THE repeater rate of course it falls in Spain. According to the latest data from Ministry of Education and Vocational Trainingstudents who repeated in Primary They fell from 2.1% to 1.1% between 2022 and 2023. The same downward trend was reflected in the Compulsory secondary education (from 7.6% to 7%) and in the Baccalaureate (from 6.9% to 5.9%).
Despite this, various international organizations warn that Spain I still have some high repetition levelslocated among the highest in the European Union. This situation therefore has a direct consequence: the public and private sectors lose money for each repeater. Thus, the school failure In this country, this represents a flight that borders on 1.5 billion euros per yearas calculated by EL ESPAÑOL.
Specifically, Spain loses a total of each year 1,484,623,076.95 euros by repeaters of courses. If we break this figure down, the repetition in Primary costs almost every year to Spanish pockets 313 million euros; in the THATmore than 928 million eurosa hole and black; and in Baccalaureatea little more than 244 million eurosThis million takes into account the expenses borne by both public administrations and families and was calculated based on data provided by the Ministry of Education and the OECD.
These data indicate that Spain spent for each student Primary In 2021 –last figure provided in the report Education at a glance. OECD Indicators 2024– 9,153.48 euros. He also paid out 10,827.56 And 10,446.35 euros for each student of the THAT And Baccalaureaterespectively. And of course, if a school-age student fails a school year, the investment made, which varies from 9,000 to 11,000 euros, is wasted. that year 143,214 students repeated a year at all stages.
Billions of public losses
own OECD explains in the report that the Spanish Public Treasuries they paid in 2021 10,080.90 euros per year for the public education of every student of Primary. This contrasts with the private investment What each family does per child. They paid for private school 7,213.50 euros per year on average. However, that year there were 42,333 primary school pupils who repeated a year in public or subsidized schools, has caused more than 426 million euros public.
Furthermore, “the waste of economic resources in public centers is equivalent to 4,569.9 million euros if we take into account the entire period analyzed – from 2015 to 2021 –”, reflected last April the Report on the economic cost of school failureprepared by Dide.org. Again, it is clear that the waste of money by repeaters particularly affects the public sector.
This report explains that “the economic impact of repeating a year in primary education, ESO and the baccalaureate in Spain reaches 1,294 million euros per year” This media claims that it is even higher, on the edge of 1.5 billion euros. In any case, the loss of resources is dramatic.
| Money spent in Spain on repeaters | Number of repeating students | Total expenditure per student in Spain | |
| In Primary | 312,371,658.48 € | 34 126 | 9 153.48 € |
| THAT | 928 214 236,12 € | 85,727 | 10,827.56 € |
| Baccalaureate | 244,037,182.35 € | 23,361 | 10,446.35 € |
| Total | 1,484,623,076.95 € | 143 214 |
Source: own elaboration | Ministry of Education | OECD
In the opinion of Elena Betes NovoaCEO of Dide.org, “the economic impact School failure at all levels of education is evident and worrying, but it is only one dimension of the problem, which has serious consequences at the family and social level. We must provide teachers, who play a key role in the education system, with the necessary tools to identify students’ problems early in order to intervene and generate an educational ecosystem that almost prevents half a million young people do not get relevant training for their professional life. Only in this way can we ensure that the education system contributes to the development of the country.”
Number of repeaters per floor
As progress has been made, even if Spain almost loses 1.5 billion euros per year for repeatersThe truth is that waste is different at each stage. In 2021, for example, there was 34,126 primary school students who repeated their route across the country, causing the loss of 312,371,658.48 euros. Of course, it should be noted that they then assumed the role 1.2% of the total number of students, so the figure has not changed much – today, they are the ones who 1.1%–.
Secondary This is the most dramatic stage. It happens to be the last period of compulsory schooling and, therefore, school dropout rate is important, as well as repetition. In 2021, the 4.2% of adolescents –85,727– repeated coursecausing a waste of 928,214,236.12 euros. The latest repeat data indicates that the figure is in the 7%.
The same thing happens with the Baccalaureate. It is true that between 2022 and 2023, the repeat rate decreased by one point – from 6.9% At 5.9%–, but it is also true that in 2021 the rate was at 3.4%. In total, that year 23,361 high school students repeated a yearwasting an investment of 244,037,182.35 euros.
Spain’s spending per student
This waste of economic resources caused by school failureobviously affects the public and private coffers of Spain. According to the OECDSpaniards pay more than 11,200 euros per student each year on average. More specifically, total public and private expenditure per student in primary to higher education institutions – universities and vocational training – amounts to 11,201.4 euros per student.
The analysis carried out by the OECD shows that, although Spain has increased by one 2.6% Total spending on education between 2015 and 2021 – the last year presented in the report – is still lower than the average spending of the European Union and countries of the OECD.
THE EU average expenditure on the education of each student 12,408.3 euros and the OECD average pay 12,788.1 euros. Or what is the same, our country spends per student between 1,200 And 1,700 euros less than the countries around us.
Both in Spain As in other educationally decentralized countries, there are also regional differences in education spending. In our country, reports the OECDthe autonomous community with higher spending per student is he the Basque Countrywho invests 1.8 times more this autonomy with less expense, Community of Madrid. In addition, and as is the case in the rest of the countries around us, spending on Education At each stage, the situation is different, with higher education being more expensive than secondary and primary education respectively.
This different investment and the existence of 17 educational systems They also influence whether the figures of school failure vary. For example, the autonomous repetition rate varies by region. Thus, in PrimaryThe communities where it is most repeated are Castile-La Mancha (2.8%) and Murcia (2.5%), and where less, Catalonia (0.4%) and Asturias (0.6%).
In the THATthere are more repeats in Murcia (9.3%) and Castile-La Mancha (9.3%), and lower, in Catalonia (2.7%) and Asturias (4.6%). and in BaccalaureateThe communities with the most repeaters are Castile and Leon (9.5%) and Balearic Islands (7.1%), and with less are the Basque Country (3.8%) and La Rioja (3.9%). In any case, each year, repeating a year costs the Spanish not only dissatisfaction due to academic failure, but an amount close to 1.5 billion euros.
