Why now is a good time to be a private teacher in Spain
If you’re considering working as a private teacher in Spain, the latest stats show why you’ll be increasingly sought-after and likely to find plenty of pupils to make a living. Here’s why.
Teaching isn’t famed for being the most remunerative job one can do, and Spain is no exception.
The average gross monthly wages of a secondary school teacher in Spain are €2,300, which can end up being around €1,800 net a month, but according to Spanish workers union UGT big regional differences mean many secondary school teachers end up getting a lower salary than that.
Primary school teachers tend to get lower pay - around €2,000 gross a month - and again this is subject to differences between regions, experience and whether you’re working for a private or public institution (public schools tend to pay better).
Wages for university teachers usually start low (around €2,000 gross a month) but can double over the course of a decade.
Teaching can also be a very demanding job, as it is elsewhere in the world, and to become a public teacher in Spain you usually have to sit a state oposición exam.
Private teaching however, referred to as clases particulares in Spanish, is emerging as an appealing alternative for those who want to make a living out of teaching in Spain.
The country’s latest Family Budget Survey (EPF) reveals that 24 percent of students in Spain now receive private tutoring outside their classrooms.
Wealthy households spend up to five times more than poorer ones, although mid to lower income families in Spain are increasingly prioritising private tutoring for their children.
Private teaching in Spain has gone from being seen as a luxury service to a necessity in many Spanish households.
It’s a trend which started during the financial crisis that hit Spain in 2008, and over the course of the next decade Spanish families tripled their spending on private tutoring to a total of €732 million.
And the pandemic has served to increase demand for private tutoring further still, spurred on by a 550 percent spike in demand during 2020.
Maths and science tutoring is what is most sought after, with the results of a 2019 study by the International Association for Evaluation of Educational Achievement showing that Spanish students are lagging behind in these two fields compared to students elsewhere in Europe and in Asian nations.
"I don’t think that the Spanish educational system is failing,” Juan Moreno, author of the “Education in the Shadows” study which includes this latest data on Spanish tutoring, told Spanish radio station RNE.
“What’s happening is that more and more families understand that they have to invest more, they see the need for a more personal education in a climate of greater competitiveness. They want their children to have a competitive edge.”
And how about English teaching? According to Spanish private teaching website tusclasesparticulares.com, the most in-demand private classes in 2020 were English, followed by maths and then French.
The desire among Spaniards to improve their English skills continues into adulthood, with a 2022 survey by online English school Open English finding that 99 percent of students believed that learning English could help them achieve their career goals, and 93 percent said it would serve as personal fulfilment.
Spain continues to have the lowest level of English proficiency in Europe according to a 2020 study by the EF English Proficiency Index, ranked in 33rd position globally.
The Covid-19 pandemic and its health implication for face-to-face teaching has also meant that there’s greater acceptance among pupils and their parents for classes to be held online, allowing teachers to have more free time and save on transport costs. It’s a modus operandi which is no doubt here to stay after the pandemic.
So whether it’s English, French, science or maths that you’re considering teaching privately in Spain, know that there is demand to be able to make a living out of it in most cases.
It isn’t without its challenges, and you’ll have to decide whether to work for a company or go solo at it as a self-employed worker, but private teaching is a sure-fire way for many foreigners to be able to live and work in Spain for the foreseeable future, without having to have a full-time job.
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Teaching isn’t famed for being the most remunerative job one can do, and Spain is no exception.
The average gross monthly wages of a secondary school teacher in Spain are €2,300, which can end up being around €1,800 net a month, but according to Spanish workers union UGT big regional differences mean many secondary school teachers end up getting a lower salary than that.
Primary school teachers tend to get lower pay - around €2,000 gross a month - and again this is subject to differences between regions, experience and whether you’re working for a private or public institution (public schools tend to pay better).
Wages for university teachers usually start low (around €2,000 gross a month) but can double over the course of a decade.
Teaching can also be a very demanding job, as it is elsewhere in the world, and to become a public teacher in Spain you usually have to sit a state oposición exam.
Private teaching however, referred to as clases particulares in Spanish, is emerging as an appealing alternative for those who want to make a living out of teaching in Spain.
The country’s latest Family Budget Survey (EPF) reveals that 24 percent of students in Spain now receive private tutoring outside their classrooms.
Wealthy households spend up to five times more than poorer ones, although mid to lower income families in Spain are increasingly prioritising private tutoring for their children.
Private teaching in Spain has gone from being seen as a luxury service to a necessity in many Spanish households.
It’s a trend which started during the financial crisis that hit Spain in 2008, and over the course of the next decade Spanish families tripled their spending on private tutoring to a total of €732 million.
And the pandemic has served to increase demand for private tutoring further still, spurred on by a 550 percent spike in demand during 2020.
Maths and science tutoring is what is most sought after, with the results of a 2019 study by the International Association for Evaluation of Educational Achievement showing that Spanish students are lagging behind in these two fields compared to students elsewhere in Europe and in Asian nations.
"I don’t think that the Spanish educational system is failing,” Juan Moreno, author of the “Education in the Shadows” study which includes this latest data on Spanish tutoring, told Spanish radio station RNE.
“What’s happening is that more and more families understand that they have to invest more, they see the need for a more personal education in a climate of greater competitiveness. They want their children to have a competitive edge.”
And how about English teaching? According to Spanish private teaching website tusclasesparticulares.com, the most in-demand private classes in 2020 were English, followed by maths and then French.
The desire among Spaniards to improve their English skills continues into adulthood, with a 2022 survey by online English school Open English finding that 99 percent of students believed that learning English could help them achieve their career goals, and 93 percent said it would serve as personal fulfilment.
Spain continues to have the lowest level of English proficiency in Europe according to a 2020 study by the EF English Proficiency Index, ranked in 33rd position globally.
The Covid-19 pandemic and its health implication for face-to-face teaching has also meant that there’s greater acceptance among pupils and their parents for classes to be held online, allowing teachers to have more free time and save on transport costs. It’s a modus operandi which is no doubt here to stay after the pandemic.
So whether it’s English, French, science or maths that you’re considering teaching privately in Spain, know that there is demand to be able to make a living out of it in most cases.
It isn’t without its challenges, and you’ll have to decide whether to work for a company or go solo at it as a self-employed worker, but private teaching is a sure-fire way for many foreigners to be able to live and work in Spain for the foreseeable future, without having to have a full-time job.
READ ALSO:
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