This research explains the essential characteristics of the organisation of compensatory education programmes as they are implemented in a centre in the Community of Madrid (Spain), It also presents the typology of compensatory education and approaches the results of the investments made in them according to their modalities and to a specific theoretical analysis. Once the study was contextualized, sets out the procedure and requirements for participating in each type of compensatory education programme according to the usual professional practice and describes the profile of pupils eligible for such programmes meeting the requirements of a linguistic nature, curriculum and tutorial. Specific mention is made of the important role of the family in compensatory education and its crucial role in achieving satisfactory results. The present case study includes data between the 2007-2008 school year and the 2014-2015 school year. It is a question of making an inferential analysis based on the percentages of the data collected in six consecutive academic years in three specific modalities of compensatory education programmes that include an analysis of the educational responses and the results obtained from them within a concrete reality. Data on repetition and promotion and qualification are analyzed. The conclusions revolve around the need to compensate for social disadvantages in order to ensure the achievement of academic achievements in terms of equity despite the fact that in recent years investment in resources for these programmes (especially with regard to the provision of the necessary staff) is progressively being undermined. The solution could focus on adjusting the approach to a prism more in line with the principles of inclusion.

DOI: 10.5944/REEC.35.2020.25149
ISSN: 1137-8654