Pre-school education

Two-year-old girl playing seated on the floor in front of a shelf at a nursery in Barcelona

Pre-school education is offered to children aged 0 to 6 and is not compulsory. It is divided up into two cycles:

First cycle of pre-school education

The schools that only provide the first cycle of pre-school education, from 0 to 3 years, are generically known as guarderías [nursery schools].

Barcelona has a large network of municipal nursery schools (escoles bressol), where children aged between 4 months and 3 years are looked after. The costs are subsidised and the fees that have to be paid are calculated through a social pricing system, according to income and number of members of the family unit the child belongs to.

For further information on municipal nursery schools consult the escoles bresol website.

Barcelona evidently has numerous private schools offering pre-school education. Many of them also offer this education in several languages.

Second cycle of pre-school education

The second cycle of pre-school education is for children aged 3 to 6 years and is not compulsory either. Even so, most children go to infant school, pre-school or kindergarten.

Education is free and universal in these state schools. Consult the related formalities if you would like to see how to enrol for these state schools.

The school selection process can be complicated and there are many factors to consider. For this reason, we recommend that you consult the Choosing a school in Barcelona guide.