Can my child join a bilingual programme partway through school?

Key rules

• Regional rules: Whether late entry is allowed depends on your region, your child's stage and the school's free places.
• Level check: Secondary schools in some regions ask for a test or interview, while infant and primary generally do not.
• No place: If there is no place, your child is usually placed in the non-bilingual line with support.
• Leaving the line: Leaving a bilingual line does not cost school credit, but the place may not be kept if your child returns.

Regional rules differ and change, so confirm entry conditions with your regional education department and the school before acting.

Can your child join a bilingual line partway through school?

Sometimes. Lateral entry into a bilingual line is possible in some places, but it depends on your region, your child's stage and whether the school has capacity. There is no single national answer, so you need to ask locally.

What decides it

• Free place. Your child can usually enter through the ordinary admission or mid-year transfer process, but only if the bilingual group has a vacancy.
• Stage. In infant and primary, public bilingual programmes generally do not test language level. Admission follows the normal school-place points system. In secondary, some regions give priority to pupils who followed the programme in primary.
• Level check. A few regions or schools ask for a placement test or an interview, especially in secondary. Others accept late entrants without a test.
• Type of school. The same ideas apply in public and publicly funded private schools (concertada), but each school applies them in its own way.

If there is no place or the level is judged too low

Your child may be placed in the non-bilingual line, with support. If your child arrives without Spanish, language support is usually available. Andalucía, for example, uses classes called ATAL, and other regions have aulas de enlace.

Madrid

In Madrid, every pupil at a bilingual primary school follows the programme. In secondary there are two tracks: the Programa, with around 2 to 3 subjects in English, and the Sección, with more subjects in English and more English hours. Entry to the Sección requires a level of English, so a child joining in secondary should expect a level check. Madrid changes details periodically, so check the current rules.

If your child later leaves the line

Moving to a non-bilingual line, in the same school or another one, is generally possible if there is a place. Credit and progression are not lost, because the curriculum is the same. What your child loses is the extra English-medium teaching. In some regions the bilingual place is not kept if your child wants to return later, so ask before you move them.

What to do

1. Ask the regional education department whether late entrants are accepted at your child's stage.
2. Ask the school about vacancies and any test or interview.
3. Ask what the fallback is if there is no place.

The checklist and the questions below cover these points in more detail.

Checklist

• Ask the school whether the bilingual group your child would join has a free place.

• Ask whether the school requires a placement test or an interview for your child's stage, especially in secondary.

• Ask which line your child would join if there is no place or the level is judged insufficient, and what support comes with it.

• Ask whether the bilingual place can be kept or regained if your child leaves the line and later wants to return.

Frequently asked questions

Will my child need an English test to join a bilingual line?

Usually not in infant and primary, because places follow the normal school-place points system. In secondary, some regions or schools ask for a placement test or an interview. Madrid asks for a level of English to enter the Sección track in secondary.

What happens if there is no place in the bilingual line?

Your child may be placed in the non-bilingual line of the same school, with support. Entry mid-stage needs a vacancy in the right group. The same happens if the school judges the English level insufficient.

Does leaving a bilingual line cost my child any school credit?

No, leaving a bilingual line does not cost your child credit or progression, because both lines follow the same curriculum. What your child loses is the extra English exposure.

How do Madrid's bilingual tracks affect a child joining in secondary?

In Madrid secondary there are two tracks: the Programa, with about 2 to 3 subjects in English, and the Sección, with more subjects and more hours of English. Pupils not following either are grouped in a non-bilingual line with reinforced English. Ask the school which track has a free place.