Spanish schools slide in the PISA results: what it means if your child studies here

This morning the OECD published the new PISA results, and for Spain they are harsh: the lowest scores since the country joined the study in 2000. For foreign parents living here, or weighing up the move, that lands badly. Yet the picture is more nuanced than the headlines suggest, because almost all of Europe is sliding and on reading the Netherlands now performs worse than Spain. Here are the figures without the panic, and the school choices you really have on the Costa Blanca.

What exactly was published this morning

Spanish fifteen-year-olds scored an average of 457 points for mathematics in PISA 2025, 451 for reading and 477 for science. All three are the lowest figures Spain has ever recorded: maths fell 16 points against 2022, science 8 points, and the reading result sits 10 points below the previous low from 2006. Roughly one in three pupils fails to reach the basic level in reading and mathematics.

Important for interpretation: the OECD average fell at the same time, from 472 to 463 in maths and from 476 to 461 in reading. That puts Spain six points below that average in maths, ten in reading and five in science. A real gap, but not an abyss, and it fits a broad European slump that researchers largely attribute to the aftermath of the pandemic and the absence of recovery since.

The gap with home is smaller than you think

The figures circulated today mainly in British media, where the comparison stings: the United Kingdom scores 488 in maths and 494 in reading and ranks among the ten strongest education systems in the world. Against Spain’s 457 and 451 that is a difference of 31 to 43 points. Such gaps are often converted into years of schooling behind, but that is a rule of thumb the OECD itself has grown cautious about; the points say more than the translation.

For our readers another comparison matters more, and it lands differently. In the Netherlands 39 percent of fifteen-year-olds now score below the basic level for reading, against roughly a third three years ago. That is more low literacy than in Spain, where it sits around one in three. Flanders does better on that measure at 29.4 percent, though its share of top performers is collapsing too: where in 2003 one in three Flemish pupils counted among the top performers in maths, it is now one in nine. Dutch pupils do remain strong in mathematics, above the average of the fourteen comparable EU countries. In short: the choice is not between weak Spanish schooling and strong schooling back home, but between systems that are all under strain.

Three school routes on the Costa Blanca

In practice you choose between three kinds of school here. The state school, the colegio or instituto público, is free apart from books and activities, and your child sits among the neighbourhood kids. On the Costa Blanca lessons use both Spanish and Valencian, which is rarely a problem for young children but can be a serious hurdle for a teenager arriving midway through secondary school.

Then there is the concertado: a private school that receives state funding and is therefore relatively affordable, often with a Catholic background and usually with a contribution of a few hundred euros a month. And finally the international and private schools, of which this coast has strikingly many, offering a British curriculum, the International Baccalaureate or a bilingual programme. They connect to education in England or to a university elsewhere, but fees quickly run into thousands of euros a year and vary considerably by school and year group.

Keeping up Dutch or Flemish schooling alongside

What many parents do not know: you can formally maintain your own language alongside regular school. It is called NTC education, Dutch Language and Culture, and it exists on the Costa Blanca too, including in La Nucía. It amounts to around three hours a week, after school or on Saturday mornings, with teaching supported by the NOB foundation and supervised by the Dutch education inspectorate.

That sounds like an extra burden on top of a full school week, and it is. But it is exactly what makes the difference if you ever want to return or if your child later wants to study in the Netherlands or Belgium: the language stays at level instead of thinning out into kitchen-table Dutch. Parents considering it should ask around on arrival, because groups are small and not every location runs every year.

A checklist before you move

A few things are worth settling in advance. Start with your child’s age: below about ten almost any child slots into a Spanish class effortlessly, above that the language leap weighs heavier and a bilingual or international school is often more realistic. Ask schools what share of pupils are Spanish-speaking, because an international school where hardly anyone speaks Spanish delivers a fine diploma but little integration.

Sort out enrolment in good time: state schools work with a registration window in spring and allocate places partly on your address, so your municipal padrón matters directly here. Ask for the full costs including books, bus and canteen, because those add up at state schools too. And visit the school in person before you sign; league tables say little about the atmosphere in a specific building, and that is exactly what decides whether your child settles in.

About the authorLeonie

Leonie lives on the Costa Blanca. She writes about daily life on the coast: the markets, the walks and everything you only discover once you actually live here.