Barcelona will begin the new school year this Monday with the lowest ever teacher-student ratio in I3, the first stage of preschool. Class sizes will be capped at 22 pupils, with the average being 18.4 in public schools and 19.1 in semi-private (concerted) schools .
The City Council highlighted that the 2025–2026 academic year will also see the opening of four new “institute-schools”, a model that combines primary and secondary education. This brings the number of such schools from just 2 in 2017 to 26 this year.
According to August data from the Barcelona Education Consortium — a joint body of the City Council and the Catalan Government — the school year will begin with 165,978 pupils enrolled, which is 1,555 fewer than last year, spread across 419 schools (240 public, 170 semi-private, and 9 private) .
Of the 10,106 new I3 pupils this year, 75% had already attended I2 the year before. In private schools, 73% will be in classes capped at 20 pupils, while in concerted schools the figure is 61%.
The consortium also reported that 90.3% of schools have a socially balanced student population, though 3.8% should absorb more vulnerable students to balance out, while 5.9% have more than their fair share .
The new “institute-schools” opening this year include Els 30 Passos (Sant Andreu), La Flor de Maig (Sant Martí), Canyelles (Nou Barris), and Enric Granados (Sants-Montjuïc).
Additionally, the city is introducing 20 new Intensive Support Units for Inclusive Schooling (SIEI) and, for the first time, speech therapists within five Psychopedagogical Advisory Teams (EAP), furthering its commitment to diversity and inclusion in education.
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