Regarding education in Spain, there are three options: public schools, private schools, and semi-private schools. To get a place in public and semi-private schools, you must have a residence in Spain. If parents are residents, then kids can get a place in one of the schools in the area where they live.
Public schools are almost free. Parents pay just a few hundred euros per year for different costs. Semi-private schools have higher quality than public schools but cost more than public ones. However, they are still less expensive than private ones. When we moved here, we still did not have residency, so we had to choose a private school.
Private schools are also the most expensive, costing around 500 EUR/month/child to 1000 EUR/month/child or more. Apart from this cost, you also have to pay for books, field trips, insurance, lunch, and bus rides for each child, depending on your circumstances.
Our experience with private schools here is very good. We have chosen a Spanish private school, where 80% of subjects are taught in Spanish and just 20% in English. There are other private schools in this area that teach 80% in English, or even Swedish schools. Most private schools offer a parallel study programme aligned with the UK or USA. These options open the door for kids to study at universities in those countries if they want.
The curriculum here is much more demanding than in Sweden. Kids have to study more hours and regularly. That is tough, but it helps develop good ground knowledge and good working habits.
One benefit of the private school was that our kids were provided with additional language classes at no additional cost. We've also hired a private language tutor for them, and that worked quite well.
Depending on the kids' age, the younger they are, the better and faster they will adapt to a new country and language. Our kids were 12 and 14 when we moved, and they still managed to adapt. But we had to provide a lot of support to make it work. For the last 2-3 months of school, we studied with them daily to ensure they passed all the tests with good grades. It was hard work, but it paid off! :-)
Great article! I’d love to hear about the education options for your kids and how you navigated that. (Languages, fees for private schools etc)
Thank you, Zandile, I appreciate your comment!
Regarding education in Spain, there are three options: public schools, private schools, and semi-private schools. To get a place in public and semi-private schools, you must have a residence in Spain. If parents are residents, then kids can get a place in one of the schools in the area where they live.
Public schools are almost free. Parents pay just a few hundred euros per year for different costs. Semi-private schools have higher quality than public schools but cost more than public ones. However, they are still less expensive than private ones. When we moved here, we still did not have residency, so we had to choose a private school.
Private schools are also the most expensive, costing around 500 EUR/month/child to 1000 EUR/month/child or more. Apart from this cost, you also have to pay for books, field trips, insurance, lunch, and bus rides for each child, depending on your circumstances.
Our experience with private schools here is very good. We have chosen a Spanish private school, where 80% of subjects are taught in Spanish and just 20% in English. There are other private schools in this area that teach 80% in English, or even Swedish schools. Most private schools offer a parallel study programme aligned with the UK or USA. These options open the door for kids to study at universities in those countries if they want.
The curriculum here is much more demanding than in Sweden. Kids have to study more hours and regularly. That is tough, but it helps develop good ground knowledge and good working habits.
One benefit of the private school was that our kids were provided with additional language classes at no additional cost. We've also hired a private language tutor for them, and that worked quite well.
Depending on the kids' age, the younger they are, the better and faster they will adapt to a new country and language. Our kids were 12 and 14 when we moved, and they still managed to adapt. But we had to provide a lot of support to make it work. For the last 2-3 months of school, we studied with them daily to ensure they passed all the tests with good grades. It was hard work, but it paid off! :-)
Wow, thank you so much. A great place to start with my research ! I truly appreciate it.