Adult Education and Training Funding

Main funding principles

The aim of adult education is to offer citizens over the age of 18 the possibility to acquire, update, complete and expand their knowledge and skills for their personal and professional development. It comprises different types of programmes, which are organised by the education, employment and local authorities.

The State Budget for 2018 establishes the following objectives of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training regarding adult education:

• promote adult learning as a key component of lifelong learning, thereby contributing to employability, mobility in the labour market and social inclusion
• ensure the quality of provision and establish a system for the monitoring of adult learning, and implement systems for the recognition of competences acquired outside the education system
• ensure the recognition of the competences required in lifelong learning, bearing in mind that they are acquired and recognised at all levels of education.

On the other hand, labour authorities establish the following objectives for Vocational Training for employment:

• encourage unemployed and employed workers’ lifelong learning in order to improve their professional competences and their employment and training pathways, as well as their professional and personal development
• contribute to the improvement of the productivity and competitiveness of companies
• meet the requirements of the labour market and the needs of companies, providing workers with the appropriate competences, knowledge and practices
• improve the employability of workers, especially of those having greater difficulties for remaining in the labour market or inclusion
• promote the accreditation of workers’ professional competences acquired through training or work experience
• bring and extend the benefits of information and communication technologies to workers, promoting the reduction of the existing digital divide and ensuring accessibility.

Funding for the actions and measures developed in order to achieve these objectives comes from the State Budget, the budgets of the different Autonomous Communities and the European Social Fund.

Bodies responsible for public funding

Public funds for adult education and training are mainly provided by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, the Ministry of Employment, Migration and Social Security and regional authorities, both education and employment.

Education authorities

Educational authorities finance:

• formal adult education, leading to the award of official certificates
• a small part of occupational vocational training, which is the training to encourage the professional reintegration of the unemployed through qualification or the updating of their professional competences.

In 2018, EUR 396.6 million were invested in adult education and EUR 819 million in occupational training.

Financial autonomy and the mechanisms for control have the same characteristics as in public institutions offering other types of provision. For more information, see Early childhood and school education funding.

Employment authorities

Employment authorities finance:

• vocational training for employment for active workers
• most of training for the unemployed.

In 2019 the Vocational Training System for Employment had a total budget (extended budget) of 2,414 million euros, of which 1,147 million euros were allocated to employed workers, both at national and regional level.

Vocational training for employed people

Vocational training for employed people is managed by the State Public Employment Service (SEPE), the Autonomous Communities or the National Institute for Public Administration (INAP), and the State Foundation for Training in Employment (FUNDAE). Resources to finance training managed by the State Foundation comes from:

• the vocational training contribution paid by companies and workers to the Social Security, in accordance with the provisions of the State Budget Law each year
• co-financing through the European Social Fund or other European aid or initiatives
• specific contributions established in the budget of the State Public Employment Service
• own funds allocated by the Autonomous Communities for this purpose.

Training for the unemployed

Funding comes mainly from the State Public Employment Service and is managed by the education authorities of the Autonomous Communities.  Regional governments and local corporations also make contributions from their budgets.

For more information, see Adult education and training.

Fees paid by learners 

Education authorities

As in the case of students in compulsory education, basic education for adults is also free of charge.

Each Autonomous Community decides on the cost of public fees for each post-compulsory service and/or educational activity:

• entrance examinations to advanced vocational training cycles
• examinations leading to Technician and Advanced Technician certificates
• registration in language courses in Official Language Schools
• student benefits and fee waivers.

The following are usually exempt from the payment of fees:

• students who are members of families with five or more children
• beneficiaries of grants and financial support
• victims of terrorist attacks.

Students under 28 must pay an annual fee for school insurance, which includes health care, as well as benefits in case of illness, accident at school or family hardship.

Students enrolled in a course of the Aula Mentor project, the online training system of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, must pay a monthly fee of EUR 24 and register for at least two months. In the case of 30 hour courses, they have to register for at least a month. 

Employment authorities

Cost-free education is one of the principles underpinning vocational training for employment, so training activities are free of charge.

Financial support for adult learners

Education authorities

General grants and financial support in post-compulsory education and non-university higher education

Adults who are enrolled in non-university post-compulsory education programmes are eligible for these grants and general financial support when they are studying: Bachillerato, intermediate or advanced vocational training, professional artistic education or sports education, whether in mainstream provision or in specific adult education provision (including part-time provision).

They may include: 

• for students in post-compulsory education:
  
  • grants to cover the cost of registration fees in private institutions
  • transport
  • residence
  • materials and 'city supplements', in the case of learners who have to travel to study in more populated areas.

Students:

• have to be enrolled in, at least, four subjects or areas, or in a number of vocational training modules equivalent to 500 class hours
• they have to pass all the subjects, areas or modules in order to qualify for assistance in the following year.

The duration of the grants can be one year longer than the regular duration established for the study programme.

For more information, see Early childhood and school education funding.

Grants for students attending language courses in Official Language Schools

They can be awarded financial help provided they are registered in a full course.

The grant covers:

• tuition fees
• transport
• school materials.

It is awarded for the duration of the programme of studies and for a maximum of two languages.

These grants are included in the call for general grants for students in post-compulsory studies: Call for applications 2020/2021. 

Grants for post-compulsary university education

Adults can apply for general grants and financial support to pursue university studies in the Spanish university system at Spanish institutions, which are recognised throughout the country:

1. university education leading to official Bachelor's and Master's degrees, including Bachelor's and Master's studies at the centres of both the Defence Ministry and the Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil)
2. preparatory course for university access for people over 25 years of age offered in public universities
3. training complements for accessing or obtaining a Master's degree and complementary credits for obtaining a Bachelor's degree. Grants for third cycle programmes or doctorate studies, specialisation studies or university qualifications are not included in this call. 

For more information, see Higher education funding.

Employment authorities

Students engaged in vocational training for employment, who are unemployed and meet the requirements established, may receive financial assistance.

It may cover:

• transport
• meals
• accommodation
• attention to children under 6 or dependent family members.

In addition to this financial support, the Ministry of Employment, Migration and Social Security also offers grants to:

• people with disabilities
• people with special needs
• people facing difficulties to integrate into the labour market or to improve their professional qualifications
• people participating in specific programmes established by the State Public Employment Service or by regional public employment services.

Subsidies for private providers

Private adult education and training, both in-class and distance provision, is organised by a variety of institutions. They may be classified, according to whether it is organised by education or employment authorities or whether it leads to the award of an official certificate or not, into:

• mainstream institutions
• specific institutions for adult education
• associations
• foundations
• companies
• business organisations and trade unions, etc.

Education leading to an official qualification in the education system must be provided in mainstream institutions or in specific institutions for adult education.

In the academic year 2019/20 there were a total of 65 private adult education institutions as opposed to 2 195 public institutions. Private institutions can also be publicly funded or fully private. 

Publicly-funded private institutions:

For compulsory and post-compulsory non-university education, the educational authorities can establish an agreement to allocate public funds to privately owned education institutions. The beneficiary of this type of funding is the school unit, i.e., group of students being collectively and simultaneously taught by a teacher on an ordinary basis. Several school units may coexist in the same institution, some of them are considered publicly-funded while others are completely private. 

For more information see Organisation of Private Education and private education funding in chapter 3.1.

Private schools with no public funding:

As private institutions offering other types of provision, they are free to decide, among other aspects, on their structure and resources.   

Private institutions organising adult education provision can be classified into three main categories: 

1. private non-profit institutions:
   
   • they receive public funding from different administrations and are characterised by a high degree of social intervention, and by organising a wide variety of cultural activities, together with education provision as such
   • the following should be emphasised:
     
     • adult community colleges: integrated by a series of groups which form associations devoted to organising activities in the field of adult education, their objective is to promote participation in adult education on the basis of solidarity, integration, equity and participation. They are grouped under the Federation of Adult Education Associations
     • popular universities: they are private-owned institutions, normally belonging to foundations, although they receive public financing. For more information, see Provision of liberal (popular) adult education.
2. private profit institutions organising in-class provision:
   
   • they mainly offer non-formal education related to professional and language training, as well as formal training leading to official qualifications
   • they are self-governing institutions and their income is obtained from students’ contributions.
3. private profit institutions organising distance provision:
   
   • they mainly offer language and vocational training programmes
   • they are private, self-managing institutions, and are financed with students’ contributions
   • most of them are integrated in the National Association of Distance Education Centres. 

For more information, see Organisation of private education and Early childhood and school education funding.