Gifted children (altas capacidades): identification and enrichment

Terms used

• NEAE — NEAE means pupils with specific educational support needs, including learning difficulties such as ADHD and dyslexia, and altas capacidades.
• NEE — NEE means pupils with special educational needs due to disability, autism or severe disorders.
• ACNEAE — ACNEAE is the official label for a pupil recorded as having specific educational support needs.
• Altas capacidades — Altas capacidades means high abilities: a child identified as gifted by a school psychological evaluation.
• Orientador — The orientador is the school's guidance specialist, who carries out psychological and educational evaluations.
• Informe psicopedagógico — The informe psicopedagógico is the written report from the orientation team that says whether your child has altas capacidades and which measures apply.
• Flexibilización — Flexibilización means shortening the school period, in practice moving your child up a year.

Key rules

• Identification: Only a psychopedagogical report from the school's orientation team can formally recognise altas capacidades.
• Moving up: A gifted child can generally move up one year in primary and one year in ESO, and each region sets its exact maximum.
• Before skipping: Moving up usually needs a report that recommends it and enrichment measures that were not enough.
• Region: Forms, deadlines, the deciding office and out-of-school programmes differ by region.

Where altas capacidades fits

Altas capacidades is a NEAE category. That puts your gifted child in the same group as children with ADHD or dyslexia, not in the NEE group, which covers disability, autism and severe disorders. In practice, the school treats your child as a pupil with specific support needs (ACNEAE) once the diagnosis is recorded.

How your child gets identified

Identification is by a psychopedagogical report. At a secondary school, the school's orientation department writes it, and the person in charge is the orientador. In infant and primary, an external orientation team (called EOEP, EOE or similar, depending on the region) does it.

The tutor, you or an outside professional can ask for the evaluation. Make the request in writing, usually through the school head.

The process runs in this order:

1. You make the request.
2. The team screens your child and collects information from teachers and from you.
3. The team assesses intellectual aptitude, creativity and learning style.
4. The team writes the informe psicopedagógico. It says whether your child has altas capacidades and which measures apply.

Forms and tools differ by region, so ask the school which ones it uses.

What support you can ask for

Support comes in two levels.

• In class: enrichment and extension work, flexible grouping and tutoring.
• Extra measures: a curriculum adapted to go further (adaptación curricular de ampliación), or flexibilización, which means moving up a year.

Some regions also run out-of-school programmes. Madrid has one run with a university, and Andalucía, Catalonia and Valencia have their own measures. Places are often limited and availability is uneven. Many families use private or association-run workshops. Ask your regional education office what exists where you live.

Moving up a year

A gifted child can generally move up one year in primary and one year in ESO. Each region sets its exact maximum. Some allow more across the whole of basic education, so check your region's rule.

The usual conditions are:

• The report recommends it.
• Your child is well adjusted emotionally and socially.
• Enrichment measures have already been tried and were not enough.

If you want this, ask the orientation team early whether the report can recommend it.

How the request for moving up works

The school head sends the request. It goes with your written consent, the report, the teachers' reports and your child's school records. The regional education authority decides after an inspector's report. Which office decides, and any deadline, depends on your region, so ask the school head.

The new level usually starts at the beginning of the next term or the next school year. The school then reviews how your child is doing.

If your child has more than one need

Gifted children can also have ADHD, dyslexia or another difficulty. See the section below on what to do in that case. The timeline and checklist below walk through the steps.

Timeline and deadlines

• The orientation team carries out the psychopedagogical evaluation and writes a report proposing flexibilización: before any request is sent

• The school head, with your written consent and the teachers' views, sends the request and report to the provincial education inspectorate or delegation: during the school year, by the regional deadline where one is set

• The regional education authority authorises or refuses the request after the inspector's report: after the request is submitted

• Your child starts the new level: at the beginning of the next term or the following school year

• The school reviews how your child is doing in the new level: after the move up

Checklist

• Ask your child's tutor or the school head in writing for a psychopedagogical evaluation.

• Give the orientation team information about your child's learning, creativity and interests.

• Ask for a copy of the psychopedagogical report and check that it says whether your child has altas capacidades and which measures apply.

• Ask the school which enrichment measures it will start in class.

• If you want your child to move up a year, ask the orientation team whether the report can recommend it.

• Give your written consent so the school head can send the request.

• Check that the request includes the report, the teachers' reports and your child's school records.

• Ask the school head which regional office decides and by what date it needs the request.

What if your child has more than one need?

Make sure every need is written into the report, because Spanish schools tend to record one main need. Support follows what the report says, so a need that is left out usually gets no measures.

Why a second need gets missed

The informe psicopedagógico is the school's written assessment of your child. It can list several needs, such as ADHD with dyslexia, or autism with an intellectual disability. Official counts, however, usually put each pupil under one main category. A second need may show up in the text of the report but not in the statistics, and each region codes things its own way. Do not assume it will be picked up automatically.

How to get a second need documented

1. Write to the school. Address the tutor or the head. Ask for a new or updated psychopedagogical evaluation and name the need you want covered.
2. Attach outside reports. Send any new reports from your doctor, a neurologist or a private specialist.
3. Wait for the orientation team. It reviews the case and updates the informe, and the informe decides which measures your child gets.
4. Check the support plan. The school should update it (the plan de actuación, PTI or adaptation) and share it with you. Read it to see that each need has a measure, then sign it.

If the school refuses, complain first to the school head. Then go to the education inspectorate, and after that appeal through the regional education administration. Forms and timing differ by region, so ask your regional education department for the current process.

If your child is gifted and also has a difficulty

Giftedness together with dyslexia, ADHD or autism is called doble excepcionalidad. Several regions have protocols for it, but there is no single national one. Schools often notice the difficulty first, and the high ability can go unseen.

Ask for both sides to be assessed. Good measures combine enrichment with support for the difficulty, such as exam adaptations, extra time and work built on your child's strengths. Practice is uneven, so many families add a private assessment or turn to an association for gifted children. Ask your regional education department which protocol applies where you live.

Check the current rules and forms with your regional education department, as coding and timing differ by region.

Frequently asked questions

Who can ask for my child to be assessed for altas capacidades?

Your child's tutor, you as the family, or other professionals can ask for the assessment, usually through the school head. The school's orientation team then screens your child with input from teachers and family.

Can my gifted child join an out-of-school enrichment programme?

Yes, some regions run out-of-school programmes, but they are not available everywhere and places are often limited. Madrid, for example, runs one with a university. You will normally need the recognised report first, and many families also use private or association-run workshops.

What must be true before my child can move up a year?

Your child needs a psychopedagogical report that recommends moving up and must be well adjusted emotionally and socially. Enrichment measures in class must also have proved insufficient. Some regions allow up to two years across basic education, or three in exceptional cases.

Is altas capacidades treated like a learning difficulty at school?

Altas capacidades is an NEAE category, like learning difficulties and ADHD, not an NEE one. NEE covers disability, autism and severe disorders. Your child is recorded as a pupil with specific educational support needs once the report is done.