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% on the previous year, amid limited growth in student enrolments.

• Supply is characterised by a high degree of fragmentation, with small single-site operators accounting for the bulk of providers. Nevertheless, the presence of multi-site groups continues to expand progressively.

• 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—turnover at private schools reached €14.4 billion in the 2024/2025 academic year, up 2.5% on the previous year, when it rose 3.3%.

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

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

Student enrolments at private schools posted a slight increase in the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 academic years, rising by only around 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 centres, totalling 2.05 million in the 2023/2024 academic year, versus a 26% share for non-subsidised private schools (714,000 students). 

Supply of private schools comprised 9,330 centres in the 2024/2025 academic year, 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 centres, with some of them having pursued growth via acquisitions in recent years. Nevertheless, supply continued to show a high degree of fragmentation, in a sector dominated by small entities managing a single school.

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

Data Synthesis