Press Release - March 2026

• Total revenue at state-subsidised and non-subsidised private schools amounted to €14.4 billion in the 2024/2025 academic year, up 2.5% from the previous year, amid limited growth in student enrolment.

• Supply is characterised by a high degree of fragmentation, with the majority participation of small management entities operating a single site. Nevertheless, the presence of groups managing several sites is on a path of gradual expansion.

• INFORMA's DBK Sectoral Observatory recently published these insights in the basic 'Private Schools' Sectoral Report.

Madrid, 5 March 2026.- According to INFORMA's (Cesce's subsidiary) DBK Sectoral Observatory—a leading provider of business, financial, sectoral, and marketing information in Spain and Portugal—the turnover of private schools reached €14.4 billion in the 2024/2025 academic year, up 2.5% from the previous year, when it rose 3.3%.

By type of funding, state-subsidised private schools generated €10.9 billion, equivalent to 75.7% of total sector revenue, versus the €3.5 billion contributed by non-subsidised schools, i.e., 24.3% of the total.

By source of revenue, around 85% of the total came from enrolment and teaching services, versus 15% generated by other items.

The number of students enrolled in private schools posted a slight increase in the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 academic years, rising by only about 3,000 over the two years and reaching a provisional figure of 2.76 million in the 2024/2025 academic year.

Around 74% of students attended state-subsidised schools, totalling 2.05 million in the 2023/2024 academic year, versus a 26% share for non-subsidised private schools (714,000 students). 

In the 2024/2025 academic year, the supply of private schools comprised 9,330 sites, of which just over 60% were state-subsidised, while the remainder were non-subsidised private schools.

The market was led by several business groups and religious congregations managing multiple sites, some of which have pursued growth via acquisitions in recent years. Nevertheless, supply continues to show a high degree of fragmentation, in a sector dominated by small entities responsible for managing a single school.

As a result, the top five operators—excluding religious congregations—hold a combined market share of only around 4% of total revenue generated by private schools. 

Data Synthesis