When enrolling your children in a nursery or public school, one of the most important requirements is that the chosen center be close to your habitual residence.
Enrollment in Spanish school: Necessary documentation
When registering children, parents must provide a series of documentation, which consists of:
- Identification document of the minor: birth certificate or certificate to verify who the parents are.
- Family Book.
- Identity document of the parents.
- Register to determine which School corresponds to the minor.
- Certificate with social security number in case something happens to the Child and we need medical assistance.
Not all schools ask for the same requirements, but those mentioned above are usually the most common.
In general, to reserve a place, the following documents must be presented: application (to be collected at the chosen school), document proving the age of the child and a certified photocopy of the certificate of reservation of place.
In addition, it is convenient to accompany the application with other documents that are useful to achieve a higher score, in the event that there are not enough places: registration certificate, copy of the Income Tax settlement sheet, copy of the employment contract ( proves the proximity of the center to the workplace), document proving the existence of siblings enrolled in the center, document belonging to a large family and certificates of disability, illness, etc.
All the autonomous communities have the power to set their own admission criteria and the points that they will assign to students for meeting them, and their number may vary in each new school year. When the student has been admitted to a public or subsidized center, the law guarantees their permanence in it until they complete all levels of education.
Enrollment in Spanish school: Requirements for students from other countries
Students who come from other countries must present these documents to be able to access a school in Spain:
- The birth certificate or Passport (original and photocopy) of the child, with an official translation into Spanish (if necessary) and the parents (original and photocopy).
- A proof of vaccination.
- Proof of residence in the municipality (empadronamiento)
- Two Passport-size photographs (for the student’s identity card ans School documentation).
Depending on the center, they may also sometimes require you to take an interview and in some cases a knowledge test. In addition, it is not necessary for the parents to be legal residents in Spain, they only have to be registered in the country and provide that certificate or register so that the school has the address noted down in case any incident happens.
Enrollment process
To enroll, parents must complete 10 steps. These begin in the previous stage of application results and culminate with the formalization of the enrollment.
- Parents must enter the website of the School Admission System with the RUN, and in the case of foreigners, with the IPA (Provisional Authorized Identifier).
- They must enter the password to know the results of the application.
- When the results appear, three actions can be taken: accept the space that was assigned to you, go to a waiting listo r reject the vacancy.
- They must download the voucher of the assigned quota or go to a Mineduc support point to complete this step.
- Keep the receipt as evidence to later complete the registration process.
- On the dates designated to formalize the registration, each parent must go to the School assigned to the student and complete the registration process.
- It is advisable to call the educational institution beforehand to confirm opening hours and avoid unnecessary travel. There are schools that, as a result of social distancing, agree to complete the enrollment and send the necessary documents electronically.
- Deliver the documents required by the school. The main ones are the identity card of the parents, of the student if they have it, and the proof of acceptance of the application that comes with a security code.
- Fill out the admission form. There are schools that ask to fill out complementary papers on extracurricular activities, co-payment commitments, regulations, etc.
- Receive confirmation of enrollment to complete the enrollment process.
Admission in school in Spain depending on the type of center
Admission in private centers
Private centers are free to establish their own admission rules, so in order to obtain more detailed information on the requirements of a specific school and the documentation to provide, it is essential to contact their secretarial services.
In general, they usually ask for an interview with the parents, level tests for the students and an assessment of their academic record. The centers that teach in a language other than Spanish also usually require that the student have other siblings at the school or that their parents are former students of that center.
Admission in public centers
All public schools teach the cycles of Primary Education and Compulsory Secondary Education. Some of them also offer Early Childhood Education for children from 3 years of age. ESO, Baccalaureate and Vocational Training are taught in public institutes.
The deadline for submitting applications for admission to public centers varies in each autonomous community, although it is generally set between the months of February and April. On the other hand, enrollment takes place between the months of May and June, and even July in some communities. Each autonomous community establishes the guidelines that parents must follow to enroll students in the different educational levels, as well as the documents to provide.
Admission in concerted centers
Subsidized schools are private centers that have agreements with the Administration to subsidize a part of their teaching. In general, only the compulsory levels are subsidized (second cycle of Early Childhood Education, Primary Education and ESO), so parents only have to bear the expenses generated by the services offered by the center, such as school transport, dining room, reinforcement classes and any other type of extracurricular activities.
In exchange for this subsidy, these centers are obliged to follow some of the regulations issued by the Ministry of Education, such as the criteria for admission of students or the registration deadlines. Thus, both the requirements and the procedures to follow to access a subsidized center are the same as for public education centers.
Although each autonomous community determines the process to follow and the documents that parents must provide, the most common is to present a request to reserve a place at the chosen center. If the center does not have enough places to meet all the applications for admission, the choice of students is made taking as reference the so-called Admission Criteria (family income, siblings enrolled in the center, large family, proximity to the center, etc.). Each criterion adds a certain number of points to the application, and the families with the most points are the first to obtain a place.
