Valencian in Valencia Schools: Choice and Exemption
Moving to Valencia with a school-age child? In public and concertado schools you choose the base language, Valencian or Castilian. A child joining late, schooled in the Comunitat Valenciana for the first time, may ask for exemption from Valencian assessment for two school years. The child still attends the class.
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Moving to Valencia with a school-age child, unsure how much Valencian they will face? You pick the base language, and a child who joins the Valencian system late from abroad may ask for exemption from Valencian grading.
Which language will your child learn in?
The language-choice law covers public and concertado (publicly funded private) schools in the Comunitat Valenciana. Private schools without a concertado agreement may adopt it but are not bound by it.
Valencia city is on the list of Valencian-predominance municipalities in article 35 of the 1983 language law. In that zone, you choose the base language, Valencian or Castilian (Spanish), for your child.
Los representantes legales del alumnado tendrán derecho a elegir la lengua base, valenciano o castellano, en las enseñanzas indicadas en el presente artículo.
The legal representatives of pupils will have the right to choose the base language, Valencian or Castilian, in the stages indicated in this article.
BOE · Ley 1/2024 de la Generalitat, art. 9.1
The base language (lengua base) is the co-official language chosen by the legal representatives of a minor.
How do you choose the base language?
You choose when you apply for a place. At the start of Infantil, the share of families choosing each language is counted from the first option on each admission application. Applications go in exclusively online through Adminova.
Here is the tip that matters. If one school is your priority, enter it twice on the application, once per base language, in order of preference. Enter it once and you cannot get a place in its other language line.
The base language is set again each year at the start of Infantil, year 1 of ESO and year 1 of Bachillerato. Once chosen at the start of schooling, it continues through Infantil and Primaria.
In Infantil and Primaria, if a language line is full or the school has none, your child is first assigned a place in the other base language. Where demand is enough to form a unit, the education authority must take measures to meet it.
Dates and points are in the guide to public school enrolment in Valencia.
How much Valencian is in the school day?
In Primaria, pupils study Valencian Language and Literature, Castilian Language and Literature and English in all years. Shares of teaching time differ by stage.
| Stage | Share of lesson time |
|---|---|
| Infantil | Base language 65%; other co-official language 25%; English 10% |
| Primaria, first two years | Other co-official language at least 25% |
| Primaria, from the third year | Both languages teach; base language gets the larger share; gap at most 20% |
| Primaria, all years | English plus at least one subject taught in English: 15% to 25% together |
| ESO | Both languages teach; base language gets the larger share; gap at most 20% |
Reading and writing in Primaria is taught in the base language you chose when schooling began. Mathematics or knowledge of the natural, social and cultural environment is taught in that language throughout Primaria.
Exams in either language
In non-language subjects, your child may sit partial and final exams and assessment tests in Valencian or Castilian, as they choose, whatever the teaching language.
Can your child be exempt from Valencian grading?
The exemption is for a child who joins late (incorporación tardía) and starts school in the Comunitat Valenciana for the first time. The child must come from another region or a foreign education system, and may ask for exemption from Valencian assessment and grading. It covers the arrival year and the year after.
el alumnado de incorporación tardía que se escolarice por primera vez en la Comunitat Valenciana, procedente de otra comunidad autónoma o de un sistema educativo extranjero, podrá solicitar la exención de la evaluación y calificación del valenciano durante el curso escolar en que se produzca su incorporación, así como durante el curso escolar inmediatamente siguiente.
late-incorporation pupils who start school for the first time in the Comunitat Valenciana, coming from another autonomous community or from a foreign education system, may request exemption from the assessment and grading of Valencian during the school year in which they join, and during the school year immediately following.
BOE · Ley 1/2024 de la Generalitat, art. 14.3
For a minor, the legal representatives exercise that right. The child must still attend the Valencian class and take part in it. In later school years the school must make an access adaptation in Valencian.
If your residence in Valencia is temporary
A pupil with temporary residence in a Valencian-predominance municipality may ask for the exemption for a maximum of three consecutive school years. Valencia city is on that list. The Conselleria sets the procedure and the proof of temporary residence.
If you live in a Castilian-predominance municipality
The exemption has no time limit there. Valencia city is on the Valencian list instead.
What the exemption means for language levels
A pupil who has not opted for the exemption has the right to the recognitions of Valencian level in article 16. Passing Valencian in all six years of Primaria earns the right to level A2.
A pupil not assessed in Valencian in at least one of the last three school years may ask for exemption from the Valencian university-entrance test. That covers pupils who did not study the subject or were exempt.
How to ask, and the 2026-2027 deadlines
These dates come from the 2026-2027 instructions for Infantil and Primaria schools.
| Case | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Ordinary request | 22 December 2026 |
| Pupil who starts school unexpectedly mid-year | Three months to apply, and 15 June 2027 at the latest |
Hand the request to the school secretariat; you receive a stamped copy. If something is missing, the school gives ten days to fix it.
You may give up the exemption later on the annex III form, dated and signed. If the exemption is refused, you may appeal (recurso de alzada) to the regional education secretariat.
What support does a newly arrived child get?
For Infantil and Primaria, the school first assesses curricular competence and knowledge of the teaching languages. The teaching team then decides on support measures.
Pupils with specific educational support needs get the access adaptations they need for how the school handles languages. Serious lack of knowledge of the language of learning, and late arrival, are named among those needs.
If your child moves to a school that cannot continue the same base language, an individual language adjustment follows. It changes the teaching language, or the textbooks and materials, in some subjects.
Placement follows circumstances, knowledge, age and academic record, with support. A primary pupil two or more years behind may be placed temporarily in a lower year than the one that matches their age. In ESO the same applies once access adaptations have been considered.
Schools also follow the Conselleria instructions of 5 June 2018 on welcoming newly arrived pupils.
What if your child arrives mid-year?
Under the national education law (Ley Orgánica 2/2006), public authorities must favour the entry of pupils who join late from other countries. Entry is guaranteed at compulsory school age. Under Ley Orgánica 4/2000, foreigners under sixteen have the right and the duty to education.
If you need a place unexpectedly in Valencia and could not apply in the ordinary window, ask for the extraordinary phase. Once the school year has started, the continuous phase applies. Moving house from another locality and late entry to the education system count as urgent reasons for immediate schooling.
If your child qualifies for the Valencian exemption, ask at the same time: in 2026-2027, a pupil who starts school unexpectedly has three months to apply. The guide to moving with children covers the other steps.
Is the law still in force?
The law came into force on 28 June 2024. Its language rules apply from school year 2025-2026. The exemption article has applied since 2024-2025. It repealed the earlier plurilingualism law.
The Constitutional Court admitted a challenge (recurso 7174-2024) against a list of articles. It includes the base-language choice (article 9), the Infantil shares (article 10) and the Primaria gap rule (article 11, section 5). The demand rule (article 13) and the exam-language right (article 20, section 1) are on it too.
The exemption article is not on that list, so the exemption route above is outside the challenge. No ruling was found when this page was checked.
Photo credits
- A primary school yard in Valencia, shown for atmosphere: Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab), 19Tarrestnom65 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- The Generalitat palace in Valencia, seat of the regional government: Ymblanter, Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab), Ymblanter (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Not confirmed: A Constitutional Court challenge to the law is admitted and no ruling was found; ask the school which rules it applies. The documents the school asks for with the exemption request are not published; ask the school secretariat. What the 2018 welcome instructions require in practice is unconfirmed; ask the school.
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Common questions
Do I have to choose Valencian for my child?
No. In public and concertado schools in the Valencian-predominance zone, which includes Valencia city, you choose the base language, Valencian or Castilian. In Primaria your child still studies Valencian as a subject in all years. An exemption covers only assessment and grading; the child still attends the class.
Can my child be exempt from Valencian if the family just arrived from abroad?
Yes, if the child joins late and starts school in the Comunitat Valenciana for the first time, from a foreign education system or another region. The family may then ask for exemption from Valencian assessment and grading in the arrival year and the year after. The child still attends the class and takes part. After that, the school must adapt access to Valencian.
When is the exemption deadline this school year?
For 2026-2027 in Infantil and Primaria schools, the ordinary deadline is 22 December 2026. A pupil who starts school unexpectedly mid-year has three months to apply, and 15 June 2027 at the latest. File the request at the school secretariat and keep the stamped copy you receive.
Which language are exams in?
In non-language subjects, your child may sit partial and final exams and assessment tests in Valencian or Castilian, as they choose, whatever the teaching language. The right belongs to the pupil, not the school. This article is among those under Constitutional Court challenge, with no ruling found.
What if the school has no place in my language line?
In Infantil and Primaria, your child is first assigned a place in the other base language. Where demand is enough to form a unit, the education authority must take measures to meet it. Listing a priority school in both language lines keeps both options open; listing it once limits you to that line.
Does a private school have to follow this law?
Public and concertado schools are covered. A private school without a concertado agreement may adopt the law, but is not bound by it. Ask the school which language rules it follows before you enrol, and check the type of school first in the guide to international schools.
Is the law still in force?
Yes. It came into force in June 2024, and its language rules apply from school year 2025-2026. A Constitutional Court challenge against a list of articles, including the base-language choice, is admitted, with no ruling found. The exemption article is not on that list.
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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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