Madrid extends the validity of educational concerts to fourteen years

The Governing Council of the Community of Madrid has approved Decree 86/2026, of October 21, which increases the validity of educational agreements (conciertos) and agreements with private centers supported by public funds from ten to fourteen years. The regulation is published in the Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid (B.O.C.M.) no. 253, of October 23, 2026, within section I.A of general provisions, and comes into force on October 24. The stated objective is for the renewal date of the agreements to coincide with the full implementation of the reduction in the student-to-teacher ratio per classroom.

The decree, promoted by the Department of Education, Science and Universities, modifies article 13 of Decree 31/2019, of April 9, which regulated the regime of educational agreements in the region and set a ten-year term from the modification carried out by Decree 3/2021, of January 13. Until now, agreements with private centers providing the first cycle of early childhood education, intermediate-level vocational training, and higher-level vocational training were maintained for four renewable years, due to the limitations of Law 40/2015, of October 1, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector.

The state framework consists of Organic Law 8/1985, of July 3, regulating the right to education, and Organic Law 2/2006, of May 3, on education, which in its article 116.3 sets minimum durations of six years for primary education and four for other types of education. The basic aspects of the regime are contained in Royal Decree 2377/1985, of December 18.

From ten to fourteen years and single renewal

The new article 13 establishes that the validity of educational agreements shall be fourteen years. The duration will be identical for all educational levels, so that the renewal procedure will be single for all of them, avoiding staggered procedures according to the stage.

Agreements for the public funding of private centers providing the first cycle of early childhood education, intermediate-level vocational training, and higher-level vocational training will also have a duration of fourteen years. The statement of motives justifies the change in the need to provide “certainty and predictability” to three actors:

• The owners of the subsidized centers.
• The families who have enrolled their children in subsidized centers in the Community of Madrid.
• The educational Administration itself.

The calendar for the reduction of ratios

Since the 2022/2023 academic year, the Community of Madrid has been developing a process to decrease the maximum ratio of students per classroom in the second cycle of early childhood education, primary education, and compulsory secondary education. That process will end in the 2030/2031 academic year, and that horizon is what explains the new fourteen-year duration.

According to the text, state-subsidized schools (centros concertados) are adapting their legal configuration of units and their subsidy agreements based on schooling needs and the demand for school places, which are conditioned by the reduction of the student-teacher ratio. The decree maintains that only at the end of this process will the centers have defined their final configuration, and the Administration will be able to update a “suitable and sufficient” general teaching program, in accordance with Article 1 of Decree 31/2019.

One month to waive or sign the addendum

The sole transitional provision regulates the situation of existing subsidy agreements and conventions. The subsidy agreements will adapt their duration to fourteen years unless there is an express waiver by the center’s owner, which must be declared within one month from the decree’s entry into force.

In the case of conventions, the adaptation will be carried out through the signing of an addendum, for which the owners must expressly state their agreement within the same one-month period. The processing included a public hearing and information period, a mandatory report on coordination and regulatory quality, an opinion from the School Council, and a report from the General Counsel, in addition to the opinion of the Legal Advisory Commission.

The decree is signed by the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and by the counselor of Education, Science, and Universities, Mercedes Zarzalejo Carbajo, following the deliberation of the Governing Council on October 21, 2026.

The extension provides stability to the Madrid subsidized network over the next decade and reduces uncertainty for families regarding the continuity of their centers, although it shifts to the start of the 2030/2031 school year the moment when the Administration will review the programming of school places with the ratio map already finalized.

Source: Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid, no. 253, of October 23, 2026, section I.A (General Provisions), pp. 12-14 (official reference: BOCM-20261023-1).