International Schools in Valencia: The Registry List and What to Ask

The Generalitat's school registry includes foreign private schools in València city and in L'Horta Nord, but its open-data rows do not state the curriculum. A school that teaches only a foreign system may not admit Spanish-national pupils. Check the school type first, then ask each school for its curriculum and fees.

By Settle Valencia editorial team

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Which school type is open to your child

Your child’s nationality decides which schools are open to them. The foreign-schools decree sets one hard rule for schools that teach exclusively a foreign system.

Estos centros no podrán acoger alumnado de nacionalidad española, salvo en el caso que además de dicha nacionalidad posean la del Estado a cuyo sistema educativo correspondan las enseñanzas impartidas. En la inscripción a que se refiere el apartado anterior se hará constar expresamente esta circunstancia.

These schools may not take in pupils of Spanish nationality, except where, besides that nationality, they hold that of the State whose education system the teaching delivered belongs to. The registration referred to in the previous paragraph must expressly record this circumstance.

BOE · Real Decreto 806/1993, art. 18.2

If your child holds Spanish nationality

A school that teaches exclusively a foreign system is closed to your child, unless they also hold that system’s nationality. The school’s registration records this rule.

A mixed school teaches the foreign system plus Spanish language and culture. It may take in both Spanish and foreign pupils.

Studies by Spanish pupils at a foreign school not authorised to admit them are not recognised in Spain, unless they also hold that country’s nationality.

If your child does not hold Spanish nationality

The bar in article 18.2 covers pupils of Spanish nationality; it does not name your child. The school’s registered regime decides what it teaches and whom it admits, so request that regime before you apply.

For the wider move, including padrón and timing, see Moving to Valencia with children.

What the Conselleria registry shows, and what it leaves out

A school’s name proves nothing; the registry does. Every foreign school must be on the public register of the education administration to operate validly. In the Comunitat Valenciana that administration is the Conselleria. The register records the owner, the school, the teaching it offers, its number of places and its regime.

The open-data list the Generalitat publishes gives less. Each row shows the name, regime, address, phone and owner, under the generic name “foreign private school” (centro docente privado extranjero). No row states the curriculum, the stages or the fees. Do not infer a curriculum from a school’s name.

A school’s name does not show its registry type. IALE and Entrenaranjos are registered as private schools of the Spanish system, not as foreign schools.

Foreign private schools in València city

Five registry entries sit in València city, all private. No official source publishes fees, so request them from each school.

LABA Valencia is registered as a foreign private school but with no stages. Confirm what it teaches before you count it as a school for children.

Foreign private schools in L’Horta Nord

Sixteen entries sit in the comarca (county) the registry labels L’Horta Nord, which in these rows covers towns from Paterna and Burjassot to Puçol. Check the commute to each address before you shortlist.

Imagine Montessori School: two registered sites

Imagine Montessori School appears twice in the registry, in València city and in Paterna. The owner is the same company in both rows. The Paterna site is the one on the map.

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What to ask

• Which of the two registered sites your child would attend.
• The curriculum and stages at that site, because the registry rows do not state them.
• A written fee sheet.

Registry contact

Phone for the Paterna entry: 963145102. Phone for the València entry: 961071925.

Shackleton International School: Burjassot

Shackleton International School is registered as a foreign private school in Burjassot, in L’Horta Nord.

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What to ask

• Whether it is a mixed school or a school with a foreign system alone.
• The stages it covers and the exams its leavers sit.
• Fees, confirmed in writing before you apply.

Registry contact

Phone: 960450340.

British College La Cañada: La Cañada

British College La Cañada, owned by British College La Cañada, SL, is registered among the foreign private schools of L’Horta Nord. Do not read the curriculum off the name: the registry row does not state it.

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What to ask

• The regime the school is registered under.
• Whether your child’s nationality is a bar.
• Written fees and deposit terms.

Registry contact

Phone: 961324040.

Escuela La Travesía: La Cañada

Escuela La Travesía, owned by La Travesía Espacio Educativo, SL, is registered as a foreign private school in La Cañada. It is one of four foreign private schools the registry places in La Cañada.

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What to ask

• The stages it teaches and the curriculum.
• The regime it is registered under, and whether Spanish pupils are admitted.
• The full fee list, with the deposit.

Registry contact

Phone: 679177409.

Questions to ask any school before you apply

Put these questions to each school in writing and keep the answers.

• The registry entry: the register records the teaching offered, the number of places and the regime.
• Spanish language and culture: mixed schools teach it.
• Nationality: whether Spanish nationality is a bar for your child.
• Recognition: studies at a school outside the decree get none in Spain.
• Fees: the fee sheet, the deposit and what it covers; the registry rows carry no price.

For vaccine records, read the children’s healthcare guide.

If you want a public school instead

The free route is open too. Foreigners under sixteen have the right and duty to education, which includes basic, free and compulsory teaching. Parents have the right to choose a public or a private school.

Los extranjeros menores de dieciséis años tienen el derecho y el deber a la educación, que incluye el acceso a una enseñanza básica, gratuita y obligatoria.

Foreigners under sixteen have the right and the duty to education, including access to basic, free and compulsory teaching.

BOE · Ley Orgánica 4/2000, art. 9.1

Enrolment in a public school carries no fee in Infantil, Primaria or ESO. Read the public school enrolment guide for the calendar and the online route.

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Not confirmed: Which curriculum, stages and fees each school has: the open-data rows do not give them. Ask the school for its registry entry, which records the teaching it offers and its regime. Whether a given school is mixed or foreign-system-only is part of the same answer.

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General information checked against the sources listed above, not legal advice for your situation. Rules and office practice change; confirm with the immigration office or a licensed adviser before you act. See how guides are checked.

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