Living in Punta del Diablo, Uruguay: A lesbian couple’s first year
Shelley and Chas moved from Georgia to Punta del Diablo, Uruguay. Real monthly costs, LGBTQ community, bringing cats, residency + advice.
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By Latin American standards Uruguay has a highly educated population. Education in Uruguay has been free, compulsory and secular in primary schools for over 150 years and the public university is free to attend.
However, did you know that the typical school day lasts just four hours? And that the school year starts in February or March?
Until now, it’s been impossible to find a detailed up-to-date article which collects the most important facts that parents need to know about education and schools in Uruguay. Finally there is one. Here you’ll learn about the types of school available in Uruguay, the school calendar and daily schedule, the national curriculum, exams and testing and transfer ability.
Any child living in Uruguay must attend school. It’s probably a big reason why Uruguay even today is such a cohesive society with shared values.
Anyone can enrol their children immediately in the public or private Uruguay school system. The only requirements are the child’s ID (a passport is fine) and proof of up-to-date vaccinations (the same vaccinations as are required for Uruguayan children).
Homeschooling is illegal in Uruguay. In 2024, the Uruguayan education authorities (ANEP) took legal action against a Mennonite community from the US which was homeschooling eleven children.
Education in Uruguay starts from four years old and is compulsory till eighteen (the drop-out rate is 11%). The different types of school available are:
Let’s look at what each type of educational institution is called in (Uruguayan) Spanish, the ages of students and a few important things you should be aware of (such as how to pronounce each type of school phonetically if you’re an English speaker). The length of the typical school day is also included.
| Type of school | Name used locally* | How to pronounce | Ages | What you should know |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nursery | Maternal | matter-NAL | 0-2 | Optional. Private options are available. No state assistance is available, other than for disadvantaged families (CAIF) |
| Pre-K | Jardin (de infantes) | har-DEEN | 3-5 | Compulsory from 4 years of age. The new government made a campaign promise to make it compulsory from three (4 hour school day) |
| Primary school | Primaria or escuela | pree-MAH-ria | 6-11 | Compulsory (4 hours) |
| Rural school | Escuela rural | es-KWEH-lah roo-RAL | 6-11 | Compulsory. These are in rural communities and classes tend to be small and multi-age (The school day may often be extended given the distances children usually have to travel–often on horseback–to get there) |
| Secondary or high school | Liceo | lee-SAY-oh | 12-18 | Compulsory. Junior high (called Ciclo básico) encompasses years 7-9 Senior high (Bachillerato) Years 10-12 (4 hours minimum) |
| Private school | Escuela privada or liceo privado | pree-VAH-doh | 2-18 | All bilingual, international, non-traditional (e.g. Montessori) or religious schools are privately-run. All are approved and monitored by ANEP. The majority are for-profit (7-8 hour school day) |
| Technical school | UTU | OO-too | 14-18 | An alternative to regular high school with more vocational courses. |
| University | Universidad | Oo-nee-ver-see-DAD | 18 and over | The public university (UdelaR) is free and there are no entrance exams. It ranks #1 in Uruguay. Classes are often very large and oversubscribed. Private universities provide a paid alternative. |
* Remember, many countries use Spanish as their first language, and different countries use different terms. It’s the same in English. In the UK we say secondary school for what is called a high school in the US.
The school year in Uruguay traditionally runs from March to December. Remember Uruguay is in the southern hemisphere and the school year starts at the beginning of the year at the end of the southern summer.
ANEP announces school holiday dates with just a few months or even weeks warning. For instance, typically winter holidays in July are set in May. So don’t expect to be able to plan your family’s holidays years in advance (Uruguayans are shocked to hear that in the UK, my niece knows her school calendar up to four years into the future).
But just to give you an idea, here’s what a typical Uruguay school year looks like.
International schools have more flexibility in their calendar. At least one follows the northern hemisphere calendar. Others may offer a longer July holiday to allow families from the north more time to visit their folks back home.
Many rural schools in Uruguay are instantly recognisable by their ‘wavy’ roofs. This was part of a unique initiative in the 1960s to replace school ‘shacks’ (ranchos) in the most remote parts of Uruguay. Photo by Pablo Silveyra.
The average public school day is surprisingly short. Just four hours. There is a logic behind this. It allows the same infrastructure and human resources to be used two or even three times a day.
Imagine this. A primary school has one set of teachers teaching one set of students in the morning from 8 am to noon. In the afternoon a different set of teachers teach a different set of students from 1pm till 5 pm. The school in the morning even has a different name to the school occupying the same building in the afternoon. If the school building is a secondary school, it may even run a third shift (for adults and older teens) in the evening. Teachers tend to work in two or even three schools.
Education in Uruguay surprises foreigners due to this system. One friend from the US told me that he was completely taken aback to see children out at 10 o’clock in the morning thinking “why aren’t you kids in school?!” They were. It was just that they were going to school during the afternoon shift.
For that reason, extended-day schools (which fill the day by offering workshops such as dance, theatre and Portuguese in the morning and the regular curriculum in the afternoon, or vice versa) are highly sought after and parents will camp out to get a place for their child.
So what are the children learning in such a short school day?
This is by no means exhaustive, but aimed at giving you a general understanding:
Many parents choose a private school for educational reasons (let’s say, it’s bilingual) or practical (they work and need their children in school on a similar schedule). To give an example, a bilingual school typically may teach the Uruguayan curriculum in Spanish and then in the afternoon additional subjects in the target language. This means a school day running typically from 8am till 5pm (including extra-curricular activities like sports and theatre).
Private primary schools certified by ANEP as escuelas autorizadas have a bit more freedom. They can approach the Uruguay curriculum in any way and in any language they like. So Uruguayan history could be taught in English. The child is ready to move onto any secondary school they like after having sat a test (known as examen de egreso) at the end of primary school to prove that they have met the required knowledge of the national curriculum in history, reading, maths and science.
In another first, Uruguay has Latin America’s first sustainable school, built entirely from recycled materials. Photo courtesy of Tagma.
There are no national exams or evaluations in Uruguay, though the country does take part in the international PISA evaluation system. Instead children are graded by their teachers. Education in Uruguay gives teachers some freedom while following the curriculum due to the absence of standardized testing.
Primary school children receive report cards with a global grade every few months. Grades look like this: Regular (Not good enough) through to Sobresaliente (Outstanding – a child awarded this would say colloquially “me pusieron ‘sote’” or “me saqué ‘sote’” – I got an A+). To pass the year the child needs to receive an overall ‘bueno’ (good) at the end of the year or will need to repeat the year.
Graduating from high school There are tests and final exams in liceos. Marks go from 1-12 with 12 being the highest. Junior high students pass with a 6. A passing grade increases to 8 for senior high in certain subjects depending on the focus of the orientation chosen. Students don’t receive a high school diploma. Instead students who meet high school requirements receive a document called a formula 69 which is a record of the subjects studied and the required passing grades.
The number one question for parents whose families are coming to Uruguay temporarily or would like their children to enroll in universities abroad is regarding transferability. Will their child who has studied in Uruguay be able to easily transfer to another school or university abroad? Those parents tend to choose an international school.
Most international schools in Uruguay are located either in Montevideo or the Punta del Este area. The majority offer the option to graduate with Uruguayan high school certification and the International Baccalaureate (IB). The IB is recognised by universities worldwide. There are also specific private schools in Uruguay that teach and act as examination centres for the US high school diploma and UK GCSEs.
Because of the different start date for classes in Uruguay, families from the north have to consider: do we skip ahead or hold our child back, or do we start our kid in the middle of the school year?
We talked to the directors at The Garzón School, the sponsors of this article, to learn about their experience. They had these wise words:
Children thrive when they can embark on new beginnings alongside their classmates and new friends. Starting together at the beginning of the school year helps them settle in more naturally, without the extra challenge of catching up academically and socially. That said, life doesn’t always follow the calendar. Sometimes, families need to move mid-year for reasons beyond their control. Whatever the timing, it is important to allow for a soft landing and close collaboration between school and families to make the transition as smooth, supportive, and enjoyable as possible for every child.
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6 responses
Adorei este post! Uma dúvida, para ingressar na escola pública com 15 anos de idade, é necessário ter o espanhol? Casos de familias que se mudam para o Uruguai.
It’s not necessary, children acquire the language quickly through socialization, and if you’re coming from Brazil the documentation to enrol doesn’t need translation. Here’s more info https://inscripciones.anep.edu.uy/preguntas-frecuentes, check point 6 for the documents needed for the inscription.
Como são os uniformes do ensino médio?
Eles também usam túnicas brancas com o laço azul?
There’s no uniform in public school for secondary school.
What is the age limit for children or adults to access free higher learning in Uruguay?
Can you enrol in courses while going through the citizenship pathway?
My children will be 16, 17, 19 and 21 years old by the time of 3 year requirement for naturalisation.
Can my wife or myself access higher education courses free once naturalised or prior to naturalisation?
1. There is no age limit to access education in Uruguay, there are many retirees who enrol in university as a way to pass the time during their retirement.
2. Yes, you don’t need to have completed it to be able to enrol, the National Administration of Public Education has a guide on how to enrol your teenage children to secondary school https://inscripciones.anep.edu.uy/preguntas-frecuentes (number 6, you can use a translator) and here is the info for university https://udelar.edu.uy/portal/migrantes/ saying that you have to do some paperwork but after that can attend for free as everyone else.