Curriculum for compulsory secondary education (ESO)

The curriculum is understood as the set of objectives, competences (key and specific), contents (stated in the form of basic knowledge), pedagogical methods (through learning situations) and assessment criteria.

The European Union's guidelines stress the need for citizens to acquire key competences as an essential condition for ensuring that each individual achieves full personal, social and professional development in line with the demands of a globalised, technological and changing world and makes knowledge-linked economic and social development possible.

Following these recommendations, in Spain they were incorporated into the non-university education system. The Organic Law 2/2006 on Education (LOE) already referred, in its explanatory memorandum, among other things, to the need for social cohesion, lifelong learning and the knowledge society, and introduced the term basic competences for the first time into educational regulations.

Similarly, Recommendation 2006/962/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council called on Member States to develop the provision of key competences. Subsequently, Recommendation 2018/C 189/01 of the Council established a European reference framework with eight key competences:

• literacy competence;
• multilingual competence;
• mathematical competence and competence in science, technology and engineering;
• digital competence;
• personal, social and learning to learn competence;
• citizenship competence;
• entrepreneurship competence;
• cultural awareness and expression competence.

Its incorporation into the school curriculum entails a number of consequences:

• Their effective acquisition and integration into the curriculum is achieved through the design of integrated learning activities that enable learners to progress towards the learning outcomes in several competences at the same time, as many of these competences overlap and are interlinked.
• There is no universal relationship between the teaching of certain areas or subjects and the development of certain competences; each teaching area contributes to the development of different competences and, in turn, each of the competence is achieved as a result of working in various areas or subjects.

The Administration, through the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MEFP), after consulting the autonomous communities, establishes the basic curriculum (compulsory minimum teaching throughout the country in terms of objectives, competences, content and assessment criteria) in order to ensure common education for all pupils. These minimum teachings make up 50 per cent of the school timetables in the autonomous communities with a co-official language and 60 per cent for those without it.

The education authorities in the autonomous communities establish the curriculum in their respective areas of administration, which must include the minimum teaching requirements established by the MEFP. In addition, they must periodically review those curricula in order to adapt them to the advances in knowledge, as well as to the changes and new demands of their local area, of Spanish society and of the European and international context.

The curriculum of compulsory secondary education is organised into successive levels of concretion, which progressively adapt to the specificities of the school environment and the students who attend it.

Accordingly, schools also play an active role, developing, completing and adapting the curriculum to the pupils' needs and to their environment. To this end, they prepare a series of tools for formulating their pedagogic and curricular organisation:

• the school development plan, which includes the application of the established curricula by the education administration;
• the yearly general programme;
• the didactic programmes;
• the written report at the end of the school year, which reflects and evaluates the school activities and the running of the school.

The educational community takes part in the elaboration of these documents through the respective government and coordination teaching bodies of the school. The curricula established by the education administration are set and approved by the school staff, as well as the educational aspects of the yearly general programme.

Organisation of the first to third years of compulsory secondary education (ESO)

The subjects to be studied by pupils in all the first to third years of ESO are the following:

• biology and geology and/or physics and chemistry;
• physical education;
• geography and history;
• Spanish language and literature and, if applicable, regional language and literature;
• foreign language;
• mathematics;
• At least one of the following:
  • plastic, visual and audio visual education;
  • music;
  • technology and digitalisation.

In addition, in all three years, students take an optional subject, which can also take the form of a monographic project or an interdisciplinary or collaborative project with a community service. The education authorities are responsible for regulating this provision, which must include at least classical culture, a second foreign language (compulsory in all grades) and a subject for the development of digital competence.

Catholic religion is a compulsory subject for schools and voluntary for students. In turn, the teaching of other religions complies with the cooperation agreements signed by the Spanish State with the different religious denominations.

In order to favour the transition between educational stages, in the organisation of ESO, the education authorities must ensure that pupils in the first and second stages take a maximum of one more subject in addition to the areas that make up the last cycle of primary education.

Organisation of the fourth year of compulsory secondary education (ESO)

The subjects studied by all pupils in the fourth year of ESO are as follows:

• physical education;
• geography and history;
• Spanish language and literature and, if applicable, regional language and literature;
• foreign language;
• mathematics, with two differentiated options;
• three subjects from a set established by the Government, after consultation with the autonomous communities;
• one or more optional subjects, in accordance with the framework established by each education administration, taking into consideration the continuity of the optional subjects taken in the previous years of ESO. These subjects may take the form of a monographic work or a collaborative project with a community service.

At some point in the stage, all students must take the subject of education in civic and ethical values. This subject, which pays special attention to ethical reflection, includes content referring to knowledge of and respect for human and children's rights, those included in the Spanish Constitution, education for sustainable development and global citizenship, gender equality, the value of respect for diversity and the social value of taxes, fostering a critical spirit and a culture of peace and non-violence.

In the area of regional language and literature in those autonomous communities with an official language of their own, exemptions from taking or being assessed in this area may be established in accordance with the conditions set out in the corresponding autonomous community regulations. The area of regional language and literature receives the treatment determined by the autonomous communities concerned, guaranteeing, in any case, the objective of sufficient linguistic competence in both official languages.

Catholic religion is a compulsory subject for schools and voluntary for students. In turn, the teaching of other religions complies with the cooperation agreements signed by the Spanish State with the different religious denominations.

This fourth year is of a guiding nature, both for post-compulsory studies and for incorporation into the job market. In order to guide pupils in their choices, the subjects offered can be grouped into different options, oriented towards the different types of bachillerato studies and the various fields within vocational training, encouraging a balanced presence of both genders in the different study branches. In any case, students must be able to reach the level of acquisition of the competences defined for compulsory secondary education through any of the established options.

Schools must offer all possible subjects or options. Students' choice can only be limited when there is an insufficient number of students for a given subject or option, according to objective criteria previously established by each education administration.

Percentage of teaching hours per subject in ESO (2021)

Source: Drawn up by Eurydice Spain-Spanish Network for Information on Education (INEE, MEFP) on the basis of Education at a glance 2021.

The education authorities establish the linguistic models regarding the teaching of the official languages within their management sphere.

In addition, they may establish that part of the subjects of the curriculum might be taught in a foreign language, without altering the basic aspects of the curriculum. By the end of the stage, students must master the terminology of the subjects in both languages. However, schools that offer part of the subjects of the curriculum in a foreign language cannot include language requirements as admission criteria for students.

Teaching methods and materials

Teaching methods

The teaching methodologyis the set of strategies, procedures and actions consciously and thoughtfully organised and planned by teachers with the aim of guaranteeing student learning and the attainment of the stated objectives.

The MEFP establishes the methodological principles that must guide the teaching practice in compulsory secondary education. They feature the following characteristics:

• they must comply with the principles of common education and attention to diversity;
• measures to address diversity are oriented towards the achievement of the objectives of ESO by the students, and may not, under any circumstances, lead to any discrimination preventing them from achieving those objectives and the relevant qualification;
• special attention to the promotion of meaningful learning for the development of competences that promote autonomy and reflection;
• a special emphasis on the educational and vocational guidance of students, incorporating the gender perspective;
• reading comprehension, oral and written expression, audio visual communication, digital competence, social and business entrepreneurship, the promotion of a critical and scientific spirit, emotional education and values and creativity are covered in all subjects. In any case, health education, including affective-sexual education, aesthetic education, gender equality and mutual respect and cooperation between equals must be promoted as a cross-curricular component.

Within their pedagogic autonomy, schools are in charge of defining the teaching methods in the classroom, according to these pedagogic principles. They also decide on curricular materials and didactic resources. In this regard, they must develop their pedagogical proposals for all students, taking into account their diversity. Likewise, they must adopt methods that take into account the different learning paces of students, favour their ability to learn on their own and promote teamwork.

Each teacher can make their own methodological decisions, which must respect both the agreements made at school level and what the relevant education authorities establish.

Curricular materials and teaching resources

Textbooks and teaching materials do not require the previous authorisation of the education authorities for their adoption and publication. In any case, they must:

• be adapted to the scientific rigour adequate for the pupils’ age group and to the approved curriculum set by each education administration;
• reflect and promote respect for the principles, values, freedom, rights and constitutional duties, as well as the principles and values set out in current educational laws and in Organic Law 1/2004 on Comprehensive Protection Measures against Gender Violence, with which all educational activity must comply.

In the exercise of pedagogical autonomy, it is up to the educational coordination bodies of each public educational institution to decide on the textbooks and other materials to be used in the development of the different areas.

The supervision of textbooks and other curricular materials is the responsibility of the education authorities and constitutes part of the ordinary process of inspection carried out by each of them on all the elements composing the teaching and learning process. In any case, it is necessary to ensure respect for the principles and values contained in the Constitution and the provisions of all regulations in force.

Families pay for textbooks and school materials. However, the MEFP promotes, within the Sectoral Committee for Education, programmes that facilitate the availability of textbooks at no cost and other curricular materials through a system of loans or grants. This Sectoral Committee, through the General Education Commission (support body), agrees on the objective criteria for distribution, as well as the amounts to be transferred in favour of each autonomous community in each budget year.

At the same time, there are a number of local and regional aids for the purchase of textbooks and school materials for students attending publicly funded schools.

Finally, although various initiatives have been carried out to regulate the homework that students must do outside school hours, in Spain there is no specific legislation regulating this aspect. Consequently, in this respect the organisation is subject to the judgment of each teacher or the agreements reached at each school.

Information and Communication Technologies

Education authorities and management teams at public schools should promote the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the classroom as an appropriate and valuable educational medium for carrying out teaching and learning tasks. Additionally, the education authorities must establish the conditions that make it possible to eliminate risk situations arising from the inappropriate use of ICT in the school environment, with special attention to situations of on-line violence. In accordance with the law, confidence and safety in the use of technologies must be fostered, paying special attention to the elimination of gender stereotypes that hinder the acquisition of digital competences under equal conditions.

Within the framework of the Digital Culture Plan at Schools developed by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MEFP), the initiative Espacio Procomún Educativo has been being developed, aimed at educational and learning purposes, mainly for the teaching community and students, but also for the general public.

Currently, Procomún is a network of open educational resources (OER), where you can search, display and download learning objects in standard formats and with open licenses for use in pre-university education. It integrates a social network as a meeting point for the educational community, which facilitates interaction with other users, creating communities, sharing, valuing and disseminating all kinds of educational resources. At the same time, it incorporates semantic technology linking it to other similar digital networks (Europeana, Redined, National Library, Prado Museum, Hispana y Dbpedia).

These OER are under open license (Creative Commons Spain), which allows free access, as well as their use, modification and redistribution by others without any restriction or with limited restrictions.

Meanwhile, the EDIA Project (Educational, Digital, Innovative and Open) of the National Centre for Curriculum Development in Non-Proprietary Systems (CEDEC) promotes and supports the creation of digital and methodological transformation dynamics in schools to improve student learning and promote new models for educational institutions.

EDIA offers a collection of educational content for primary education, among other educational levels. These open educational resources (OER) are curriculum-referenced and offer proposals for active methodologies and the promotion of digital competence in the classroom. The resources include all the templates, guides, rubrics and documents necessary to implement the didactic proposal in the classroom.

The OER are created with the eXeLearning, authoring tool, so that any teacher can access them to use them directly, but also download them and modify them according to their classroom context. The OER of the EDIA project have generated networks of teachers who discuss the use of resources and technology in the classroom. This virtual faculty constitutes a framework for experimentation to propose new educational content models that develop aspects such as accessibility and topics such as gender equality or digital citizenship.