Quick answer
Irish Transition Year students, usually aged 15 to 16, can join our small morning Spanish classes in Málaga for anywhere from two weeks to several months, as an individual place with a host family, at any point in the school year. A TY class travelling together as a group is quoted and supervised the same way as any school trip, not as an individual booking.
In this article
What is Transition Year, and why do so many students spend part of it in Spain?
Transition Year, also called TY or fourth year, is an optional one-year programme in Irish post-primary schools, taken between the three-year Junior Cycle and the two-year Leaving Certificate. Students are usually 15 to 16 years old, and there is no state examination during the year, which is the whole point: schools can build a broader, more experiential programme, with no exam at the end to teach towards. Each school decides whether to offer TY, who can take it and what goes into it, within a national Transition Year Programme Statement, which replaced the earlier guidelines for schools from September 2025.
That flexibility is exactly why TY suits time abroad better than most other school years. With no state exam to work around, a TY student can leave for two weeks, four weeks or a block of months without the clash a Junior Cycle or Leaving Certificate year would create, provided the school agrees and the time away fits its own TY plan.
How long can a TY student spend learning Spanish in Málaga?
As long as you like, from a short taster to most of a term. Individual places in our high school programme run all year, for ages 14 to 18, in our small morning classes at any level. You choose your own start Monday and your own number of weeks; there is no fixed TY intake date and no minimum beyond one week.
The course is Intensive: 20 hours of group class a week, Monday to Friday from 9:30 to 13:30, in groups of 3 to 5 students on average (never more than 7), taught by native, experienced teachers. Prices come straight from our booking system and drop the longer you stay:
| Length | Class hours | Price | Price per week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 weeks | 40 | €400 | €200 |
| 4 weeks | 80 | €740 | €185 |
| 8 weeks | 160 | €1,360 | €170 |
For a longer block, a full TY term rather than a few weeks, the course total calculator at the top of our prices page shows the exact total for your number of weeks (24 weeks of Intensive, for example, is €3,720, or €155 a week), which is easier than multiplying a single weekly rate. There is no enrolment fee and no materials fee on top of whatever total it shows.
What does a normal week look like?
Every student, whatever their age, takes a free placement test before the course starts, so a TY student with no Spanish and one who already has a Leaving Certificate subject in progress both start in the right group on day one. Classes run Monday to Friday, 9:30 to 13:30, with a break mid-morning, and the weekly activity programme after class is included: our sample week for school groups has a tuk-tuk ride around Málaga (small fee), a cultural workshop, an old town tour of the cathedral, the Roman theatre and the Alcazaba, an introduction to flamenco, and a tapas afternoon (students pay for their own tapas). With at least 85% attendance, a student receives a certificate of attendance and achievement at the end of each level, documenting the hours completed and progress against the CEFR.
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Where does a TY student stay, and is it safe for under-18s?
Homestay with a local family is the standard, and for an individual student under 18 it is the only accommodation we offer: a shared room costs €239 a week and a private room €290 a week, both with breakfast and dinner, running from the Sunday before the course to the Saturday after it. Book at least two weeks ahead so we can match the right family; tell us about diets, allergies and medical needs when you enquire. Parents and students deal with one named coordinator from booking to departure, with emergency contact channels for the whole stay, and group programmes are delivered by staff who hold the certificates Spanish law requires for working with minors. More on how families are chosen is on our homestay in Málaga page.
Be clear with parents, and with the student, about what this is and is not. It is a language course with a host family, suited to a teenager who can get to school and back on their own; it is not a residential camp with round-the-clock monitors, and it is not enrolment in a Spanish secondary school, so your TY student studies Spanish with us, not alongside Spanish teenagers in a local classroom.
What if the whole TY class wants to go together, not just one student?
Some schools build a group stay into their TY calendar rather than sending individual students. That is a different booking from the one above: it works the same way as any class trip, with lessons, activities, accommodation and transfers quoted and arranged together, and residence places (rather than only homestay) becoming possible depending on the season and the students’ ages. We cover the sample week, the per-student cost breakdown and the safeguarding questions worth asking any provider in our teacher’s guide to a school trip to Málaga, and if your school is exploring funding for that kind of group trip, including through Erasmus+, see our Erasmus+ funding for school trips guide for how the rules and the application work.
What does a TY student actually come home with?
A certificate of attendance documenting their hours and their progress against the CEFR, and, because our academic team can build lessons around a syllabus you send us, a week or more of Spanish practice that can feed straight back into a school subject. What it is not is an official diploma: for that, a student would sit the Instituto Cervantes DELE or the SIELE exam, which we can prepare separately (see our DELE and SIELE exam preparation page for current fees and formats). Whether a TY stay with us counts towards any part of your school’s own TY Programme Statement, for example its Personal Growth or Being a Learner dimensions, is a decision for your own school, not for us; we can only provide the course, the documentation and the honest level the student reached.
What should Irish parents check before booking?
Travel and medical insurance are not part of our course prices, so a TY student should travel with both. Irish students are entitled to a European Health Insurance Card, which a parent or guardian applies for on behalf of any child under 18 through the HSE; it covers necessary state healthcare in Spain on the same basis as a Spanish resident but, as the EU’s own guidance makes clear, it does not cover private treatment or being flown home, which is what separate travel insurance is for. Flights are also not included; Aena, the Spanish airport operator, lists direct routes to Málaga from Dublin, Cork and Shannon, though schedules vary by season, so check current flights once you have fixed your dates rather than assuming last year’s route still runs.
Frequently asked questions
What age is Transition Year, and does Spain fit around it?
TY students are usually 15 to 16. Because there is no state exam during TY, a student can leave for any number of weeks at almost any point in the school year, which is harder to arrange in an exam year. Our individual places run all year for ages 14 to 18.
How many weeks should a TY student spend in Málaga?
There is no fixed answer: two weeks (€400) gives a strong start and a good look at whether a longer stay is worth it, four weeks (€740) matches one full level at A1 or A2 in our course plan (from B1 a level takes 6 weeks or more), and some TY students stay for a term-length block, priced by the course calculator for any length up to 24 weeks.
Does a TY student need to speak Spanish already?
No. Every student takes a free placement test and joins a class at the right level, from complete beginner (A1) to advanced (C2), so a TY student starting from zero and one who already studies Spanish for the Leaving Certificate both start in a class that fits them.
Can my child enrol in a Spanish secondary school for part of Transition Year?
Not with us. We are a private Spanish-language school, not a secondary school, so a TY stay with us is a language course with a host family, not enrolment in a local Spanish school’s own classes. If your school needs that specific arrangement, it is a separate thing to ask for directly.
Is homestay safe for a 15 or 16 year old travelling alone?
Students under 18 booking individually can only book homestay, with one named coordinator for the family throughout the stay and emergency contact channels at all times. Group programmes are delivered by staff who hold the certificates Spanish law requires for working with minors, and we match diets, allergies and medical needs to each placement.
Can a whole TY class go together instead of one student?
Yes. A group stay is quoted the same way as any school trip, with lessons, activities, accommodation and transfers priced per student in one package; see our school trip teacher’s guide for a worked cost example and the questions to ask before booking.
Will the course count as credit towards Transition Year?
We provide a certificate of attendance and, on request, lessons built around a syllabus you send us, but whether any of that counts towards your school’s own TY Programme Statement is a decision for your school, not for us. For an official qualification, DELE or SIELE preparation is a separate option.
Does the price include flights and insurance?
No. Flights, travel insurance and medical insurance are not part of our course prices. Irish students should travel with a European Health Insurance Card, applied for through the HSE, plus separate travel insurance, since the EHIC does not cover private care or being flown home.
Ready to plan the weeks?
Take the free level test so we know where your TY student starts, then book the weeks that fit your school calendar. Travelling as a class instead? Ask for a group quote and we will treat it like any school trip.
Related reading - Planning a Spanish school trip to Málaga: cost per student, safety and a sample week - Erasmus+ funding for school trips to Spain - Summer Camps in Spain for Teenagers: A Parent’s Guide
Sources: Transition Year facts, checked 28 October 2026: Transition Year Programme Statement (curriculumonline.ie, for introduction in September 2025), Citizens Information, Transition Year. EHIC for under-18s: HSE, apply for an EHIC; EHIC limits: Your Europe, unplanned healthcare. Flights: Aena, Málaga airport destinations. Our own prices, course plan and policies, checked 28 October 2026: high school programme in Málaga, Málaga prices, homestay in Málaga.
Updated 28 October 2026.
