Teaching English in Spain: assistants, academies and schools

“Teaching English in Spain” covers three quite different things. A language assistant in a state school receives a grant from the Spanish government and is not an employee. A teacher at a private language academy has an ordinary employment contract. A teacher in the school system needs recognised qualifications – and for a permanent post in a state school, EU nationality. Which route is open to you depends on your passport, your degree and how long you want to stay.

Route 1: language assistant (auxiliar de conversación)

Spain's Ministry of Education runs a programme that places native speakers in Spanish schools, where they support conversation practice in the foreign language under the supervision of the class teacher. The ministry is explicit that this is an educational and cultural exchange, not an employment relationship: assistants are selected through a grant call, and the regional education authorities handle their appointment, insurance and supervision.

• Who can apply: university graduates or students in at least their second year, with nationality or permanent residence in one of the programme's partner countries.
• Certificate: a clean record on sexual offences, because the work is with minors.
• Period: the 2026/27 call runs from 1 November 2026 to 31 May 2027; the 2025/26 call had started on 1 October.
• Application window: 2 to 30 June 2026 for 2026/27 – but 11 February to 26 March 2025 for 2025/26. The timing is not fixed from one year to the next.

How you apply depends on your nationality

• United Kingdom and Ireland: in the 2025/26 call, new applicants from these and several other European countries applied through a body in their own country rather than directly to Spain. In the UK that is the British Council, which states that no Spanish is required to apply. Returning assistants renewed directly through the ministry's Profex 2 platform.
• United States, Canada, Australia and the other partner countries: through Profex 2, following the instructions of the Spanish education office responsible for your country.

The visa for non-EU assistants

EU citizens, Irish citizens included, need no visa. For everyone else, Spain's immigration regulation (Royal Decree 1155/2024) lists work as a foreign language assistant in Spanish schools among the training activities that qualify for a long-stay study visa. Apply at least two months before the programme starts. The Spanish consulate in London asks language assistants for an ACRO international child protection certificate in addition to the usual documents, and books all visa appointments through BLS International.

Route 2: private language academies

An academy job is ordinary employment. You get a contract, your employer registers you with social security before your first day, and you are paid at least the minimum wage – in 2026 €1,221 gross a month in 14 payments for full-time work, proportionally less for part-time. Private providers of non-regulated teaching across Spain are covered by a national collective agreement, the X Convenio colectivo de Enseñanza y formación no reglada, which runs until 31 December 2027. Your contract has to say which agreement applies.

Academies teach outside the regulated school system, so the qualification they want – a degree, a TEFL or CELTA certificate, experience – is their call and should be in the listing. If you are not an EU citizen, the academy has to obtain a work authorisation for you before you start. Unless the job is on the public employment service's quarterly list of hard-to-fill occupations, that includes showing it could not fill the post locally. Ask whether an academy is willing to do this before you invest time in applying.

Route 3: teaching in schools

To teach in regulated education in Spain you need the relevant academic qualification and the teacher training the government sets for each level (article 100.2 of the Education Act). A degree from abroad usually has to be recognised first – through homologación or a declaration of equivalence from the Ministry of Science and Universities. Permanent posts in state schools are civil-service posts filled through competitive exams, and civil-service posts are open only to Spanish and other EU nationals (article 57 of the Public Employees Statute). Private schools hire directly; ask which qualification they need from you.

Working with children: the certificate

Every job with regular contact with minors – assistant, academy teacher, tutor, nanny – requires proof that you have no convictions for sexual offences (article 13.5 of Organic Law 1/1996). Spain's Ministry of Justice issues the Spanish certificate free of charge. For foreign nationals a check in the home country can be needed as well – the London consulate, for example, asks language assistants for the ACRO certificate. Order these documents early: checks abroad take time.