School and education

1. The system in brief

• Escola infantil — 0 to 3, optional, fee-paying; the Generalitat subsidises places at authorised centres (bono infantil)
• Infantil — 3 to 6, optional but attended by nearly everyone, and free at state schools
• Primaria — 6 to 12, compulsory
• ESO — 12 to 16, compulsory, with a leaving certificate
• Bachillerato or Formación Profesional — from 16, optional; the bachillerato leads to the university entrance examination

Schools are state (público), state-funded but privately run (concertado) or private. Oversight lies with the Conselleria de Educación, Cultura y Universidades of the Valencian government, not with the municipality: ceice.gva.es

2. Admission

Enrolment runs through a formal process, the admisión escolar, usually in spring for the following school year. Anyone arriving outside that window applies for a vacancy and is allocated a free place — not necessarily at the school of their choice.

Places are awarded on a points system, the baremo. Points come from, among other things:

• Siblings already at the same school — 15 points per sibling, the weightiest criterion; also 15 points per sibling on a first application in the Valencian Community
• Proximity of home or workplace to the school — 10 points inside the catchment area, 5 in adjoining areas
• Income and particular family circumstances — up to 7 points each

This is why the registration certificate matters so much: it proves your address, and the address decides the points.

3. The language of instruction

For a child arriving from abroad that means two new languages at once. Younger children generally manage well; from secondary level it becomes harder. Language support for newcomers is organised by each school in its own plan de acogida — ask at the school itself.

If you would rather avoid it, there are international schools in l’Alfàs del Pi (Albir) following the British and Norwegian curricula, plus other private schools in the area. They are private and charge fees.

4. Recognition of foreign qualifications

For Primaria and ESO no recognition procedure is needed — the school places the child by age. A convalidación is only required to enter the first year of Bachillerato; a homologación is for completed qualifications (Graduado en ESO, Bachiller). The competent body is the national Ministerio de Educación, Formación Profesional y Deportes, not the regional Conselleria. Both take time.

• Certificates with a sworn translation and, depending on the country, an apostille
• The application can be made from abroad, through the ministry’s sede electrónica or the Spanish consulate
• With the volante de inscripción condicional the child is enrolled provisionally — six months from the registry stamp; if the application is refused, the enrolment lapses

5. The school day

• School year — September to June, with long summer holidays and Altea’s local public holidays
• Comedor — school lunch, fee-paying, with means-tested support
• Escola matinera — early-morning care before lessons, at some schools, sometimes free — ask at the school
• Textbooks — largely covered by the Xarxa Llibres scheme, returned at the end of the year
• School transport — for outlying homes, applied for through the school; new arrivals within ten working days of enrolment

6. Documents

• A current registration certificate
• Parents’ identity documents and NIE
• Birth certificate or family book (translated)
• A medical certificate if needed; the school sets the exact list
• Previous school records, translated
• The child’s SIP card, if already issued

Which schools exist in Altea and where places are free is published by the Conselleria and the municipality. This page deliberately names no schools and rates none — both change, and the choice is a personal one.