Escoles bressol (nursery schools): preregistration and enrolment

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Information of interest

What do you need to know?

This formality refers to schooling for children from 4 months to 3 years of age in a municipal nursery school (escola bressol) in the city of Barcelona.

Escoles bressol provide the early learning of a non-compulsory nature. They also offer a key educational role in learning and personal development during the early years of the child’s life. This educational perspective is the main aspect setting them apart from crèches and play schools, which solely look after the children, with no need for the carers to have any specific qualifications.

This first level of education can be done in different schools depending on the source of funding:

  • Public schools are financed by the State.
  • Private schools, that are privately financed.

VERY IMPORTANT:

Here we only explain how to complete the process to apply for escoles bressol (nursery schools) in Barcelona. It is an essential process to be able to access the services offered by schools supported with public funds. However, it is a stage of schooling that is not compulsory.

You should bear in mind that the escoles bressol in Barcelona are highly thought of, which means that the demand for places is often greater than the number available. Therefore, if a school has more applications than places available, priority criteria are used to accept applications.

If you do not get a place at any of the schools applied for, please remember that there are a large number of private schools where children can be enrolled. If you are interested in a private school, you should contact them directly as each school has its own access mechanism.

Who does it apply to?

It is for children between 4 months and 3 years of age and who meet the following requirements:

  • To enrol a child in an escola bressol for the first time, they must be at least 16 weeks old at the start of the school year.
  • Enrolment cannot be done before the child is born.
  • Enrolment can be done up to when the child is 3 years of age.

How does it work?

To access a escola bressol, this procedure must be followed, which has two phases:

  • Preregistration to request a place in a school. Only one application may be submitted per child. However, you may indicate, in order of preference, requests for admission to several schools (a maximum of 10) on the same application form. It is advisable to list as many desirable schools as possible to increase the chances of obtaining a place in one of them and thus adjusting to the preferences of each family as much as possible.
  • Enrolment is completed to confirm registration at the school where a place has been obtained.

Once the preregistrations have been completed, they are sorted. If there are more applications than places in a school, the priority criteria are scored to assign them. In the event of a tie, the supplementary criteria are assessed. 

Scoring criteria

PRIORITY CRITERIA

  • If the child who opts for the place has siblings who are already studying at the requested school: 50 points.
  • Geographic proximity. Each school has an educational zone (catchment area) to be able to establish the criterion of proximity. You can check the catchment area for each school on its website before submitting the preregistration application. It should be noted that geographical proximity criterion scores are not accumulated. According to the circumstances, different scores can be added:
    • When the family's usual address is within the catchment area of ​​the first school requested: 30 points.
    • When the location of the father's, mother's, or guardian's place of work is within the catchment area of ​​the first school chosen: 10 points. 
    • W​hen the family home is located in the city of Barcelona, but outside the school's catchment area: 15 points. 
  • If a family member receives the guaranteed citizenship income or minimum vital income : 15 points.

SUPPLEMENTARY CRITERIA

  • Disability of the student, parent, guardian or siblings: 15 points.
  • When the parent or guardian works at the school at the time of submitting the preregistration application: 10 points.
  • For being part of a large family: 10 points. 
  • For being part of a single-parent family: 10 points. 
  • For a student born in a multiple birth: 10 points. 
  • For a student in foster care: 10 points. 
  • When victim of gender-based violence or terrorism status is proven: 10 points. 

How long doest it take?

​​​​​​It is important to consult the exact calendar each year. In general, for the school year that begins in September, the process begins in March of the same year with family visits to schools that organise open doors. The period for submission of applications and publication of the list of preregistration applications varies, depending on the year, but is usually between April and May. Applications are scored with the priority criteria. Once places have been assigned, registration takes place in the month of June.

Calendar for the 2024-25 academic year

  • Publication of the number of places for each school and for each course: 2 May 2024
  • Submission of preregistration applications: from 3 to 16 May 2024

What do you need to do?

Submitting a preregistration application for the City of Barcelona's municipal nursery schools (escoles bressol) must be carried out online and via Barcelona City Council administrative portal.

For exceptional situations, families that cannot submit the form online may contact their first-choice school by telephone or email, in order to obtain an appointment and carry out preregistration in person. 

If you preregister in person, you can also print the application form online. This application form is universal and can be submitted to any kindergarten, although it is preferable to submit it to your first-choice school. 

What steps must you follow?

ONLINE

Step 1: Fill in the application form and submit the documentation
  • Fill in and submit the application form, along with the documentation, on the Barcelona City Council administrative portal.
  • The information and the application form are only available in Catalan and Spanish.
  • Please remember that you can put your telephone number on the form to receive status notifications for the application.
  • It is important that, in the application itself, you indicate, in order of preference, requests for admission to several schools so that there are more options in the event that your first choice is not given to you.
  • Before starting the application, find out about and prepare the documentation that will be requested to formalise preregistration.
Step 2: Check whether the child has been admitted

Once the preregistration period has ended, you need to check the lists to see if the student has been admitted.

The lists can be checked by various means:

Applications which are not accepted into the enrolment process will make up the waiting list for access to places which fall vacant during the school year, if this is requested on the preregistration form.

Step 3: If the child has been admitted, enrolment is completed

In the event that the child has been admitted, you need to complete enrolment at the relevant school within the time limit set. If you do not complete enrolment within the time limit set, you will be deemed to have relinquished the place.

Apart from the documents provided when you submitted the preregistration application, the schools may also request the following when you come to enrol:

  • A photocopy of the student's vaccination card showing the doses of vaccine received and their dates. If you do not have a vaccinations card, you need to submit an official medical certificate or the student’s health card showing the doses of vaccine received and the relevant dates. If the child has not been vaccinated on a doctor’s advice, or for other reasons, an official medical certificate justifying this must be submitted.
  • If appropriate, if it was not possible to submit it with the preregistration application, the renewed DNI with the new address.
  • Documentation attesting to any access requirements.

IN PERSON

Step 1: Fill in the application form and gather the documentation

You need to fill in the application and preregistration form. There are two ways to get this document:

  • In person:
    • At the Barcelona Education Consortium's Registration Help and Information Office.
    • At Barcelona City Council citizens information offices (OAC).
  • Online:
    • Via the Barcelona Education Consortium Internet portal. You can download the form, fill it in, to generate the application, and print it out.
    • At the public escoles bressol.
    • At the Barcelona Municipal Education Institute Information Office.

The information and the application form are only available in Catalan and Spanish.

Please remember that you can put your telephone number on the form to receive status notifications for the application.

It is important that, in the application itself, you indicate, in order of preference, requests for admission to several schools so that there are more options in the event that your first choice is not given to you.

Before starting the application, find out about and prepare the documentation that will be requested to formalise preregistration.

Step 2: Submit the original application form and the documentation
  • Submit the documentation and preregistration application form, preferably to your first-choice escola bressol. In order to submit the application form and the necessary documents in person, you need an appointment, obtained by contacting the centre by phone or email.  
Step 3: Check whether the child has been admitted

Once the preregistration period has ended, you need to check the lists to see if the student has been admitted.

The lists can be checked by various means:

Applications which are not accepted into the enrolment process will make up the waiting list for access to places which fall vacant during the school year, if this is requested on the preregistration form.

Step 4: If the child has been admitted, enrolment is completed

In the event that the child has been admitted, you need to complete enrolment at the relevant school within the time limit set. If you do not complete enrolment within the time limit set, you will be deemed to have relinquished the place.

Apart from the documents provided when you submitted the preregistration application, the schools may also request the following when you come to enrol:

  • A photocopy of the student's vaccination card showing the doses of vaccine received and their dates. If you do not have a vaccinations card, you need to submit an official medical certificate or the student’s health card showing the doses of vaccine received and the relevant dates. If the child has not been vaccinated on a doctor’s advice, or for other reasons, an official medical certificate justifying this must be submitted.
  • If appropriate, if it was not possible to submit it with the preregistration application, the renewed DNI with the new address.
  • Documentation attesting to any access requirements.

Who can submit the application?

The application should be submitted by the child’s parents or guardians in person or by a representative. In the event that the application is made by a third person, authorisation must be submitted, signed by the child’s parents or guardians.

What documentation is needed?

To preregister for the escoles bressol, the documentation to prove the identity of families (the family book, the DNI, the NIE or passport of the applicant or the individual health card of the child) must not be submited. This documentation, in the event that a place is obtained, will be submited at the time of enrolment.

Regarding documentation necessary to accredit the scoring criteria, it only has to be submitted in the event that the Barcelona City Council cannot verify it directly or through inter-administrative consultations with the Generalitat de Catalunya.

But if you have to submit any documentation, it must be digitised (by means of a scanner or a photograph).

In any case, the school will require to submit of the original documentation in case of any doubt about its authenticity.

General documentation

  • Preregistration application form.
  • The identity document of the person making the application (parents, guardians or de facto guardians).
    • In the case of foreign nationals: resident’s card showing the identity number for foreign nationals (NIE).
    • If you do not have a resident’s card, you can provide your passport or, in the case of a foreign national from a European Union country, the identity document from your country of origin.
    • In the case of Spanish nationals: Spanish national identity document (DNI).
  • Individual healthcare card (TSI) for the child. 
  • The family book, birth certificate or other documents relating to parentage, where the child’s name and date of birth and their relationship to the parents or guardians can be verified.
  • If the child is adopted or fostered, the documentation relating to the adoption or the ruling on fostering must be provided.
  • The identification or parentage details for foreign students may, extraordinarily, be attested with identity documents, family book from the country of origin or such alternative documents as the person may provide, translated, if necessary. The school board will assess it and record the decision made in writing.

Documentation to accredit the scoring criteria

  • Where there are brothers or sisters at the school or parents or legal guardians working there: Documentary justification is not needed as the school checks this itself.
  • In the case of proving proximity:
    • Proximity to the family home:
      • The address on the identity document (DNI or NIE) of the applicant is considered to be an address indicating proximity to the school.
      • Where the usual residence given does not match that on the identity document, or where dealing with foreign nationals without a resident’s card, the Barcelona Municipal Education Institute will check the registered address for the student’s family unit on its own initiative, using the Barcelona City Council register of residents.
    • Proximity to place of work:
      • Photocopy of the employment contract or a certificate from the company.
      • In the case of self-employed individuals whose address is where they work, the address recorded at the Tax Office will be used and a copy of the registration, change of details and deregistration form for the taxpayers’ register (forms 036 and 037) will provide evidence of that.
  • Where family income is chosen for points:
    • Up-to-date certificate issued by the Department of Social Rights attesting to being in receipt of the minimum insertion income benefit.
  • Where the student, parents, guardians or brothers or sisters are disabled:
    • The disability certificate showing a disability of 33% or more (in Catalan or Spanish).
    • Documents proving you are the beneficiary of a Social Security pension, acknowledging a pension for total, absolute or serious permanent disability or attesting to passive categories that have been awarded a retirement or old-age pension due to permanent incapacity or unfitness for work. 
  • Where evidence is provided of a large family or single-parent status:
    • The current large or single-parent family card.

What does it cost?

Preregistration and enrolment is free.

However, you should know that the public prices for schooling or food in the municipal escoles bressol are variable and are set depending on the income and the number of members in the family unit the student belongs to. Therefore, if you prefer, prior to completing enrolment definitively, you can access the public prices calculator taking into account social pricing. 

Want to know more?

Body responsible for the formality

In Barcelona: the Barcelona Education Consortium (body formed by Barcelona City Council and the Generalitat de Catalunya) and the Barcelona City Council Municipal Institute of Education.

Elsewhere: Catalan Ministry of Education (Generalitat de Catalunya-Government of Catalonia).

Further information

You can use the link to the official Barcelona Education Consortium website (only available in Catalan, but it does have Google Translate which means that the portal can be viewed in many languages) and the brochure Barcelona's municipal Nurseries (Escoles Bressol) available in Catalan, Spanish, English, French, Tagalog, Chinese, Arabic, and Urdu.

Important linked formalities

Some examples of formalities which you may be asked to complete prior to preregistration and enrolment are set out below:

IMPORTANT NOTICE

The procedures tend to change frequently. Therefore, only what is provided by the regulations in force at the time of carrying out the procedure in question is applicable.