There are a variety of state schools, two private schools and one college of further education in Gibraltar.

All teacher training for state education takes place in UK universities and colleges, and teachers must have a registration number issued by the Department for Education (UK).

The Gibraltar government provides a number of nursery places for pre-school children, the current provision for these children is catered for by Varyl Begg Nursery, St Paul's Nursery, St Mary's Nursery, Governor's Meadow Nursery, St Bernard's Nursery, Notre Dame Nursery and St Joseph's Nursery. There is also a nursery attached to St Martin's Special School. In addition there are privately run playgroups and nurseries, 10 of which are currently registered with the Department of Education, which inspects them jointly with the Environmental Agency and City Fire Brigade to ensure minimum standards of accommodation, numbers on roll and staffing levels.

All curricula are based on the national curriculum for England, but with specific differences in respect of Spanish and other subjects (including Religious Education) reflecting local realities.

Education is free in Gibraltar state run schools. Loreto Convent School and Prior Park School are fee paying private schools. 

Gibraltar schools are all co-educational.

English is the language of instruction. Spanish is introduced formally as a subject in year 4, but may be employed earlier as a teaching aid in special circumstances. 

Loreto Convent School is an independent co-educational primary school, which provides a private education from nursery to 12 years. Loreto School is a Catholic school, which welcomes children of all faiths. It follows the national curriculum in preparation for secondary education in Gibraltar or the UK.

Prior Park is a modern Christian Catholic school with a maximum capacity of 260 pupils. It has a staff to student ratio of 1:8 with a maximum of 40 children per year group. The school accepts students from ages 11 to 18 and teaches the UK curriculum including GCSE and A Level examinations. One of three schools in the Prior Park family which also includes Prior Park College, Bath and The Paragon School, Bath. 

The secondary curriculum is defined by national curriculum legislation. In the first three years (7, 8 and 9), secondary schools offer a broad compulsory curriculum that includes English, Mathematics, Science, Modern Foreign Languages, Spanish, History, Geography, Art, Music, Religious Education, Physical Education, Design and Technology and Computing. In years 10 and 11, pupils opt for subjects from a range of disciplines, keeping to national curriculum requirements. In addition, all pupils take the core subjects (English, Mathematics and Science), Religious Education and Physical Education. Vocational education is also available.

The Gibraltar Hebrew School, also Talmud Torah Hebrew School is a government school, established to meet the educational requirements of the Jewish community in Gibraltar. The school offers places in kindergarten from the age of 1 to 3 years and pre-school from age 3 to 4 years. The primary school caters for those aged 4 to 12 years. For those wishing to continue in a Jewish School, secondary education is also available in Gibraltar Girl’s High School and Gibraltar Boy’s Secondary School.

St Martin's School caters for a wide range of special needs for children between the ages of 5+ and 16+. Notre Dame School and Bishop Fitzgerald schools have Learning Support Facilities (LSFs), which cater for children of first school age, for whom St Martin's would be inappropriate but whose special needs cannot be met satisfactorily in the mainstream classroom. There is also a LSF at each secondary school in addition to an Alternative Learning Centre at Bayside School, which aims to provide support for disaffected pupils.

Full time education in Gibraltar is primarily focused on intermediate and advanced courses in information technology, business and finance studies, and built environment studies. An area of rapid growth is that of courses leading to professional qualifications. The college provides tuition support for bodies such as ACCA, ILEX, ICSA, AAT and the institute of bankers. A large number of qualifications are offered, ranging from GCSE to AS/A levels, to full-time students, as well as part-time courses in the evenings.

Gibraltar Department of Education +350 200 42514 or info.edu@gibraltar.gov.gi

Gibraltar College +350 200 71048 or enquiries@gibc.edu.gi