Mallorca School Places Mid-Year: How Enrolment Works When You Move With Children

Mallorca school places are not only allocated in spring. Families who arrive during the school year apply outside the ordinary deadline through the Balearic government's school admissions offices, which assign a place in a publicly funded school. Schooling is compulsory from 6 to 16.

That is the short answer, and it matters, because many of the families who buy with us in Santa Ponsa and Nova Santa Ponsa do not move in September. A sale completes in November, a job starts in January, and the children need a school the following week. Here is how the system works when your move does not follow the school calendar.

How School Admissions Normally Work in the Balearics

Places in public schools and concertada schools (privately run but publicly funded) are allocated by the Conselleria d'Educació through its Servei d'Escolarització. For the 2026-2027 school year, the process is regulated by Order 4/2026 of 24 February. Families apply in a spring and early summer window for the following September; for bachillerato, for example, the 2026 application window ran from 19 to 25 June, with final lists published on 15 July.

In that ordinary process, popular schools are allocated by points. The criteria include having siblings at the school, the location of the family home, the location of the parents' workplace, large-family status and several others set out on the admissions service's website. Every address belongs to a school zone, and the zone maps are published online.

Applying Outside the Deadline

If you arrive after the ordinary process has closed, you make what the system calls a sol·licitud fora de termini, an out-of-term application. The government's own guidance is clear that anyone can make one. You file it with the oficina d'escolarització, the school admissions office, which reviews the request and then formally assigns the place.

This is a routine part of island life, not an exception. The Conselleria has said that enrolment continues throughout the school year, with new arrivals concentrated in the last two weeks of September and the beginning of October. In the 2015-2016 school year alone, 2,228 pupils were enrolled in the Balearics outside the ordinary deadlines.

Practically, it makes sense to arrive at the office prepared: passports or ID for the child and parents, your padrón certificate showing your Mallorca address, the child's most recent school reports and any vaccination record. The office confirms exactly what it needs for your case. Registering on the padrón quickly helps with far more than schools, as we explain in our article on why the padrón matters.

Nursery-Age Children (0 to 3)

Places for the first cycle of infant education, from birth to three, run through a separate admissions process, which also has its own route for out-of-term applications. The government's 0-3 admissions service can be reached on +34 971 176 104. From age three, children enter the second cycle of infant education, which is part of the main admissions system even though it is not compulsory.

The Catalan Exemption for New Arrivals

Teaching in Balearic state schools is largely in Catalan, the island's co-official language alongside Spanish. For children arriving from abroad, that can feel like the biggest hurdle. The regulations allow pupils who live in the Balearics on a temporary basis to request an exemption from the assessment of Catalan language and literature.

The request is made through the school. Pupils who settle in the Balearics during the school year have one month to submit it, and an exemption is valid for one academic year. It does not take the child out of a Catalan-speaking classroom; it simply means they are not graded on that subject while they settle in. In practice, younger children pick up both Catalan and Spanish quickly, and many families see this as one of the real benefits of the move.

A Note for Non-EU Families

Non-EU parents who renew certain residence permits, including non-lucrative residence and family reunification permits, need an informe d'escolarització, an official report confirming that children aged 6 to 16 are in school. The Balearic government issues it within a maximum of one month from the date the request is registered. Enrolling promptly after arrival keeps this step straightforward.

State, Concertada or International?

The admissions office only handles publicly funded schools. Private international schools run their own admissions, often with waiting lists in the most popular year groups, so families who want that route should contact schools directly and early. Our guide to international schools in Mallorca covers the main options, and our comparison of British curriculum and Spanish state schools sets out costs and curriculum side by side.

Many families take a mixed approach: a local state school while they settle, then a move to an international school once a place opens up, or the other way round as children become confident in Spanish and Catalan.

Choosing Where to Live With Schools in Mind

Because every address sits in a school zone, the house you buy shapes the state school options you have. Calvià has state primary and secondary schools in several of its villages and resorts, and southwest Mallorca is also within reach of several international schools. When we show family buyers around Santa Ponsa, Nova Santa Ponsa or Bendinat, the school run is usually one of the first questions, and it is worth checking the zone map before you commit.

You can check which publicly funded schools serve each area, and the courses they offer, on the Balearic government's school admissions website. Families registering for public healthcare at the same time will find our guide to IB-Salut useful too.

If you are planning a move with children, browse our homes in Santa Ponsa and Nova Santa Ponsa, or call us on +34 971 692 434, message us on WhatsApp or email help@imperial-properties.com. We have helped families settle here since 1985, and we are happy to talk through schools as part of your search.