How many support hours to expect and who decides

Terms used

• Orientador — The orientador is the school's guidance specialist, who assesses your child and recommends the type and amount of support.
• Jefatura de estudios — The jefatura de estudios is the school's head of studies, who organises the timetable, including support hours.
• Dictamen de escolarización — The dictamen de escolarización is the official report that decides whether your child attends an ordinary, special-education or combined school.
• Inspección educativa — The inspección educativa is the regional school inspectorate, where you can take a disagreement with a school.

Key rules

• No guaranteed hours: Spain sets no national number of weekly support hours per pupil, so hours depend on school staff and regional rules.
• Shared support: Support teachers and aides usually work with several pupils, and exclusive one-to-one hours are uncommon.
• Reviews: Your child's support is reviewed at least once a year and when they change stage.
• Disagreeing: Ask the school first, then the inspección educativa, then the regional education authority.

What to expect: the hours depend on the school

Spain has no national guaranteed number of weekly support hours per pupil. The hours your child gets depend on the school's staff and your region's rules. A report can recommend support, but it does not fix a number of hours for your child.

If you are used to a US IEP or an English EHCP, expect something different. Your child has a legal right to educational support. But the support is school-based and depends on the resources available. It is not a single enforceable entitlement with set hours.

How the hours are set

Regions decide how many specialist teachers a school gets. These are the PT teacher (pedagogía terapéutica, specialist support teaching) and the AL teacher (audición y lenguaje, speech and language). The region sets posts for each school or for each number of pupils with special needs. It does not set hours for each child. Ratios for special education units and special schools are usually lower than for ordinary classes.

Inside the school, the steps go like this:

• The orientador (the school's guidance specialist) assesses your child. The report recommends the type and amount of support.
• The jefatura de estudios (the head of studies) places the hours in the timetable, using the PT and AL staff the school has.
• The director approves the school's overall organisation.
• The education administration decides how many PT, AL and aide posts the school gets. In some regions, a resolution grants extra resources for a specific pupil.

Pupils with the greatest needs, such as those with a dictamen de escolarización, are served first. The dictamen is the official report that decides the type of school your child attends.

Expect shared support

PT and AL teachers normally serve several pupils. They work in small groups or inside the classroom alongside the tutor. One specialist often covers many pupils across several classes. One-to-one sessions are kept for the greatest needs.

Aides are also commonly shared among several pupils. Some cases get an aide for one pupil, but this is uncommon and depends on the case and the region. Your child's hours should be written in the individual support plan.

Reviews

Your child's support is reviewed at least once a year, usually at the end of the school year, and again when they change stage. If their needs change, you can ask the school for a review at any time. The timeline below shows who does what in a review.

If you disagree with the hours

Start with the school. Raise it with the orientador, then the jefatura de estudios or the director. If that does not work, you can go to the inspección educativa, the regional school inspectorate. A formal complaint or appeal to the regional education authority comes after that. There is no fixed timeline and no special tribunal for these disputes. Your last resort is the administrative courts.

Find your region's rules

Education is run by each autonomous community, so the details differ. Look on your regional education department's website for sections on atención a la diversidad or educación inclusiva. Each year it also issues start-of-year instructions, which often set rules on support resources. The checklist below lists the questions to ask at the school.

Choosing between options

Who do you go to about your child's support hours?

• The school's orientador: You want to understand or change the type and amount of support recommended in the report.

• The jefatura de estudios or the director: The report is clear but you doubt how the hours are placed in the timetable or shared with other pupils.

• The inspección educativa: The school has not resolved your request for a review, or you want to object to the decision.

• A formal complaint to the regional education authority: The inspección does not solve it. You can file a reclamación or recurso de alzada, and after that go to the administrative courts.

Start at the school, where the hours are decided in practice, and move up one step at a time. Spain gives a right to educational support, but not a fixed number of hours or a single enforceable individual plan like a US IEP or an English EHCP.

Timeline and deadlines

• The tutor and support teachers (PT and AL) assess your child's progress: during the school year, before the yearly review

• The regional education administration confirms the resources, including support hours: after the updated report, at least once a year

• Support is reviewed again when your child changes stage: infantil to primaria, primaria to ESO, ESO to post-compulsory: at each stage change

• Ask the school for an extra review if your child's needs change: at any time during the year

Checklist

• Ask the school how many PT and AL teachers it has and how their time is shared between pupils.

• Ask the jefatura de estudios (the head of studies) how your child's hours are placed in the timetable and whether they are in a small group.

• Ask at the school when the next review is, so you can bring any change in your child's needs.

• Find your region's rules on the website of its consejería de Educación, under atención a la diversidad or educación inclusiva.

• Look for the start-of-year instructions the consejería publishes each year, as they often set rules on support resources.

• If you disagree with the hours, ask the school for a review first, then go to the inspección educativa (the regional school inspectorate).

Quick answers on support in class

Can my child get a one-to-one aide?

Yes, but only for pupils with significant needs, and an aide is not assigned one-to-one by default. Aides (called PTIS, auxiliar educativo or cuidador, depending on the region) usually go to pupils with severe motor disability, autism or intellectual disability, and often cover several pupils at once. Most pupils with needs get specialist teachers instead.

How is an aide requested?

The school asks for the aide, not you. The school's orientation team evaluates your child and recommends the aide in a report called the dictamen de escolarización. The director then sends the request to the regional education administration. You can back it up with medical reports and the disability certificate.

Can I ask for my child's plan to be reviewed earlier?

Yes, you can ask in writing to the tutor, the head of studies (jefatura de estudios) or the orientation team, and the school should reply. The school decides whether to bring the formal review forward. If you get no reply, go to the director, then the education inspectorate (inspección educativa).

Does language support stop as my child's Spanish improves?

Yes, language support is temporary and is cut back as your child's Spanish improves. Pupils usually leave the dedicated classroom once they can follow ordinary lessons, often after 6 to 12 months in a reception class (aula de enlace), though some regions allow extensions. After that, support shrinks to occasional help inside the normal class.

Who at the school can see my child's evaluation report?

Only staff who need it can see the evaluation report: the orientation team, the tutor, the teachers working with your child, the management team and, when relevant, the inspectorate. You have the right to read it and ask for a copy. It follows your child to a new school, and it is not shared with outside parties without your consent, except where the law allows.