Best TEFL Certification for Spain

Spanish language academies expect an accredited TEFL certificate of at least 120 hours, and the strongest applications carry an Ofqual regulated Level 5 diploma. Spain's own assistant program asks for a degree or current enrollment rather than TEFL, and every non EU teacher staying beyond 90 days needs a long stay visa arranged before travel.

Key takeaways

• 120 hours is the accepted floor for private academy work in Spain. Below that, most job ads filter you out before a human reads your CV.
• A 180 hour Level 5 diploma is the qualification that separates applications, because Level 5 is a regulated academic level rather than a marketing label.
• Spain's Ministry of Education assistant program pays 800 to 1,000 euros a month for 14 to 16 classroom hours a week, and requires a degree or current enrollment rather than a TEFL certificate.
• Americans and other non EU citizens need a Spanish long stay visa for any placement over 90 days, applied for at the consulate covering their state.
• Premier TEFL's 180 Hour Government Regulated Level 5 TEFL Diploma carries Ofqual regulatory reference 610/1572/6, awarded by Highfield Qualifications.

Written by Katie Troy, TEFL course specialist at Premier TEFL. Last reviewed 18 August 2026.

What certification do Spanish employers actually ask for?

Private language academies, known as academias, are the biggest employers of English teachers in Spain, and their hiring bar is consistent across the country. They want an accredited TEFL certificate of at least 120 hours, evidence that you have planned and taught lessons, and a candidate who can legally work for the length of the contract. That third point sinks more applications than the first two combined.

What academies rarely tell you in the job ad is how they read your certificate. A 120 hour course tells them you have covered methodology, lesson planning, grammar awareness and classroom management. A regulated Level 5 diploma tells them something extra, that an external body checked the standard of the course and the assessment. In a market where several hundred teachers arrive every September, that external check is the tie breaker.

Spain is also unusual in Europe for how much teaching happens outside schools. Adult conversation classes, exam preparation for Cambridge and IELTS, business English in Madrid and Barcelona offices, and private tutoring in the evenings all sit alongside academy work. Every one of those settings pays more when you can prove specialist training, which is why so many teachers in Spain stack a core course with a shorter specialism.

Do you need a degree to teach English in Spain?

It depends entirely on which route you take. For Spain's government run assistant program, yes. The Ministry of Education states that US applicants must "have a conferred BA, BS, AA or AS degree or be enrolled as a sophomore, junior or a senior in a BA or BS program", and applicants must be at least 18 and under 60. Canadian applicants face an equivalent rule through the same program.

For private academy work the rule is softer in principle and harder in practice. Academies set their own standards, and plenty hire teachers on the strength of a TEFL certificate, an interview and a demo lesson. The obstacle is not the school, it is the paperwork. Without a degree your visa routes into Spain narrow, and an academy that cannot sponsor you will hire the candidate who already has the right to work.

If you hold an EU passport, or an Irish passport through descent, the whole question changes. You can take a job in Spain on the same terms as a local candidate, which is why so many British teachers researched their grandparents after 2021. For everyone else, plan the visa first and the job second.

How do non EU teachers get the legal right to work?

The most reliable route for North Americans is the North American Language and Culture Assistants Program, known as NALCAP, run by Spain's Ministry of Education. Assistants are placed in Spanish schools for the academic year, receive a monthly stipend and medical insurance, and work a fixed timetable rather than a full teaching load. The Ministry lists the stipend as "800 to 1000 euros depending on the assigned region" and classroom time as "14 to 16 hours per week", with most placements running from 1 October to 31 May.

Because those placements run longer than 90 days, they sit outside visa free Schengen travel. The Spanish Consulate General in New York is explicit that stays exceeding 90 days for study, training or voluntary work need a long stay visa, and that language assistants apply with a letter of admission from the Spanish Ministry of Education naming the assigned center, the program duration and confirmation of financial and health insurance support. The US State Department makes the same point bluntly for anyone tempted to travel first and sort it out later, warning that you must hold a visa to take part in study programs.

Build your timeline backwards from that visa appointment. Consulates require a medical certificate and a criminal background check for longer stays, both of which need apostilles, and appointment slots in the busiest consulates disappear through the summer. Our paperwork desk for teaching English abroad sets out what each document costs and how long it takes.

Is a 120 hour course or a Level 5 diploma better for Spain?

Both are legitimate. The honest answer is that they suit different plans. If you are heading to Spain for one academic year, teaching conversation classes and travelling at weekends, a 120 hour accredited course does the job and gets you moving quickly. If you want an academy contract that renews, a bilingual school placement or exam classes at a higher hourly rate, the regulated diploma pays for itself in the first contract.

Figures above are typical ranges rather than guarantees, and individual schools vary. Compare the full range on the best TEFL certification guide, or read the regional view in our guide to the best TEFL certification for teaching in Europe.

What does an Ofqual regulated Level 5 diploma actually mean?

Level 5 is not a brand name. It is a position on the UK regulated qualifications framework, and GOV.UK lists Level 5 alongside a diploma of higher education, a foundation degree and a higher national diploma. That is the comparison a Spanish director of studies can look up, which is precisely why the label carries weight in a market full of unverifiable claims.

Premier TEFL's 180 Hour Government Regulated Level 5 TEFL Diploma carries the Ofqual regulatory reference 610/1572/6 and is awarded by Highfield Qualifications, an established awarding organisation. The 300 Hour Level 5 Master TEFL Advanced Diploma carries reference 6101574X. You can check either against the official register through the GOV.UK find a regulated qualification service, and you should check any provider that claims regulation.

Ask one question of any course you are considering. Who regulates or accredits it, and can you find that qualification on the regulator's own register. If the answer is a logo with no reference number behind it, keep looking.

What do English teachers earn in Spain?

Assistant placements are the clearest number because the Ministry publishes it. Expect 800 to 1,000 euros a month for 14 to 16 hours a week, with the higher end in regions with a higher cost of living. That is designed as a stipend rather than a salary, and most assistants supplement it with private students at an hourly rate they set themselves.

Academy contracts work differently. Hours are usually concentrated in the late afternoon and evening when children finish school and adults finish work, and pay varies by city, contract type and whether you teach exam classes. Business English and Cambridge or IELTS preparation sit at the top of the range, which is the practical argument for adding a specialism to your core course. Our pay desk for teaching English abroad compares country by country, and our guide to where to work as an English teacher in Spain covers the city by city picture.

One caution that experienced teachers in Spain repeat to every newcomer. September and January are the hiring months. Arrive in November and you are competing for the jobs nobody else wanted.

How should you choose your course if Spain is the goal?

Work through this in order and the decision usually makes itself.

• Decide the route first. Assistant program, private academy, or online teaching while you live in Spain. Each has a different paperwork trail.
• Check your passport. EU citizenship removes the visa question entirely and changes which jobs are realistic.
• Match the hours to the ambition. 120 hours for a first year, 180 hour Level 5 for a career that continues past it.
• Verify regulation on the regulator's register, not on the provider's own sales page.
• Add one specialism that matches Spanish demand, most often young learners, business English or exam preparation.
• Start the visa paperwork the week you accept a placement, not the week before you fly.

If you are still comparing destinations rather than courses, the guide to what TEFL certification is best for which country maps the requirement region by region, and our teaching English in Spain guide covers what daily life in the job is actually like.

Where Premier TEFL fits

If Spain is a year, start with the 120 Hour Accredited Online TEFL Course. It clears the bar academies advertise and you can complete it before your visa appointment comes through. If Spain is the start of a career, the 180 Hour Government Regulated Level 5 TEFL Diploma is the qualification that keeps working for you when you apply for the contract renewal, the bilingual school or the exam classes. Teachers aiming at business English in Madrid or Barcelona should look at the 300 Hour Level 5 Master TEFL Advanced Diploma.

Whichever you choose, choose it for what Spanish employers can verify. A regulated reference number you can look up beats a page of adjectives every time.