Education sets the criteria for qualifying centers and teaching positions of special difficulty

The Department of Education, Science, Universities and Vocational Training establishes for the first time general criteria to qualify centers, units, classrooms, and teaching positions of special difficulty in the Autonomous Community. It does so through the Order of November 2, 2026, published in the Official Gazette of Galicia (DOG) no. 211 on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, with the official reference CVE-DOG: mkqsakn7-4mm3-ga41-yip8-h9t9ljz5ko42. The regulation replaces the regime that had been applied for more than fifteen years and links this qualification to the merit assessment in the teacher transfer competition.

The state framework of the scale

The order is created to comply with a requirement of Royal Decree 1364/2010, of October 29, modified by Royal Decree 677/2024, of July 16, which regulates the state-level transfer competition among civil servant personnel of the teaching bodies included in Organic Law 2/2006, of May 3, on education. Among the specifications that the scales must respect is the performance of job positions that may be considered of special difficulty.

Until now, this qualification was resolved through closed lists and successive updates of annexes. The Order of October 18, 2010 established the initial list; the Order of November 6, 2017 updated its annexes, with a correction of errors published in the DOG on November 24, 2017, and the Order of October 22, 2021 (DOG no. 210, of November 2) added an annex relating to juvenile centers. The now-approved text repeals these three provisions.

Six types of destinations with qualification

The second point of the order lists which centers, units, and classrooms generate positions qualified as of special difficulty:

• Unitary schools.
• Special education centers.
• Specific special education classrooms located in ordinary centers, although the qualification is limited to positions with direct attention to students enrolled in these classrooms.
• Permanent education centers for adults located in penitentiary centers.
• Juvenile centers.
• Hospital classrooms, also restricted to positions involving direct attention to students.

The qualification must be adjusted not only to the criteria of the order, but to the effective operating conditions existing in each school year, which introduces an element of periodic review that was not previously explicit.

Annual list before the application period

The list of qualified positions for each year will be determined by a resolution of the general directorate competent in matters of centers and human resources. This text will take effect from the start of the school year and will always be published prior to the application period for the corresponding general transfer competition.

The list will be updated every year, taking into account modifications in the organization, operation, and characteristics of the centers, units, and classrooms, as well as other relevant circumstances for applying the established criteria.

Preservation of acquired rights

The fourth point of the text protects teachers who have already worked in qualified destinations. Those performing a position of special difficulty will maintain the right to the valuation of the services provided during the period in which it held that consideration, even if the center, unit, classroom, or position subsequently loses the qualification or ceases to operate.

The regulation adds that the suppression, closure, or integration of one center into another, as well as the change of its name or code, will not affect the recognition of the qualification during the periods in which it existed. To apply this, the qualifications recognized according to the regulations in force at the time the services were provided will be taken as a reference.

The final first provision enables the person holding the general directorate competent in matters of centers and human resources to issue the necessary resolutions to apply and develop the order. The text was signed in Santiago de Compostela on November 2, 2026, by the counselor Román Rodríguez González.

The order directly affects the destination expectations of thousands of Galician teachers, because the qualification of a position adds points to the scale of the transfer competitions and determines which positions are more attractive to teachers with more seniority. From now on, the decision ceases to depend on a closed list and begins to be governed by public criteria and an annual review published before the application period opens, which provides more room to challenge or correct inclusions before the allocations are resolved.

Source: Diario Oficial de Galicia (DOG), no. 211, November 4, 2026, section I. General provisions, pp. 55317-55320 (official reference: CVE-DOG: mkqsakn7-4mm3-ga41-yip8-h9t9ljz5ko42).