According to the Department of Statistics of Catalonia (Spain), on average, Barcelona has a total of 424,000 students at one time, distributed as follows: about 57,000 students in early childhood education, about 77,000 students in primary school, about 2,000 students in special education, about 100,500 students in high school and about 187,000 students in university.
The city has a network of public schools, from nurseries to high schools, under the responsibility of a consortium led by city council (though the curriculum is the responsibility of the Generalitat de Catalunya). There are also many private schools, some of them Roman Catholic. Most such schools receive a public subsidy on a per-student basis, are subject to inspection by the public authorities, and are required to follow the same curricular guidelines as public schools, though they charge tuition. Known as escoles concertades, they are distinct from schools whose funding is entirely private (escoles privades).
The language of instruction at public schools and escoles concertades is Catalan, as stipulated by the 2009 Catalan Education Act. Spanish may be used as a language of instruction by teachers of Spanish literature or language, and foreign languages by teachers of those languages. An experimental partial immersion programme adopted by some schools allows for the teaching of a foreign language (English, generally) across the curriculum, though this is limited to a maximum of 30% of the school day. No public school or escola concertada in Barcelona may offer 50% or full immersion programmes in a foreign language, nor does any public school or escola concertada offer International Baccalaureate programmes.
Universities:
- Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya)
- University of Barcelona (UB)
- Autonomous University of Barcelona (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
- University of Pompeu Fabra (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
- Ramon Llull University (Universitat Ramon Llull)
- International University of Catalonia (Universitat Internacional de Catalunya)
- Abat Oliba CEU University (Universitat Abat Oliba)
- Open University of Catalonia (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya)
Higher schools
- ESADE — Higher School of Business Administration and Management
- EAE — School of Business Administration
- EADA — School of Senior Management and Administration
- ENEB — European Business School of Barcelona
- ESCAC — Higher School of Cinema and Audiovisuals of Catalonia
- Euroaula — Tourism School Barcelona
- TBS—Toulouse Business School
- ISEP — Higher Institute of Psychological Studies
- GBS—Global Business School
See also TOP universities of Spain
