THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN CATALONIA

BASIC ASPECTS

1. How is the Catalan Educational System organized?

The educational system is compulsory from the age of 6 up to the age of 16, and it is organized by cycles:
Infant Education, Primary Education, Secondary Education (which includes Compulsory Secondary Education, Baccalaureate and Middle Grade Vocational Training), Upper Grade Vocational Training and University Education.
Infant Education has two cycles and it goes up to the age of 6. Primary Education has three cycles between the ages of 6 and 12. Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) has two cycles between the ages of 12 and 16.
In Catalonia, the language normally used in the educational system is Catalan.
Children also learn Spanish and, when they are a bit older, they learn a modern foreign language, which is usually English. However, in some schools, they learn French instead.
2. Further information
• Pre-primary education (nursery/infant education): it’s educational-oriented and free of charge during the second stage
• Public and publicly funded private schools; there are no tuition fees in publicly funded schools although parents may be required to pay for materials, transport or meals, depending on their level of income
• Private schools may be financially independent or government dependent and may offer any level of education.
• Intermediate or Middle Vocational Training: It consists of modules with both a theoretical and practical content; transversal skills.
• Higher education includes university and non-university education: Advanced or Upper Vocational Training, Higher Artistic Education Higher Music Academies
• Baccalaureate (general upper-secondary education) involves two years and offers three modalities: Arts, Science and Technology and Humanities and Social Sciences.
• Successful performance in the university entrance examination (PAU) is essential to enroll at university