Physical Education Oposiciones in Spain: 2026 Guide

The Physical Education oposiciones are the route to teaching PE in Spanish state schools with a permanent civil-servant post. They are competitive exams called by each autonomous community (and by the Ministry for Ceuta and Melilla), so many details —the number of posts, the practical syllabus and the scoring scales— vary depending on the administration that calls them and the specific convocatoria (call).

They are aimed at two distinct profiles depending on the education stage. On one side, those who want to be a PE specialist teacher in Primary education, within the cuerpo de maestros. On the other, those who aim to teach PE in Secondary and Bachillerato, within the secondary-teaching corps. These are two different competitive exams, with different qualification requirements and different tests.

The end goal is the same: to secure a permanent post as a career civil servant and teach Physical Education in a state school. Before landing a permanent post, many candidates work as interinos (substitute or temporary teachers), covering vacancies while they continue preparing for the exam.

Access to the public teaching service is organised as a concurso-oposición —the sum of two phases with different weights. The exam phase (oposición) measures your knowledge and teaching competence through tests; the merit phase (concurso) scores your prior track record. The final mark combines both, although the exam phase carries more weight and is what really decides the outcome.

In the exam phase you are assessed before a tribunal on a practical part and a theory part. The practical part evaluates how you apply the subject (solving case studies, practical tasks and, depending on the administration, PE-specific content). The theory part means writing out one topic from the official syllabus, usually chosen by lottery from several drawn at random. On top of that, you must produce and defend a teaching plan (programación didáctica) and present one of its teaching units before the tribunal.

The merit phase is not examined: your credentials are scored from documents against a scale published in the call. What counts most is prior teaching experience (especially in state schools), academic background (transcript, extra qualifications, doctorate) and other merits such as courses and recognised competences. That is why candidates who have already worked as interinos usually start with an advantage in this phase.

Practical test. This is specific to Physical Education and varies a lot between regions. It may include written case studies, the design of lessons or motor tasks, case analysis and, in some calls, a demonstration of skills or physical-aptitude tests for the candidate. It is essential to read the call to know exactly what your tribunal assesses, because it is not the same everywhere.

Developing the topic. You must write out, with no supporting materials, one topic from the official syllabus for the specialisation. Typically several topics are drawn at random and you choose one to develop within a limited time. The PE syllabus covers physiological and movement foundations, the teaching of physical activity, health, body expression, games and sports, among other blocks.

Teaching plan and teaching unit. The programación is the document in which you plan a full academic year for a specific level (objectives, competences, content, methodology, assessment and attention to diversity), aligned with current regulations. Before the tribunal you defend that plan and present one of its teaching units, often chosen by lottery. This is one of the parts that most sets a well-prepared candidate apart, because it demands pedagogical coherence and communication skills.

To sit the exam you must meet the general requirements for access to the public service (nationality of an EU member state or equivalent, age, capacity and not being disqualified) and, above all, hold the qualifying degree for the Physical Education specialisation, which depends on the corps you are applying to.

For the cuerpo de maestros (Primary), the usual route is a degree in Primary Education teaching with the specialisation (mención) in Physical Education, which qualifies you as a PE specialist in Primary. For the secondary-teaching corps, you need a related university degree —most commonly a degree in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences (CAFYD)— plus the University Master's in Teacher Training (the máster de profesorado), which is the entry requirement for teaching in Secondary.

Beyond the degree, most calls also require you to prove a level of language competence in regions with a co-official language (Catalan, Basque, Galician, Valencian) and to submit your documents within the deadlines of the call. Always check the specific requirements of your administration, because the details can change from one call to the next.

Preparing for the Physical Education oposiciones combines three fronts worked in parallel: mastering the theory syllabus, producing a high-quality teaching plan and its units, and training the practical part (including, where applicable, the candidate's own physical preparation). To that you add rehearsing the oral presentation, because defending your work before a tribunal is learned by practising.

As for timing, there is no fixed rule, but as a rough guide it is common to spend between one and three academic years preparing, depending on your starting point, the time available each week and whether you combine it with a job. Many candidates rely on an academia or a preparador who structures the study, corrects the teaching plan and simulates the defence; others prepare on their own with the official syllabus and study groups.

The specific physical preparation —when the call includes aptitude tests— deserves its own plan, periodised towards the exam date, rather than training aimlessly. You can dig into that part in our guide to the physical test of the Physical Education oposiciones, which explains how to structure training in phases and record your marks.

The big advantage of passing is stability: as a tenured teacher you get a permanent post with the working conditions of public-sector teaching staff. A PE teacher's salary depends on the corps, the level, seniority payments (trienios) and regional supplements; as a rough guide it tends to fall within a reasonable range of public-teacher pay, which varies from one region to another. Before securing a permanent post, the interino route lets you gain experience (and merits that score in the concurso phase).

On the side of those who prepare candidates, organising the work is crucial when you handle several at once, with different exam dates and starting levels. A preparador needs to keep each candidate's file, the plan towards their call, the tracking of progress and the communication, without it all ending up scattered across spreadsheets and loose messages.

This is where a platform built for the European market helps: on FitConnect Pro a preparador can manage all their candidates in one place —periodised planning with templates, recording of marks, adherence tracking and integrated chat— and the same candidate can have both their physical preparador and a nutritionist at once, each in their own space (a multi-coach approach), with data in the EU under GDPR and payments in euros. If you want the specific angle for preparadores, see our guide to software for Physical Education oposiciones preparers.