The 1978 Spanish Constitution established a model of decentralised State by which educational powers are shared between all levels of government. It is a symmetrical model, where the educational powers exercised by the Autonomous Communities are basically the same.
The competences in terms of education are shared between:
- the State General Authority (Ministry of Education and Vocational Training)
- the Autonomous Communities (Departments for Education). In the Cities of Ceuta and Melilla, these competences are assumed by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training
- the role of local authorities is focused on educational management through Education Departments or Municipal Education Institutes
- educational institutions also collaborate thanks to their pedagogic autonomy, by preparing their school development plan, but also by managing their resources and by preparing their organisation and running rules.
The Act on the Improvement of the Quality of Education, passed in 2013, regulates the education system and establishes the educational powers exercised by the Government, as well as their distribution in the design of the basic curriculum for primary education, compulsory secondary education, Bachillerato, the second cycle of pre-primary education, vocational training and specialised education.
Distribution of powers between decision-making bodies in the field of education in Spain
Ministry of Education and Vocational Training:
- general organisation of the Spanish education system
- regulation of the conditions for the obtaining, issuing and recognition of academic and vocational qualifications, and of the basic rules for the development of the right to education
- establishment of the general plan for education
- evaluation and innovation of the different types of provision of the Spanish education system
- educational inspection
- design, planning and management of the system of grants and financial support
- promotion of equality, non-discrimination and universal accessibility policies within the scope of its powers
- management of the teaching staff policy and development of the foundations for the legal regime governing public teaching service
- exercise of the functions of National Authority for the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission.
Departments for Education of the Autonomous Communities:
- assume the regulations developed by the State rules and for the non-basic elements or aspects of the education system
- assume the executive and administrative competences for managing the education system in its own territory
- promote and strengthen school autonomy
- evaluate school results and implement action plans.
Education Councillorships:
- the State General Authority and the Autonomous Communities delegate the exercise of their functions to the municipalities in aspects having a direct impact on them.
Educational institutions:
- within the framework established by the State and regional regulations, educational institutions have autonomy for preparing, enacting and executing:
- school development plan
- management plan
- rules for organising and running the school.
Distribution of educational powers in the design of the basic curriculum for primary education, compulsory secondary education and Bachillerato
Ministry of Education and Vocational Training:
- establish the common contents and assessable learning standards of core subjects
- set the minimum number of hours for core subjects, which shall not be less than 50% of the total number of teaching hours generally established by each education authority. Possible extensions of school hours which might be established are not taken into account
- establish the assessable learning standards of specific subjects
- design the final evaluation for primary education: evaluation criteria, extent to which skills have been acquired and general characteristics of the examinations
- design the final evaluation for compulsory secondary education and Bachillerato: evaluation criteria, extent to which skills have been acquired, general characteristics of the examinations and contents of each examination session
- recognise the certificates awarded upon completion of regulated types of provision
- establish mixed curricula for different types of provision of the Spanish and other education systems
- encourage actions aimed at promoting the quality of educational institutions.
Departments for Education of the Autonomous Communities:
- complement the contents of core subjects
- establish the contents of specific subjects and the subjects that are freely structured by the Autonomous Communities
- make methodological recommendations to educational institutions within their remit
- establish the teaching hours for all the subjects, with the exception of core subjects, for which they will only set the maximum number of hours
- complement the evaluation criteria for the evaluation at the end of the stage
- establish the evaluation criteria and learning standards of subjects that are freely structured by the Autonomous Communities for the evaluation at the end of the stage
- expedite the certificates awarded upon completion of regulated types of provision
- encourage actions aimed at promoting the quality of educational institutions.
Educational institutions:
- complement the contents of all subjects on the basis of educational provision
- design and implement their own teaching and learning methods
- establish the number of hours for the different subjects.
Distribution of educational powers in the design of the curriculum for the second cycle of pre-primary education, specialised education and vocational training
Ministry of Education and Vocational Training:
- it sets the objectives, skills, contents and evaluation criteria: 55% of the basic curriculum in the case of the Autonomous Communities with a co-official language, 65% in the rest of Autonomous Communities and 100% in the Cities of Ceuta and Melilla.
Departments for Education of each Autonomous Community:
- they complete the curriculum in their management sphere.
The Spanish Constitution, as well as the successive education acts have guaranteed, promoted and arbitrated the participation of all the sectors of the education community in the organisation, management, running and evaluation of the schools, as well as in the general plan for education.