For families with children education is one of the most important things to sort out.  You may be about to move to our beautiful area, have just arrived or your children may be approaching school age.  Whatever the reason we hope our guide helps you make your decision.

Nursery – Guardería Infantil
Spanish nurseries care for babies from 3 months to 3 years.  

• To register your child just telephone or pop along to the nursery in your town and ask for an appointment to see the premises and meet the staff.
• Prices vary, depending on how many days/sessions your child attends and whether they take their own lunch or have a meal provided by nursery. 
• If you’ve been used to paying British nursery prices you’ll be pleasantly surprised.  The cost is approximately 1/3 of British nursery prices and the care is just as good.

Pre-School – Educación Infantil
Pre-school education takes place for children aged between 3-5 years.  This stage of your child’s education isn’t compulsory, but most Spanish children attend.
Depending on where you live the pre-school may either be based in the same building as the town’s primary school or at a separate location.


Primary – Educación Primaria
Primary education in Spain is compulsory and starts at age 6.  Pupils stay at primary school one year longer than in the UK, leaving to move on to secondary education at 12.

To register it’s necessary to do the following:

• Register on the Padrón at the town hall
• Obtain a medical certificate
• Supply copies of your child’s passport
• Supply two passport photographs
• Complete and return the registration form to the school and supply the above documents.

The registration form can be obtained from the school.

Once you’ve got all the relevant documents and returned them to the school they will tell you when your child can start.  Contrary to popular belief you don’t need an NIE number to register at school.

One thing to remember is that the majority of your child’s education will be taught in Valenciano in this area.  Children are also taught in Castellano Spanish, usually once a day, however, most of their books are in Valenciano.

The schools in this area are very welcoming and always pleased when parents make an effort to become part of the school community.  If your Spanish is limited this is an excellent way to increase your linguistic skills!

The school day usually runs from 9.00am – 5.00pm with a three hour break in the middle of the day.  Children can either return home for this break or take lunch at school (comedor).  Comedor tends to be supervised by ‘lunch assistants’ and many schools offer extra curricular activities during this period, such as art, gardening, music and sport.

Secondary – Educación Seundaria Obligatoria
Secondary education in Spain takes places from 12-16 years and is compulsory. 

For more general information on education in Spain we suggest you visit www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Spain

Another good educational site is the Ministry of Education and Science website at www.mec.es/educcacion.  You will need to understand Spanish to read this site.

International Schools
If you would prefer your child to have a British education there are two international schools locally:  The Lady Elizabeth, with its primary section based in Javea and the secondary school in LLíber, and Javea International College, with both primary and senior based in Javea.

Click here to find the schools in your town.