How to choose a school in Barcelona, real advice from an education consultant

Navigating the education system in a new city can be one of the most daunting tasks for families relocating abroad. For Anya van der Drift, a former primary school teacher from the UK who moved to Barcelona with her young family, the challenge of finding the right school became a deeply personal journey, one that would eventually lead her to support other families facing the same dilemma. Drawing on her professional background and first-hand experience, Anya now works as an education consultant, helping families understand the diverse and often complex schooling options available and choose a school in Barcelona.

In this article, Anya shares what inspired her to create the Barcelona School Directory, a free, user-friendly resource designed to make the school search process easier and more transparent for both local and international families. From bilingual schools to alternative educational approaches, the directory is built around the questions she hears most often from parents and aims to offer a clearer starting point in what can otherwise feel like an overwhelming process.

Creating the Barcelona School Directory

Over the past few years, I’ve spoken to many parents trying to figure out where to send their children to school in Barcelona. Whether they’re arriving from abroad or making a change within the city, it’s a big decision and often quite a stressful one. 

Barcelona has many different schooling options for families to consider, from local schools which teach in Catalan, to schools focused on alternative methodologies like Montessori, to private international schools offering British or American qualifications. It can be hard to know where to start when no two schools are exactly the same. 

In my work as an education consultant, I help families through this process. Every family is different, but the same kind of questions come up again and again: How do I know which schools teach in English or follow a certain curriculum? What kind of qualifications will my child leave school with? Is there a way to narrow this all down so I don’t have to open 25 browser tabs and figure it out myself??

That’s really what led me to create the Barcelona School Directory. I wanted to make it easier for families to search by criteria that actually matter when choosing a school here. In the directory, you can look for schools by language of instruction, curriculum or educational approach, and the kind of qualifications they offer. These are the criteria I’ve noticed families most often want to have clear when we work together one-on-one, so I built the directory around that. 

The idea started small, I thought it would be a useful side project to support the work I already do with families. But it grew fairly quickly, and I’ve put a lot of time into it. Building it myself (with more determination than technical skills!) definitely meant some long evenings and a fair bit of trial and error. But I’m proud of how it’s turned out, and I’ve had some really nice feedback from families who’ve used it.

Explore the Barcelona School Directory

One recent example was a family moving from The United States with two teenagers. They were specifically looking for a school in Barcelona that offered the IB Diploma in English. They used the directory to search by qualification and language to come up with a shortlist. It gave them a much clearer starting point, and they said it saved them hours of research.

Of course, the directory doesn’t replace the kind of detailed advice I give during a consultation, especially for families with specific needs or tricky timelines. But I wanted to create something useful for people who might not need (or want) full-on support. It’s free to access and includes international schools, local private schools, and pre-schools too.

I also share regular blog posts and updates on the My Barcelona School website and on social media, and I often give talks or interviews about educating your child in Barcelona. I really believe in making clear, honest information available to families, especially when it comes to something as pivotal as choosing a school.

It’s still a work in progress, and I’m always open to feedback. Whether you’re a parent or a school, feel free to explore the directory here and let me know what you think.

For families just starting to explore school options in Barcelona, I hope the directory is a helpful place to begin. I’m so pleased to have been able to create something useful, not just for my clients, but for the whole community.

Find out more about My Barcelona School services and read more about Anya’s entrepreneurial journey on the MumAbroad blog.