We came up with this Stranger Things’ picture to illustrate the article. Because, how many tv shows or movies can you recall with scenes showing indirectly the American school system? A lot! But when it comes to Spain, and most specifically to this city, how is the education system in Barcelona? How are the different periods named and divided? We will try to answer that question in this new article.
Preescolar (3-year period)
- From 3 to 5 years old.
- P3, P4 and P5.
The first period of school is called Preescolar, and it goes from 3 to 5 years old. So there are three grades which are called P3 (3 years old), P4 (4 years old) and P5 (5 years old).
Educación Primaria (6-year period)
- From 6 to 12 years old.
- From 1st to 6th of Primaria.
In this second period, instead of following the order of grades (the next it would be the 6th), we start counting again, from the beginning, this new period: Primero de Primaria, and it goes from First to Sixth of Primaria.
Educación Secundaria Obligatoria: ESO (4-year period)
- From 12 to 16 years old.
- From 1st to 4th of ESO.
In the education system in Barcelona, this new period marks one of the major changes: sometimes students change to the Secondary Education building (or even to another school, if the school doesn’t offer secondary education) and this school is also called “Instituto”. So it could be the equivalent to High School in the United States.
Bachillerato (2-year period)
- From 16 to 18 years old.
- From 1st to 2nd of Bachillerato.
After the mandatory education ESO, Bachillerato is next for those students who want to attend higher education (which is called Grado Superior) or college (Bachelor’s degree).
College
- From 18 years old.
And after Bachillerato, the most expected period begins: College! You can read our article Studying in Spain as an American: What to expect? to know more about college in Spain, and also this other article in which we answer the question: Is there an Ivy League of Schools in Spain?
Education system in Barcelona on tv shows
There is a Catalan series that we highly recommend, “Merlí”, which shows the daily life of students in high school (ESO and Bachillerato) through their teenage problems, friendship, love… Even some scenes were filmed at the Universitat de Barcelona cloister (one of our favorite places to read in Barcelona).