International schools in Spain for expat families

For most families moving to Spain, the question of where the children will go to school matters as much as the visa itself. It shapes which city you choose, which neighbourhood you rent in, and how quickly the family settles. Spain offers a genuinely broad range of schooling — from free state education to selective international schools running foreign curricula — but the options are not evenly spread across the country, and the enrolment process rewards families who plan ahead. This is an overview to help you frame the decision. It is not a ranking of schools, and every family's needs differ, so treat what follows as a starting point for your own research and local visits.

"For families, the school often decides the city long before the visa does. The international and private options are not spread evenly across Spain, so I encourage parents to line up schooling and residence together rather than treat them as separate problems."

Spanish public schools

State schools (colegios públicos) are free and open to any child legally resident in Spain, whatever their nationality. Funded and run by the regional education authorities, they teach the Spanish national curriculum, and teaching is delivered in Spanish — and, in some regions, in a co-official language such as Catalan, Valencian, Galician or Basque. That linguistic reality is central to the decision: in Catalonia, for example, Catalan is the main language of instruction, and in the Valencian Community and the Balearics you will encounter Valencian or Catalan alongside Spanish.

The great advantage of the public route is immersion. Younger children in particular tend to absorb the language quickly and integrate into local life, and there is no fee barrier. The trade-off is that the language of instruction may be unfamiliar at first, and the curriculum is Spanish rather than the system your child may return to later. For families committed to living in Spain for the long term, and with children young enough to adapt, public schooling is often the most natural — and most economical — choice.

Public-school places are generally allocated by reference to your registered municipal address, so the empadronamiento — the town-hall registration of where you live — is a practical cornerstone of enrolment.

Concertado (semi-private) schools

Between the public and fully private sectors sit the concertados: schools that receive public funding but are privately managed, frequently by a religious order or an educational foundation. They follow the Spanish curriculum, usually charge only modest voluntary contributions for certain services, and are popular with local families. Because they combine a subsidised structure with a private ethos, demand can be high and places competitive, particularly at well-regarded schools in the larger cities.

For an expat family, a concertado can be an appealing middle path — closer to the community feel and modest cost of the public system, sometimes with additional language provision or extracurricular offerings. As always, availability varies by area, and popular schools may have limited spaces, so early enquiries matter.

Private Spanish schools

Fully private Spanish schools (colegios privados) charge fees and set their own admissions, while still generally following the Spanish national curriculum. Some offer bilingual programmes with a substantial amount of teaching in English, which can suit families who want their children educated broadly within the Spanish system but with stronger English support than a standard public school provides. These schools are worth distinguishing from international schools proper: a private Spanish school leads towards Spanish qualifications, whereas an international school typically leads towards a foreign or international qualification.

International schools and curricula

International schools are the option most expat families ask about first. They deliver a foreign or international curriculum, teach largely or wholly in the corresponding language, and are designed for globally mobile families who may move on to another country later. The main curricula you will encounter in Spain include:

• British — following the English national curriculum, with IGCSEs and A-Levels. British schools are among the most common international options in Spain.
• International Baccalaureate (IB) — the IB Diploma and related programmes, valued for their international recognition and breadth.
• American — US-style curricula leading towards a high-school diploma, sometimes with Advanced Placement courses.
• French — schools following the French national programme, often linked to the French education network abroad.
• German — German-curriculum schools serving German-speaking families and others seeking that system.

The appeal of an international school is continuity: a child can carry a familiar curriculum and language across borders, which matters greatly for families who expect to relocate again or whose children are approaching public examinations. The considerations are that fees apply, places at established schools can be limited, and the degree of Spanish-language immersion is usually lower than in the state system — something to weigh if long-term integration in Spain is your goal.

Where international schools cluster

International schools are not distributed evenly across Spain. They concentrate where international communities are largest and longest-established, which means your choice of city has a direct bearing on the range of curricula within reach:

• Madrid — the capital offers one of the widest ranges of international schools in the country, spanning British, American, IB, French and German curricula, reflecting its large diplomatic and corporate expat population. See our Madrid relocation guide.
• Barcelona — a strong international offering, with the added consideration of Catalan in the wider public system.
• Costa del Sol (Marbella and Sotogrande) — a long-standing hub for British and international education serving a large foreign-resident community along the coast. Our Marbella relocation guide looks at this area in more detail.
• Valencia — a growing expat destination with a developing international-school scene.
• Balearic Islands — Mallorca and neighbouring islands host international schools serving their sizeable foreign-resident communities.

Away from these hubs — in smaller cities, inland towns and rural areas — international schools are far fewer, and public or concertado schooling in Spanish becomes the practical reality. If a particular curriculum is non-negotiable for your family, it is wise to confirm what exists in your target area before committing to a location.

How enrolment works

Enrolment procedures differ between sectors. For public and concertado schools, admissions are coordinated by the regional education authority through a formal application window, and places are allocated using a points system. Factors that commonly carry weight include proximity of your registered home address to the school, whether siblings already attend, and other administrative criteria — which is why the empadronamiento is so often the practical foundation of the process. Registering your address at the town hall is a step many families need to complete early.

For private and international schools, you generally apply directly to the school. Admissions may involve an interview, an assessment, or a review of prior school records, and popular schools operate their own timelines and waiting lists independent of the public calendar. Documentation typically requested across all routes can include proof of residence, the child's identification, vaccination records and prior academic records, sometimes translated. Requirements vary, so confirm exactly what each school and authority asks for.

The school year and waiting lists

The Spanish academic year broadly runs from September to June, with the main enrolment period typically falling in the spring for the following September start. Applying within that window gives the widest choice of places. Families arriving outside it are not shut out, but they are working against the fact that sought-after schools — public, concertado and international alike — can fill up and maintain waiting lists.

Waiting lists are a normal feature rather than an exception at popular schools, especially in the international sector in the main hubs. The practical lesson is to enquire as early as you realistically can, and to keep more than one option open. Where a first-choice school has no immediate space, a place may open during the year, or an alternative can bridge the gap.

How choosing a city shapes your options

Because international schooling clusters geographically, the city decision and the schooling decision are really one decision. A family set on a British or American curriculum will find the widest choice in Madrid, along the Costa del Sol, or in Barcelona, whereas a family happy with Spanish-language immersion has far more freedom over where to live. It is worth mapping the two together from the outset: identify the schools that fit your child, see where they are, and let that inform the shortlist of neighbourhoods and towns.

Our city relocation guides are a useful starting point for this. The Madrid guide and the Marbella guide cover the character of each area and how families tend to settle there, which pairs naturally with the schooling questions in this note.

Thinking about cost

Cost varies enormously across the sectors, and it would be misleading to quote figures here, since fees differ by school, city, curriculum and year, and public schooling is free. In broad, qualitative terms: state schools carry no tuition; concertados typically involve only modest voluntary contributions; private Spanish schools charge fees; and international schools sit at the higher end, reflecting their facilities, smaller classes and specialised curricula. Beyond tuition, families should also allow for extras such as registration or enrolment fees, uniforms, books, materials, meals, transport and after-school activities, which can add up.

Schooling is one line in a wider household budget, and it interacts with the general cost of living in your chosen area. Our cost-of-living guide gives the broader context of living expenses across Spain, which is worth reading alongside any school-fee research so that the education decision sits within a realistic overall picture. Always confirm current fees directly with each school, as published figures change.

Tips for a mid-year move

Not every relocation lines up neatly with the Spanish academic calendar. Job timing, visa timing and personal circumstances often mean arriving mid-year, with children who need to start school promptly. A few practical points tend to help:

• Start enquiries before you arrive. Contact target schools early and ask directly about mid-year availability and waiting lists rather than waiting until you land.
• Register your address promptly. Completing the empadronamiento soon after arriving supports public-school applications and much else besides.
• Gather documents in advance. Have the child's records, identification, vaccination history and prior school reports ready, with translations where a school requires them.
• Keep options open. If a first-choice school is full, consider a suitable interim place and revisit once a space opens or the next enrolment window arrives.
• Think about language support. For a mid-year entry into a Spanish-language school, ask what support is available for a child still learning the language.

A mid-year move is entirely workable — many families manage it — but it is smoother when the schooling question is tackled early and with more than one plan in mind. Because education, residence and the practicalities of settling in are closely bound together, it can help to think about the whole relocation as a single project rather than a sequence of separate problems.

Choosing a school is a parental-authority decision, so separated parents usually need both signatures or a judicial resolution. If one parent is relocating the child, start with moving to Spain with a child in shared custody.

Two categories of foreign school exist in Spanish law and the difference is not cosmetic. A school teaching exclusively a foreign curriculum may not admit pupils of Spanish nationality unless they also hold the nationality of that education system, and studies taken at any establishment outside the authorisation framework cannot be homologated at all. Both points — and why an accredited American online school is not a substitute for enrolment — are set out in homeschooling in Spain.

General information for families planning a move, not legal, tax or educational advice. School availability, curricula, fees and enrolment rules vary by school, region and year, and must be confirmed directly with the relevant schools and authorities.