VET Internships at ISCIII 2026: What the Agreement Means for Centers and Students in Madrid

Key data

As of July 30, 2026, Vocational Training students of grades D and E enrolled in public centers in the Community of Madrid can complete their company training phase at the facilities of the Carlos III Institute of Health (ISCIII). The agreement, published in the BOE on August 8, 2026, is based on the Organic Law 3/2022 on the organization and integration of Vocational Training and on Royal Decree 659/2023, which require the formalization of an agreement between the educational center and the company or equivalent organization before the student can begin internships.

This agreement does not create job positions nor generates any contractual relationship between ISCIII and students. Its objective is exclusively formative: for students to gain real experience in a national reference healthcare research environment.

What does this regulation establish?

The agreement signed on July 30, 2026 between the Community of Madrid and ISCIII establishes the general framework for collaboration so that VET students can complete their company training phase. The key aspects are as follows:

• Nature of internships: exclusively formative and non-labor. Students cannot replace ISCIII worker functions under any circumstances.
• Affected grades: grades D and E of the new VET organization (in accordance with Organic Law 3/2022 and Royal Decree 659/2023).
• Individual formalization: each specific participation is formalized through an identifying annex signed by the directors of the involved centers (educational center and ISCIII).
• Expanded scope: the agreement also applies to training cycles regulated by LOE and LOGSE that are still in force until their progressive extinction.
• Prior requirement: Organic Law 3/2022 and Royal Decree 659/2023 require that a valid agreement exist between the educational center and the host organization before the student can begin the company training phase.

Economic and operational impact

This agreement does not generate direct costs for private companies or students. Its impact is mainly operational and organizational for Madrid's public educational centers and for ISCIII itself:

• Public educational centers in the Community of Madrid gain access to a first-rate healthcare research organization as a training environment, without needing to negotiate individual agreements with private health sector companies.
• ISCIII assumes the administrative and mentoring burden associated with hosting intern students, without this implying an employment relationship or salary cost.
• Each student who participates requires the signature of a specific identifying annex, which implies document management by the directors of both centers.
• The cycles of the LOE and LOGSE in extinction are also covered, avoiding coverage gaps during the transition to the new VET model.

No data has been published on the number of available positions or on the specific training cycles that will be hosted at ISCIII in this first phase.

Who does it affect?

• VET students of grades D and E enrolled in public centers in the Community of Madrid who must complete the company training phase.
• Directors of public educational centers in the Community of Madrid with training cycles of grade D or E, who must manage the identifying annexes for each student.
• Carlos III Institute of Health (ISCIII), as the host organization that will mentor intern students.
• Students of LOE and LOGSE training cycles still in force in Madrid public centers, who are also covered by this agreement until the extinction of such cycles.
• Tutors and training managers at ISCIII who will assume monitoring of students during the practical phase.

Practical example

A student enrolled in a grade D training cycle at a public institute in Madrid, whose curriculum includes a company training phase in the field of healthcare or biomedical research, can now request to complete that phase at ISCIII.

The process would be as follows:

1. The director of the educational center and the director of ISCIII sign the identifying annex corresponding to that specific student, under the framework agreement already in force since July 30, 2026.
2. The student joins ISCIII as an intern student, with an exclusively formative nature, without an employment contract and without the possibility of replacing any ISCIII worker.
3. Upon completion of the phase, ISCIII certifies the completion of the internship to the educational center, which integrates it into the student's academic record.

This same procedure applies to students of LOE or LOGSE cycles that are still pursuing those pathways in Madrid public centers.

What should centers and organizations do now?

1. Verify agreement validity: Madrid public educational centers must confirm that the framework agreement with ISCIII is in force (since July 30, 2026) before proposing ISCIII as a destination for their students' internships.
2. Identify eligible students: review which students of grades D and E (or LOE/LOGSE cycles in extinction) have pending the company training phase and could benefit from this agreement.
3. Prepare identifying annexes: for each student who will complete internships at ISCIII, the director of the educational center must coordinate with ISCIII the signature of the corresponding identifying annex, as required by the agreement.
4. Inform internship tutors: both at the educational center and at ISCIII, responsible tutors must be aware of the agreement conditions, especially the prohibition against students replacing worker functions.
5. Manage LOE/LOGSE transition: centers with cycles in extinction must ensure that their students are also covered by this agreement, as the agreement expressly includes them until the extinction of such cycles.

Official source

Consult complete regulation in official source

Notice: This article is purely informative in nature and does not constitute legal advice. For specific decisions, consult a qualified professional. Source: https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-17371