Andalusian regional government confirms that comprehensive free childcare for children under three will be implemented in the 2027/2028 school year, following political disagreements over the policy’s timing and funding plans.
Andalusia’s regional government has clarified that full free childcare for children aged under three will begin in the 2027/2028 school year, after a row over the pace of the policy’s rollout. The regional Education Department said the change means the final stage of the first cycle of early childhood education, covering children from birth to age three, will be fully publicly funded by then, bringing forward a commitment originally set out over a longer timetable.
For the 2026/2027 academic year, the main change will be free places for one-year-olds. That will add to the already subsidised two-year-old places introduced in the 2025/2026 year. In effect, the under-one age group will be the last to be brought into the system, completing the phased extension across the whole nursery stage, according to regional statements carried by Spanish outlets.
The clarification followed criticism from Patricia Alba, the education secretary for the PSOE in Andalusia, who accused Juanma Moreno of dropping a promise to deliver full gratuity for the stage. Alba also pointed to the PP-Vox agreement in Andalusia, which included the measure. Education sources argued that the deal was reached after the school admissions process for the coming year had already finished, with applications running from mid-March through April and places for 2026/2027 already assigned under the rules then in force.
To complete the move, the regional government will need to amend the order governing the first cycle of early childhood education before February 2027, ahead of the next admissions round in mid-March. The cabinet must also approve new public prices that will cover the cost of places for children under one. The department says the changes will allow more than 90% of children already enrolled in this stage to attend free of charge in 2026/2027, with potential reach for about 130,000 children across Andalusia. Officials say the plan will meet a six-year pledge to sector providers three school years earlier than expected.
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