The city will have 26 all-through schools in all, when there were only two in 2017. In addition, the four schools inaugurated for the 2017-2018 academic year (Escola Xirinacs, Escola Gaia, Escola 9 Graons and Escola Teixidores de Gràcia) now have students reaching their sixth year of primary school, completing the growth period for these centres.

Fewer pupils per class

As from 8 September, the starting date for the school year, the city will have 165,978 infants and children around the 419 centres offering compulsory education, which is 1,555 fewer than the previous school year. The third year of infant schooling welcomes 10,106 pupils, three quarters of them having been in their final year of nursery school the year before.

The policy of better teacher-pupil ratios is also being extended this year. For the first time ever, no publicly operated school has groups of 23 pupils and the maximum number of infants in classes in their first year at school is 22. The average ratio is 18.4 pupils per group in publicly operated schools and 19.1 in state-subsidised private schools. This is also the first time the reduction has reached primary school ratios.

Some 90.3% of schools offering compulsory education in the city have a balanced social make-up in terms of their area. In the 2016-2017 year this percentage stood at 54.3%. The improvement is the result of the shock plan against segregation, in place since the 2019-2020 school year, and strengthening the detection of vulnerable children, favouring a more equal distribution of pupils.