What this report does This report assesses the state of equity, or equality of opportunity, in education in Spain and its autonomous communities, based on an original and detailed analysis of the PISA 2025 microdata and a comparison with the 2022 data. Describing and understanding educational equity in depth is highly relevant for a country’s […]

This report analyses the state of Shadow Education (SE) in Spain using the latest available wave of the National Statistics Institute’s (INE) Household Education Expenditure Survey (EGHE 2023/24) and compares it with the immediately preceding available wave (2019/20), analysed in detail in the EsadeEcPol report by Moreno and Martínez (2023). We find that aggregate spending […]

In Spain, the maximum number of pupils per classroom is 25 in Primary education and 30 in lower secondary education (ESO). On 11 November 2025, the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sport (MEFPD) presented the draft Bill to reduce the maximum class size to 22 pupils in Primary and 25 in ESO, and to […]

In collaboration with Fundación ‘la Caixa’ and Save the Children ↓ Download the full report Technical annexes: quantitative · qualitative This study seeks to identify and characterise those schools that, in contexts of high social vulnerability, enable their students to progress beyond what would be expected compared with other schools in their surroundings. Two case […]

In the verge of a new technological revolution, Math and Science skills will gain its importance as critical skills for social and economic progress. Why some countries are better than others in teaching such skills? Recent results of the international assessment TIMSS 2023 displayed poor results for both Spain and France in Math and Science […]

Teachers are the most decisive school factor for the quality of education systems. In Spain, the teaching profession is at a critical juncture, shaping education for the coming decades. Recent data show an increase in fatigue, feelings of isolation, and dissatisfaction among a portion of teachers. This report explores the state of the teaching profession […]

Subsidized education is a central element of the Spanish educational system. While 67% of students attend public schools, nearly 30% attend publicly funded but privately owned centers, called “centros concertados”(and only 4% attend self-financed private centers). The “concertados” fulfills an instrumental function in the development of Article 27 of the Constitution: freedom of education. However, […]

Key Data The gaps in educational outcomes in Spain have tended to remain stable or increase after the pandemic:   → One out of every six points of difference between students in PISA mathematics scores can be explained by socioeconomic inequality, a degree similar to 2018.   → Students from a low socioeconomic background are almost 4 […]

Spain has practically the same real per capita income as 15 years ago, while other countries around us are much richer than they were then. This means that over the last eighteen years we have not improved our average standard of living. We are therefore on the road to two lost decades. There are many […]

Between 2013 (the historical peak) and 2023, Spain lost 450,000 children under the age of 16, that is, potential pupils in the compulsory stages of early childhood and compulsory education. By 2037 the figure will exceed 1 million children. The education system will go from having to absorb 7.5 million to fewer than 6.5 million […]

In recent years the average grade in Selectividad, Spain’s university entrance exam, has risen from 8.75 out of 14 in 2015/2016 to 10.34 in 2021/2022. This increase can be seen in all regions. The most common hypothesis in public debate to explain this rise is that it is artificial: students know less and less, and […]

The use of administrative education data is changing at great speed thanks to the greater availability of administrative data and also to methodological advances in economics and the social sciences. However, Spain is falling behind despite the efforts of some regional administrations and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training over the last decade and […]

We provide evidence from a randomized controlled trial on the effectiveness of a novel, 100-percent online math tutoring program, targeted at secondary school students from highly disadvantaged neighborhoods in Spain. The intensive, eightweek-long program was delivered by qualified math teachers in groups of two students during after-school hours, six months after Covid-19 related school closures […]

La jornada escolar matinal (continua) se ha extendido rápidamente en muchos centros públicos de toda España en los últimos 30 años. Aunque no existen datos oficiales, las encuestas más recientes muestran que la jornada matinal (continua) es mayoritaria en los centros públicos de Infantil y Primaria.

Fundación Vodafone España and Haz, la Alianza por la Educación set the working group the central objective of exploring the competency-based curriculum and its effective implementation and assessment in Spain. This exercise was carried out through 8 online sessions held between April and September 2021, organised by Fundación Vodafone España and the Center for Economic […]

We use census data on external assessments in primary and secondary school in the Basque Country (Spain) to estimate learning losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2021, one year after school closures, which lasted from March to June 2020. Differences-in-differences with student and school-by-grade fixed effects show an average learning loss of 0.045 […]

These documents are part of the «Learning loss after the pandemic» project, led by the Esade Center for Economic Policy (EsadeEcPol) and the COTEC Foundation. To find out more, visit www.perdidadeaprendizaje.es Learning loss after a year of pandemic: the case of the Basque Country This first document presents the main results of the analysis of […]

Lucas Gortazar, Director de Educación del Esade Center for Economic Policy and Political Economy (EsadeEcPol) entrevista a Pilar Alegría, Ministra de Educación y Formación Profesional del Gobierno de España. En esta entrevista en profundidad, la Ministra desgrana las políticas educativas del Gobierno de España respondiendo a las preguntas más relevantes de la legislatura en materia […]

Menttores consisted of an 8-week long, intensive online tutoring program, with three 50-minute sessions a week for pupils aged 12 to 15

Menttores consisted of an 8-week long, intensive online tutoring program, with three 50-minute sessions a week for pupils aged 12 to 15 (years one and two of compulsory secondary education) in 18 state and grant-assisted schools (colegios concertados) in the Region of Madrid and Catalonia (Barcelona and Lleida).

En el curso 2020/21, el gobierno y las CCAA redujeron las ratios alumno-profesor para asegurar las recomendaciones epidemiológicas de distancia social en los centros. La vuelta a la normalidad augura un retorno a ratios más altos, algo que ha generado un debate muy controvertido.

En los últimos años, la segregación escolar se ha convertido en un problema cada vez mayor para la calidad, equidad y libertad de educación en España.

En este Policy Brief analizamos las diez políticas palanca y la gobernanza del “Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia: España Puede”.

En este webinar, Lucas Gortazar conversa con Cristóbal Cobo sobre las posibles tendencias a futuro y los riesgos y oportunidades que se abren paso en las escuelas y gobiernos de todo el mundo.

This policy insight looks at the strengths, absences, and weaknesses of Spain’s new education law.

Investments via European funds are a great opportunity for Spain.

Reopening schools weighs the health risks of returning to the classroom against the educational, social and economic costs of keeping schools closed.

On the eve of a new technological revolution, mathematics and science skills will be increasingly essential for social and economic progress. Why are some countries better than others at teaching these skills? In 2023, the mathematics and science skills of fourth-grade pupils measured in Spain and France by the international TIMSS survey were still well […]