Fees at state-funded private schools in Spain: what families can be charged and how to present it

On 28 October, the private schools' association CICAE and the parents' federation FAPA Francisco Giner de los Ríos presented the 11th study "X-ray of fees at state-funded private schools in the Madrid region", covering the 2026-2027 school year. In Spain, these schools, known as concertados, are privately owned but publicly funded through agreements with the regional authority. The study used the mystery shopper method, with visits, phone calls and video calls posing as families, and analysed 151 of the region's 428 state-funded private schools. Its main findings:

• 96.7% of schools ask for a periodic fee or contribution. The average is 1,012 euros per student per year, with a maximum of 2,450.
• 71.2% present the payment as a requirement to access the school's educational model, and another 15.1% call it voluntary but warn that not paying may leave the student out of certain activities.
• Only 13.7% say expressly that it is optional and without consequences.
• 39% do not mention that it is voluntary in their documents, and 36.3% charge under headings the study considers not permitted, such as "fee", "tariff" or "educational project".
• Four in ten schools do not publish full prices for activities and services on their website.

The study comes from an association of fully private schools and covers only Madrid. Associations of state-funded private schools have argued for years that the public funding module does not cover the real cost of a place. But beyond that debate, the study highlights something that depends on each school: how each item is named, explained and charged.

What the law says

Article 88 of Spain's Organic Law on Education, as currently worded, states that state schools and state-funded private schools may not, under any circumstances:

• Charge families for the education that must be free.
• Impose an obligation to make contributions to foundations or associations.
• Set up compulsory services linked to teaching that require families to pay.

The same article excludes from that ban after-school activities, complementary activities and school services, which must in any case be voluntary, within the framework of article 51 of the Organic Law on the Right to Education. That article adds that, in state-funded private schools, these activities and services cannot be run for profit, that charging for complementary activities must be authorised by the education authority, and that after-school activities and their fees must be approved by the School Council and notified to the authority.

What can be charged

• Complementary activities: those held during school hours but not part of the curriculum, such as certain outings or workshops. They require authorisation, and the school must plan what students who do not take part will do.
• After-school activities: outside teaching hours, approved by the School Council. We explain it in after-school activities management.
• School services: meals, transport, breakfast club and others, following each region's procedure. For the canteen, we go into detail in school canteen management.
• Voluntary contributions to the owning foundation or another entity, as long as they are genuinely voluntary.

Where each charge fits: examples

Faced with a specific charge, the useful question is which category it fits. Some common examples:

• A museum visit during school hours: a complementary activity. It can be charged with authorisation, and students who do not take part must have an alternative at school.
• Robotics or English at five in the afternoon: an after-school activity, outside teaching hours and approved by the School Council.
• Meals, breakfast club or transport: school services, voluntary and with their fees approved under the region's procedure.
• Uniforms, the school's own books or materials: sales, charged separately under their own heading.
• A donation to renovate the playground or equip the lab: a voluntary contribution to the foundation or the parents' association, as long as it really is voluntary.
• A "bilingual programme fee" or "innovation fee" charged to everyone: it fits no category. If what it funds is part of teaching during school hours, it cannot be charged as compulsory. It can only be a voluntary contribution.

How to present it so that it is genuinely voluntary

The difference between a voluntary contribution and a disguised fee often lies in the details of how it is communicated and charged. Some practices that help:

1. Each item with its own name. "Meals", "Robotics after-school club" or "Voluntary contribution to the Foundation", each on its own line of the receipt. Generic names such as "fee" or "educational project" are exactly the ones the study flags.
2. Voluntariness in writing. The documents, the website and the receipt itself should say that the contribution is voluntary and that not paying has no consequences for the student.
3. An explicit choice by the family. Let the family tick which services and contributions it wants, rather than finding them already included.
4. Easy opt-out at any time. If a family stops contributing, the next receipt simply leaves it out, with no paperwork or explanations.
5. None of this at admission. The contribution is not mentioned or requested during admission, which must be independent of the family's financial means.
6. Published prices. Publish the prices of activities and services on the website. Four in ten schools in the study do not.
7. The same message at the office. The study was carried out by phoning and visiting schools. What the person answering says counts as much as what the documents say.

Common mistakes on receipts and direct debits

• A single line for everything. "Monthly fee: 120 euros" mixes voluntary items with services and stops the family seeing what it pays for each thing.
• The contribution included by default in the direct debit batch without the family having chosen it.
• Contribution and meals in the same charge. If the family wants to stop contributing and returns the debit, it returns the meals too. With a SEPA Core direct debit, the family can ask its bank to refund an authorised charge within eight weeks without giving reasons, so mixing items only creates returns and disputes.
• Changing the amount without notice. Any increase in an activity or service should be announced before the receipt in which it applies.
• Receipts with no breakdown. If one part is a tax-deductible donation and another is not, the receipt and the certificate must clearly tell them apart.

Families who cannot pay

Calling something voluntary is not enough if, in practice, a family without means is singled out. Some measures that help:

• Information on grants and support for meals, transport or materials from the regional government and the local council, with deadlines and requirements. We explain it in grant and support management.
• A real alternative in complementary activities, so that not taking part does not feel like a punishment.
• Confidentiality. Which families contribute and which do not is known to the office and the owner, not to the form tutor or the rest of the group.
• A clear contact person the family can turn to without having to explain itself in front of anyone.

A sample text for the letter

An example of how to communicate a voluntary contribution without ambiguity:

"The school's owning Foundation offers families the chance to help with a voluntary contribution of 30 euros a month, which this year will go towards renewing the equipment in the early-years classrooms. The contribution is entirely voluntary: it is not part of teaching, which is free, and it has no consequence for your children or for their participation in the school's activities. If you would like to contribute, you can say so in the app. You can cancel it whenever you like and it will no longer appear on the next receipt."

A tax note

If the contribution is channelled as a donation to a foundation and a certificate is issued for tax relief, it has to be a real donation: a voluntary payment, with nothing in return and not conditional on a place or a service, as Spain's Law 49/2002 requires. An amount that in practice is required to be at the school does not fit that definition, and the tax authority may challenge its deduction. It is worth reviewing this with your adviser before issuing January's certificates.

Conclusion

The law is clear on the basics: in a state-funded private school, education is free and everything else, activities, services and contributions, has to be voluntary. The Madrid study shows that the problem usually lies in the presentation: items with generic names, voluntariness that is never mentioned and office messages that contradict it. Separating each item on the receipt, letting the family choose and publishing prices is the simplest way to charge what can be charged without raising doubts.

If you want each item on its own line of the receipt, with SEPA direct debit and the detail visible to the family in the app, see Edena's invoicing or book a demo.