Education in Argentina has four levels and two different systems: initial level (kindergarten, educación inicial), primary level (educación primaria), secondary level (educación secundaria) and tertiary level (educación superior).
In Buenos Aires province, primary level is called educación primaria or EP (Spanish, "primary education") and comprises grades first to sixth (called years). Secondary level, called educación secundaria or ES, comprises grades first to sixth (also called years). EP and ES are divided in two stages, called ciclos ("cycles"):
EP: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th school years
ES 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th (Only in some provinces) school years
In the rest of the country EP comprises grades first to seventh (the traditional system, established by Argentine law 1420/1884). ES comprises grades first to fifth (the traditional system, in use throughout the 20th century).
In both systems EP is mandatory to all students, as well as secondary education, according to the National Educational Law established in 2011.
The fourth stage is tertiary education, which includes both college and university education.
Education is funded by tax payers at all levels except for the majority of graduate studies. There are many private school institutions in the primary, secondary and university levels. Around 11.4 million people were enrolled in formal education of some kind in 2005:
| Level | Schools | Teachers | Students |
| Initial | 16,298 | 79,721 | 1,324,529 |
| Primary | 22,196 | 289,898 | 4,683,963 |
| Secondary | 22,080 | 133,225 | 3,372,411 |
| Vocational | 1,870 | 15,747 | 509,134 |
| Universities | 85 | 117,359 | 1,527,310 |
Qualification Modes of Grading
In the Latin American docta the scale to grade up the academic performance in students at the primary and secondary school rest in the 1-10 ladder as is described in the following frame.
| Rate/s | Type |
| 10 | Outstanding, Excellent |
| 9 and 8 | Highly Satisfactory |
| 7 and 6 | Satisfactory |
| 5 and 4 | Unsatisfactory |
| 3, 2, 1 | Fail |
In the University System however the scale can vary depending on the independent policies and statutes of grading of each independent Argentine University.
Primary education
Accepted between ages 6 and 14. Primary education s the first EP cycles (grades 1-6). Because of the system that was in place during 1995-2007, most schools that offered 7 years of primary school prior to 1995 were forced to be converted and accept grades 8th and 9th, while others chose to eliminate 7th grade altogether, forcing students to complete the 3rd cycle in another institution.
Secondary education
Secondary education in Argentina comprises two levels. Years 1st to 3rd are common to all schools (Ciclo básico). Years 4th to 6th are organized in orientations (Ciclo orientado) such as Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Arts, Sport, Design, etc. An additional year is offered in certain schools (Technical-Professional schools), which grants a professional title, also with orientations (agriculture, electricity, mechanics, construction).
In many provinces the secondary education system is still divided in three traditional large groups, "Bachiller" schools (very similar to grammar schools with a huge emphasis on humanistic studies), "Comercial" schools (focusing on economic sciences and everything related to it) and "Escuelas Técnicas" (with a focus on technical and scientific assignments, this one having the particularity of lasting six years instead of five, it used to be called "Industrial") each one subdivided in more specific orientations related to its main branch.
In December 2006 the Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Congress approved a new National Education Law restoring the old system of primary followed by secondary education, making secondary education obligatory and a right, and increasing the length of compulsory education to 12 years. The transitional period ended in 2011.
In addition an adult system of high schools (usually called Acelerados, Spanish for accelerated) exists in order to guarantee secondary education to people over 18. Normally it consists in 1 or 2 years of intensive program of study and it is provided by a large number of public and private schools varying on each province. Night shift is available in order to satisfy those who work during the day. These high school diplomas are accepted to enroll in a university.
Argentina's network of vocational schools, many under the auspices of the National Technological University (UTN), have historically given students viable alternatives, as well.
International education
As of January 2015, the International Schools Consultancy (ISC) listed Argentina as having 160 international schools. ISC defines an 'international school' in the following terms "ISC includes an international school if the school delivers a curriculum to any combination of pre-school, primary or secondary students, wholly or partly in English outside an English-speaking country, or if a school in a country where English is one of the official languages, offers an English-medium curriculum other than the country's national curriculum and is international in its orientation." This definition is used by publications including The Economist.