Among urban transformations and social changes experienced by urban areas in Europe, gentrification is a process that can deeply affect school enrolment dynamics, schools’ composition and school segregation. However, the impact of urban gentrification on local education systems is still unclear, particularly in contexts in which market mechanisms - such as choice and school competition - are the primary drivers of the uneven distribution of students among schools. While gentrification can increase the social and cultural diversity of schools (Mordechay & Ayscue, 2020), there is also the risk of displacement and marginalisation of socially disadvantaged students (Diem et al., 2019; Posey-Maddox et al., 2014). Evidence on the impact of gentrification remains inconclusive and is still very incipient in European contexts, with some valuable exceptions (Boterman, 2022; Goossens et al., 2018). This study examines the case of Barcelona, a city that has undergone significant waves of urban gentrification (Sorando & Ardura, 2018; Lopez Gay et al., 2021), to analyse how gentrification influences school segregation and how local education market characteristics and schools’ responses mediate this impact. With this objective, the study relies on a mixed-method approach. On the one hand, a quantitative analysis of student administrative data was conducted to estimate the impact of urban gentrification on school segregation dynamics from 2016 to 2024. On the other hand, a qualitative analysis of interviews with principals and teachers in neighbourhoods that have experienced significant gentrification processes. By combining both approaches, we are able to identify and characterise how the school composition of schools in these neighbourhoods has evolved, what schools are more affected by gentrification, and how schools respond to these dynamics of change and transformation. Preliminary findings suggest that the impact of gentrification on school composition varies depending on the dynamics of the local education market, the characteristics of schools, and the strategies they adopt. Interview data indicate that while some schools take a passive stance towards gentrification, others actively implement strategies—such as pedagogical or organisational changes—to attract and retain middle-class newcomers. Finally, we elaborate on the implications of urban gentrification on school segregation dynamics, particularly in contexts in which choice and competition already play an important role.

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