← Back to homeAloha College Marbella
Marbella, Spain · est. 1982 · Private
Illustration · Marbella
Aloha College Marbella is a not-for-profit educational foundation governed by a board of parent trustees, and every surplus goes back into the school. It was founded in 1982 by six teachers and a group of parents: it began with 210 pupils in a modest building and today has more than 900 pupils of 57 nationalities on a campus of 27 thousand square metres. The school was among the first in Spain to take on the International Baccalaureate taught in English, and its senior stage is a double one: IGCSE and A-Levels alongside the IB Diploma. Children are admitted from the age of three, from Early Years through to Sixth Form. Over more than forty years the campus has grown seven science laboratories, three computer suites, two libraries, four art studios and a music department with a performance hall and a drama studio; the secondary building of 2004 doubled the school's capacity. The school separately names the external recognition and beacon status it holds for its pastoral provision.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · Cambridge · IGCSE, A-Level
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
About the fees The school publishes its 2026-2027 fees in two schedules, one for the primary and one for the secondary school; tuition is paid by term. The fee covers accident insurance, textbooks and exercise books, subject materials, all compulsory curricular day trips and enrichment activities. The school is a not-for-profit foundation without external subsidy and reinvests its income in its teaching and campus. The entrance and administration fees, the bus by four zones and lunch are charged separately.
Admissions The school has more than 900 pupils of 57 nationalities, and admission is set up for families from different countries: at the enquiry stage the school asks for recent school reports, copies of the passports of the child and both parents and, from Year 1, proof of English. From Year 1 a child must speak, read and write English at an age-appropriate level so as to follow the full curriculum; no English is required for Nursery and Reception. Admission has three stages: the enquiry and access to the application through OpenApply; the application with a non-refundable fee of 200 euros, an entry assessment from Year 3 and an interview with the leadership (up to Year 2 an interview only) and a reference from the current teacher; and the offer of a place. A firm place is secured within a week with a non-refundable reservation fee of 2500 euros, credited against the first payment; a place from the waiting list with a refundable 1250 euros. Applications are accepted from 1 November to 31 January and from 1 March to 31 May, and outside those periods depending on places.
Stages and year groups Grades Early Years (from age 3) - Sixth Form, to age 18. The stages run right through: Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Sixth Form, ages 3 to 18. At the senior stage the school runs both A-Levels and the IB Diploma.
Address Urbanización El Ángel s/n, Nueva Andalucía, 29660 Marbella, Málaga
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE, A-Level · authorised programmeIB · DP · authorised programmeCOBIS · accreditationschool is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
CambridgeCambridge International Education
Part of the University of Cambridge. It allows a school to teach the Cambridge programmes and to enter pupils for the exams. There are four stages and they are authorised separately: primary, lower secondary, IGCSE and A Level. If the stages are known they are named in the line below; if that line is missing, the school does not publish them, and the Cambridge registry does not show stages either - it gives only the name of the centre, the country and whether private candidates are accepted. Cambridge calls what it does registration rather than accreditation, and the network holds about ten thousand schools.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: IGCSE (ages 14-16), A-Level (ages 16-18). IGCSE means exams at around Year 10 or 11, the British counterpart of a lower secondary leaving certificate. A-Level is the senior years, and their results are what British and many other universities admit on.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →IBInternational Baccalaureate
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: DP (ages 16-19). DP is the final stage, ages 16 to 19: six subjects plus a compulsory core of theory of knowledge, an extended essay and CAS. The diploma is accepted by universities all over the world, and in a number of countries it counts for admission on the same footing as the local leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →COBISCouncil of British International Schools
An association of British schools abroad with a quality inspection of its own. It has nine membership categories, and the word "accredited" appears in seven of them, although COBIS does its own inspection in one: in the rest it recognises an accreditation granted by somebody else.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Average IB score
35.56 (world average 30.88)
Exam results Results for 2024: at IGCSE 93 per cent of entries received grades 4 to 9, 46 per cent the top grades of 7, 8 and 9, and all early entries in Spanish grades 8 and 9. At A Level 31 per cent of grades were A* and A, with a 100 per cent pass rate. Everyone gained the IB Diploma, with an average of 35.56 points, and nine pupils scored more than 40.
Where leavers go: University of Oxford · University of Manchester · University of Edinburgh · University of Bristol
Of the 2024 cohort the school writes: 96 per cent entered their first-choice university, 69 per cent went abroad to study - to the USA, Canada, Europe and beyond - and 17 leavers chose UK universities; 77 per cent took arts and humanities courses and 23 per cent science and technology, with engineering, business and law the most popular. Oxford, Manchester, Edinburgh and Bristol are named. From the end of Year 12 the careers department works with pupils on applications through UCAS, Common App, Studielink and other systems.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio
Campus: A 27 thousand square metre campus in Nueva Andalucía: seven laboratories, three computer rooms, two libraries, four art studios, a music department with a concert hall and a drama studio, sports fields and a medical centre. The secondary building opened in 2004 and doubled the school's capacity. Meals are cooked every day by the school's own kitchen, and the menus are discussed by a student committee with a representative from every year group.
Clubs and activities: Aloha College Football Club · Aloha College Basketball Club · Athletics · Cross-country · Cricket · Pop Band · School Band · Choir · School play · Duke of Edinburgh's International Award
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
The school publishes its staff as a leadership team of 12: among them the head of secondary Tamara McKenna, the head of primary Kathryn Edwards, the whole-school head of teaching and learning Francisco Escobar, and assistant heads for year groups and areas. Music in both primary and secondary is taught by subject specialists. The school was founded in 1982 by six teachers and a group of parents. It gives neither the number of teachers, nor their qualifications, nor the pupil-teacher ratio.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
✓Nurse or medical room
·Counsellornot stated on the website
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
A full-time nurse works in the school's medical centre every school day from 9:00 to 17:00, there is a sick bay, and staff across the campus are trained in first aid. For its pastoral care the school has received Beacon status from COBIS; the curriculum includes PSHEE, personal, social and health education. The school names no psychologist, child protection policy, security staff or video surveillance.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)89 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data60 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)95 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data80 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 Value for money (6%) scored at the median67 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 7 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country