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Eurydice

EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice

Spain

Higher education institutions have full institutional autonomy. Within the scope of their autonomy, these institutions determine the periods of teaching activity and the periods of holidays. The following table presents general data on degrees, with variations for master’s, doctorate and own degree programmes at each university.

The organisation of the academic year 2024/2025 in Spain is as follows: 

National information

Spain - School heads' salaries and allowances

School heads' salaries and allowances

  • School heads’ remuneration is regulated by top-level authorities.
  • The minimum qualification requirements for school heads at primary level is ISCED 6 and ISCED 7 at secondary level. In addition, they must have 5 years’ experience as a career civil servant in the public teaching service, and 5 years of experience in one of the teaching areas offered by the institutions (both requirements could be achieved in 5 years). School heads should have school management competence. At least every 8 years, all school heads need to complete an updating school head's management course.
  • Salary progression of school heads depends on the seniority (salary increases every 3 years of service) and a salary supplement, every 6-year period, related to in-service training (sexenios) corresponding to continuing professional development (CPD). The school head supplement is a fixed amount.

Teachers' salaries

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    National information

    Spain - Teachers' salaries and allowances

    Teachers' salaries and allowances

    • Teachers’ remuneration is regulated by top-level authorities.
    • The minimum qualification level for teachers at pre-primary and primary levels is ISCED 6 and at lower and upper secondary levels is ISCED 7. In addition, they undergo competitive examination, probationary period and follow an induction programme.
    • The salary progression depends on the seniority (salary increases every 3 years of service) and a teaching function supplement, and a fixed supplement related to in-service training (sexenios) corresponding to continuing professional development (CPD), every 6-years period.
    • Teachers are civil servants in the public system.

    School heads' salaries

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      National Information

      Further readings

      National education systems - Spain | Eurydice (europa.eu)

      Organisation of the Academic Year in Higher Education

      Fees

      Waivers and reductions

      Grants

       

      Among the main organisational variations and alternative structures in early childhood education and care (ECEC), the following stand out:

      • ECEC in rural schools,
      • bilingual education;
      • penitentiary classrooms;
      • hospital teaching.

      ECEC in rural schools

      In some autonomous communities in Spain, there are rural schools located in municipalities with a reduced population. Their denomination is different depending on the autonomous community:

      In Spain, there is no state regulation on the provision of early childhood education and care (ECEC) at home. However, at the regional level, the Community of Madrid, the Chartered Community of Navarre and Galicia do have rules governing this type of ECEC provision. In the latter case, it only applies to rural settlements with less than 5,000 inhabitants.

      Admission requirements and choice of ECEC setting

      Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is divided into two cycles:

      Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is the educational stage (International Standard Classification of Education level 0) prior to basic and compulsory education, which starts at the age of 6 years.