Get Your Teaching Degree Recognized in Spain
Formal-system teaching is a regulated profession in Spain: Primary Teacher and Secondary Teacher appear in the Annex of Royal Decree 889/2022, so your degree needs homologación (official recognition) — not a mere equivalency — to work in the education system. We handle the complete case for €176.
What legally applies to your degree
If your degree is in pedagogy, education or teaching and you want to work in Spanish schools, the procedure is homologación to the corresponding regulated profession: Primary Education Teacher or Secondary and Upper-Secondary Education Teacher. The Ministry compares your training with the qualifying Spanish degree, including the pedagogical and teaching-methods component.
The key distinction is where you want to teach. Formal system (schools, secondary schools, publicly funded schools, teaching exams): homologación is mandatory, and for Secondary you also need the Teacher Training Master's if your pedagogical training is not recognized as equivalent. Non-formal training (academies, corporate training, online teaching): no recognition required, though the level equivalency can help in formal processes. We analyze your degree and tell you the exact route before filing.
- Official 790-107 fee
- €166.50
- Legal deadline for a decision
- 6 months
- Fully online procedure
- 100%
Which documents your file requires
The Document Agent checks every piece against the requirements of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities before filing — a file that goes in right the first time is the best defense against extra months of corrections.
- Proof of identity and nationality (passport or Spanish NIE)
- Official degree certificate, legalized with the Apostille of The Hague (waived for EU/EEA/Switzerland)
- Academic transcript showing programme length, courses taken and workload or credits, stamped and signed by your university
- Sworn translation (traducción jurada) into Spanish of the degree and the transcript
- Proof of payment of the 790-107 fee
Official fee: €166.50 (form 790-107)
The procedure fee is €166.50, code 107, paid with form 790-107. It is the same for both homologación (official recognition) and the declaration of equivalency. Beware: the 790-079 fee quoted on many websites applies to NON-university studies — paying it by mistake freezes your case.
If you pay from outside Spain, the transfer goes to the Ministry's account (IBAN ES16 9000 0001 2002 5310 8022, BIC ESPBESMMXXX) and bank charges are on you: if less than €166.50 arrives, the case stalls. We verify the exact amount before filing.
The fee is non-refundable if the application is rejected, lapses or is denied — one more reason to file the case right the first time.
And the visa? We've got you covered too
Recognizing your degree is half the journey. When it's time for the visa — work, study or residence — the Visa Agent guides you and we manage it with trusted partners specialized in each destination, with your academic file already resolved. Immigration requirements depend on the receiving country.
Official sources
Everything on this page is based on current official regulations. Check the primary sources yourself:
You provide the documents. We do the rest.
We assemble your file
We gather your degree certificate, the academic transcript with courses and credits, and your ID document. Our Document Agent checks that every piece meets the format required by the Ministry's online portal.
Apostille and sworn translation
We coordinate the Apostille of The Hague in your home country and the sworn translation (traducción jurada) into Spanish of your degree and transcript. EU/EEA/Swiss citizens are exempt from the apostille.
Online filing
We file your application through the Ministry's electronic portal, pay the 790-107 fee (€166.50) and register the case. The entire procedure is handled online — no in-person appointments.
Follow-up until resolution
Our Regulator Agent monitors the status of your case and we respond to any request for corrections. The legal deadline for a decision is 6 months.
Start your recognition
- Upfront feasibility analysis of your file
- Apostille / legalization and sworn translation coordination
- Complete preparation and filing of your application
- File tracking until resolution
- Response to requirements and corrections
- Visa guidance with trusted partners
Official government fees (in Spain, €166.50 under form 790-107) are paid separately to the competent authority. Timelines depend on the receiving country.
Secure payment with Stripe. Right after paying you complete your profile and get straight into your Booka dashboard — the same account works in the mobile app.
Working as a teacher in Spain: state schools, subsidized schools and pay
The Spanish education system hires through three very different routes. State schools recruit by competitive examination for permanent posts and through substitute-teacher lists for cover and vacancies: those lists are the real entry point for almost all teachers, they open regularly in every region and work on merit scoring. Subsidized (concertada) and private schools hire directly, with faster processes and their own collective agreements. Outside the formal system sit academies, corporate training and online teaching, where no recognition is required but stability is not comparable either.
Demand is uneven: mathematics, physics and chemistry, technology, technical and health vocational training, and bilingual profiles are all short. In those specialisms substitute lists run out frequently and candidates without prior experience in the system get called.
On pay, civil servant secondary teachers fall in subgroup A1 and the primary teaching corps in A2, with basic amounts set each year in the State Budget Act and regional supplements that create notable differences between regions: it is public information you can consult before deciding where to sit exams. Subsidized and private schools apply their sector agreements, with bands below the state system. Indicative public figures, not an individual forecast.
Market figures on this page are indicative and come from public sources cited in the text. They are not an offer, a guarantee or an earnings forecast. Booka manages credential recognition and professional registration — we are not a recruitment agency.
Which Spanish qualification does your teaching degree correspond to?
It depends on the educational stage, and this is the question that decides your case. For primary teaching, the reference is the Bachelor's in Primary Education Teaching, a regulated profession. For secondary and baccalaureate, qualification comes not from a teaching bachelor's but from combining a degree in the subject you will teach with the university Master's in Teacher Training for Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, Vocational Training and Language Teaching.
That is why Latin American Licenciatura en Educación degrees with a subject specialization are the most delicate cases on this site: they may point towards recognition as a primary teacher, or be resolved as an equivalency of the bachelor's plus the Spanish master's, depending on the relative weight of pedagogical and subject training in your curriculum.
What your teaching degree is called at home
Colombia typically issues Licenciatura en Educación Básica with a subject emphasis, or Licenciatura en Matemáticas, Lengua Castellana or Ciencias Naturales. Peru has Educación Secundaria with a specialism and Educación Primaria. Mexico issues Licenciatura en Educación Primaria or Secundaria from teacher-training colleges (escuelas normales), with a cédula profesional. Venezuela issues Profesor or Licenciado en Educación with a specialism. Argentina has Profesorado de Enseñanza Secundaria in the subject, or Profesorado de Educación Primaria, issued by higher teacher-training institutes and universities.
That normal-school or higher-institute origin is not a problem in itself, but it does require checking the nature and level of the qualification in your country before filing: that is the first verification we run.
Additional requirements in teaching: pedagogy and placements
As this is a regulated profession, the Ministry compares your curriculum with the Spanish qualifying degree and can make recognition conditional on additional requirements. In teaching, the recurring gaps are subject-specific didactics, Spanish education law and school organization, attention to diversity, and supervised school placements where your programme included fewer practicum hours than the Spanish degree.
When the decision comes with conditions, it is closed with an aptitude test at a Spanish university or with the coursework indicated. And there is a specific secondary-education scenario worth understanding: if your pedagogical training is not recognized as equivalent, the route is not a test but the Master's in Teacher Training, a full academic year with placements.
That analysis is done on your transcript, subject by subject, before anything is filed. It is the difference between knowing what you face and finding out with the decision in your hand.
After recognition: substitute lists and teaching exams
The immediate step is not the competitive exam but the substitute-teacher list of the region where you want to work: that is where almost all teachers arriving from abroad enter, qualifications, training and experience are scored, and it lets you start accumulating service that later counts in the exam process.
In parallel comes preparation for the teaching exam, with a syllabus per specialism and calls published by each region according to staffing needs. And if your destination is secondary education and your pedagogical training is not recognized, the correct order is recognition first, Master's in Teacher Training second: without the recognized degree you cannot even enrol.
Manage your process from the app — with 10% off
Download the Booka app to track your file, upload documents and chat with your advisor from your phone. Use code BLOG10 for 10% off your process.
Frequently asked questions
Will I be able to sit teaching exams with the recognized degree?
Yes — homologación to Primary Teacher or to the qualifying secondary-teaching degree is exactly what the exam calls require of foreign degrees. For Secondary, remember the Teacher Training Master's (or recognized equivalent pedagogical training) is also required; we review it in your file.
I hold a degree in another subject and worked as a teacher — what applies to me?
It depends on the degree, not the experience. If your degree is specifically a teaching one, it goes through homologación to the regulated profession. If it is in another discipline (chemistry, history, mathematics) and you want to teach it in Secondary, the usual route is the equivalency of your bachelor's plus the Teacher Training Master's in Spain. We confirm your case in the prior analysis.
How much does a teacher earn in Spain?
In state education it is published information: secondary teachers fall in subgroup A1 and primary teachers in A2, with basic pay set each year in the State Budget Act and supplements that vary appreciably between regions. Subsidized and private schools apply their sector agreements, with lower bands. You can consult the tables before deciding where to apply.
Can I teach while my recognition is pending?
Not in the formal system: schools and subsidized centres require the recognized qualification. Outside the formal system — academies, non-formal training, private tuition, corporate training, online teaching — you can work without it, and that is what many of our clients do while the case progresses.
Do I need the Master's in Teacher Training if I already taught at home?
For secondary and baccalaureate, Spanish qualification requires certified pedagogical and teaching training. If yours is recognized as equivalent within the recognition decision, you do not need it; if not, the master's is the route. It depends on your specific curriculum, which is exactly what we review upfront.
How long does the procedure take in Spain?
The legal deadline for a decision is 6 months from the moment the file is complete (Royal Decree 889/2022). Applicants' experience suggests longer real timelines depending on caseload; the Ministry publishes no official averages. A well-prepared file with no requests for corrections is the best way to avoid extra months.
Do I need the Apostille of The Hague and a sworn translation?
Yes, with limited exceptions. Your degree must be legalized with the Apostille of The Hague from your home country (EU, EEA and Swiss citizens are exempt), and both the degree and the academic transcript require a sworn translation (traducción jurada) into Spanish. We coordinate both as part of the service.
Can I start the process from my home country, without being in Spain?
Yes. The procedure runs entirely online through the Ministry's electronic portal, and the fee can be paid by international transfer. You never need to be in Spain or attend any in-person appointment.
What exactly does Booka do, and what do I do?
You hand us your documents; we do the rest: we verify the file at source with our Verifier Agent, coordinate the apostille and sworn translation, file the online application, pay the fee and track the case through to resolution, answering any request from the Ministry.
Other degrees we recognize in Spain
Your degree, recognized in Spain
Teaching and Education · full management for €176. You hand us the documents; we handle the file, the fees and the tracking until resolution.
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