British Council School, Madrid

The British Council School was the first British school to open in Spain, in 1940. It offers a unique English-Spanish bilingual and bicultural education. The school is part of the British Council, the official organisation of the UK that promotes education, English language and cultural relations worldwide. The school was rated in 2021 as one of Forbes España’s top 40 school in Spain. Forbes particularly praised the school’s passion for bilingual education.

Curriculum

The British Council School teaches the English national curriculum up to keystage 4 (ages 3-16) before teaching the unique BiBac programme for 16-18 year olds.

From Pre-Nursery, bilingual education is central to tuition. In early years, each class has a teacher trained in the English curriculum, along with a Spanish teacher and a bilingual teaching assistant. Throughout primary school, with class sizes of 22, pupils are taught with three teachers in each class as they take Standardised Assessment Tests (SATs) and National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) tests. See a list of primary school subjects here.

All secondary students follow a two year International General Certificate in Secondary Education (IGCSE) programme, alongside Spanish language and Humanities classes in Spanish (Spanish Ministry requirements). As they gain IGCSE qualifications, students also receive their Spanish certificate of secondary education ‘Titulo de Graduado en Educación Secundaria’. See a list of secondary school subjects here.

In sixth form, the British Council School offers their unique BiBac® (Bilingual Baccalaureate) programme. Students can choose what they study, and what language (English or Spanish) they want to study each subject in – generally studying up to 70% of their subjects in English. They will obtain the Spanish national Bacchillerato qualification. See a list of sixth form subjects here.

Fees & Admissions

The BSC is non-selective, but asks for admissions tests from secondary school onwards. The application window opens in October each year, with entrance tests will normally be administered in school from February onwards. See the school’s admissions policy here.

The school does not disclose its tuition fees online.

Location

The British Council School in Madrid is located near the Bernabeu football stadium, and is a 20 minute drive north from the city centre.

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