Does your child's foreign diagnosis or IEP count in Spain?

Key rules

• No automatic recognition: Spain does not formally recognise a foreign diagnosis, IEP or 504 plan; the Spanish team re-evaluates your child.
• Use as evidence: Detailed reports with named tests, scores and clear recommendations carry the most weight.
• Sworn translation: Ask the school before paying for a sworn translation, because evaluations do not normally need one.

Short answer: it helps, but it is not recognised automatically

Foreign diagnoses, IEPs and 504 plans have no automatic recognition in Spain. A foreign diagnosis is supporting information only, and the public guidance team still carries out its own evaluation to set the official support. The team uses your documents as evidence, usually in translation.

Why Spain re-evaluates

In Spain, special educational needs status comes only from an evaluación psicopedagógica. The public guidance team at the school does it. Its name depends on the region: EOEP, EAT or EOE. No formal route exists to have a foreign diagnosis recognised as such. This applies to public schools and publicly funded concertada schools.

What your reports still do

Your reports can inform the team's assessment and can speed it up. Teams differ in how much they rely on them, and each region sets its own procedure and terminology.

Reports carry more weight when they:

• name the standardised tests used
• give scores
• end with clear recommendations

Give the school the full report, not a summary. Include the IEP or 504 plan, because it shows what support your child already gets.

Translation: ask the school first

Schools do not normally need a sworn translation for an evaluation, so ask the school before paying for one. Schools and guidance teams generally accept a simple translation, or a report in a language they can read. A sworn translation (traducción jurada) is for formal procedures, such as recognition of qualifications or some legal proceedings. A particular office may still ask for one, so check with that office.

What to do

1. Gather the reports before you move. The checklist below lists what to collect.
2. Show them to the school when you enrol, and say your child has an existing diagnosis or support plan.
3. Ask the school to start its own evaluation. You do not have to wait for the team to decide your reports are enough.
4. Expect the team to decide how much of your reports to accept.

The decision box below helps you choose between handing in the reports as evidence and asking for a new evaluation straight away. The documents box and the FAQ cover the rest.

Choosing between options

How should you use your child's foreign diagnosis or IEP in Spain?

• Hand it in as supporting evidence: You arrive with a detailed report that names standardised tests, scores and recommendations.

• Ask for a new evaluation straight away: The report is thin, old or lacks test details. Ask the school to request the evaluation by the public guidance team, and give them the foreign report as background.

No foreign diagnosis, IEP or 504 plan is recognised automatically. Either way, the Spanish team re-evaluates your child and treats the foreign papers as evidence, usually in translation.

Documents you need

• Your child's foreign diagnostic or evaluation report, issued by the clinician or school that did it, with a simple translation if the team cannot read the original language.

• A sworn translation (traducción jurada) of the report, only if a formal procedure or a particular office asks for one. It is not normally needed for school evaluation.

Reports and records to gather and translate before you move

Reports and records to gather before you move

• Collect the psychological or neuropsychological report with its test results, such as cognitive and attainment scores.

• Collect medical reports from the paediatrician, neurologist or psychiatrist, showing the diagnosis and medication.

• Collect any IEP or other support plan from the previous school, plus recent school reports, grades and teacher observations.

• Collect therapy reports and notes from speech, occupational, physical or behavioural therapy.

• Write up a current medication list with doses, and gather vaccination and health records and any disability certificates.

• Ask the clinician for a new assessment if the main psychological or cognitive report is more than 1 to 2 years old, since older reports are treated as background.

• Ask the school whether it needs Spanish translations before you pay for any. A simple or unofficial translation or summary of the key reports is usually enough, and English reports are often read but not always.

• Skip apostilles and sworn translations for the school evaluation. Keep them for formal procedures such as recognition of qualifications (homologación).

• Plan for a new evaluation in Spain: the school's guidance team normally does its own, and a Spanish disability certificate (grado de discapacidad) needs a separate regional assessment.

• Pack originals and copies of everything, with your child's passport or ID and registration (empadronamiento) papers.

Frequently asked questions

Can I ask Spain to recognise my child's foreign diagnosis officially?

No, there is no formal route to have a foreign diagnosis recognised as such in Spanish schools. Support status comes only from an evaluation by the public guidance team (evaluación psicopedagógica), which is done in your region. Your foreign report goes into that process as background.

What makes a foreign report more useful to a Spanish evaluation team?

A detailed report carries more weight than a short one. Look for named standardised tests, scores and clear recommendations. Teams vary in how much they rely on reports, so a strong one can speed things up but may not replace their own assessment.

When would I need a sworn translation of my child's reports?

You need a sworn translation (traducción jurada) only for formal procedures, such as official recognition of qualifications or some legal proceedings. For school use, a simple translation or a report in a language the team reads is generally enough. Some offices may still ask for one, so check first.