weeks correspond to summer holidays
• at least 2 weeks for Christmas 
• approximately 10 days at the end of March or beginning of April (Easter)
• 2 or 3 days in Carnival
• about 12 bank holidays established by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport or the local/regional authorities.

The distribution of holidays, bank holidays and non-teaching days may vary greatly across Autonomous Communities.

During summer holidays, schools can remain open until the end of July. This is also the case with the days that are not a bank holiday during Christmas and Easter.

Organisation of the day and week

The education authorities establish the school day, which varies depending on the ownership of the school:

• public schools providing the whole stage: usually 35 hours per week, that is, 7 hours per day, Monday to Friday. This includes lunch breaks, rest or nap periods and recreation
• private schools: although they have the autonomy to adapt their timetable to family demands, in some Autonomous Communities, children are not allowed to remain on the school premises for more than 8 hours in the first cycle of the stage.

In many pre-primary schools the following is provided:

• breakfast and lunch services and extended timetable
• extracurricular activities organised by parents’ associations, schools themselves or external institutions. These activities are non-compulsory for pupils.

In schools exclusively providing pre-primary education, either the first or both cycles, the arrival and ending time may be delayed half an hour to facilitate the communication with the families and children’s adaptation to the school day.

Pupils normally go through a period of adaptation during the month of September, especially those who are attending school for the first time. The time children remain on the school premises is gradually increased until they comply with the number of school hours generally established.

No specific timetables are established for the different curricular areas. The organisation of time combines stability with flexibility and is adapted to pupils’ needs and rhythm of activity, play and rest.