← Back to homeAmerican School of Barcelona
Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain · est. 1962 · Private
Illustration · Esplugues de Llobregat
The American School of Barcelona is a private American school in Esplugues de Llobregat outside Barcelona, opened in 1962 by Dr José María Poal with a hundred pupils; it moved to its present campus by the 1980s. It now has around 960 pupils from sixty countries, three quarters of them from abroad. It is built along American lines: teaching in English, a curriculum on American standards, and every leaver receives the US High School Diploma, accredited by the MSA. On top of that come two International Baccalaureate routes: the Diploma Programme since 2009 and the career-related IBCP since September 2025, where the academic part is supplemented by BTEC business qualifications. The school publishes its results and they are strong: the average IB Diploma score in 2026 was 37, which the school calls the highest average in Spain; the average SAT for the class of 2025 was 1320, the 88th percentile, with 34 of 97 leavers choosing to sit the test. About thirty per cent of leavers go on to Spanish universities and the rest scatter across the world - the 2023-2025 acceptance list holds more than a hundred US universities, some fifty British, twenty Spanish and fifteen Dutch. The campus is a large one: an auditorium seating more than seven hundred, six science laboratories, a fitness centre, expansive fields and courts, a maker lab with 3D printers and a laser cutter, art rooms with a kiln for pottery, and a library in three languages. A fully equipped health office with a full-time specialist is open all day, lunches are cooked in the school's own kitchen, and buses run from Barcelona, Gavá, Castelldefels, Sitges and Sant Cugat. One unusual point: entry to PK3 is at the age of three, and up to Grade 2 the school takes children with beginner English, while from Grade 3 it expects an advanced level.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $10 624–30 573 a year
9 404–27 062 EUR
Programmes
IB · DP, CP · American programme
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Spanish, French
About the fees Fees for 2026/2027 at the family rate: PK3 half-day 9404 euros a year, early childhood PK3-K5 14114 euros, elementary school (Grades 1-5) 19407 euros, middle school (Grades 6-8) 22237 euros, high school (Grades 9-12) 27062 euros. Corporate rates are higher at every stage, from 11630 to 32534 euros. On top of the fee: an application fee of 250 euros, an annual matriculation fee of 975 euros at the family rate and 1170 at the corporate rate, and a one-off capital levy of 6000 euros from Grade 1 and 3000 euros at the pre-school stages. Lunch is 1700 euros a year and the bus from 2035 to 2365 euros a year depending on the route. Discounts: 3 per cent for payment by 28 February, 10 per cent for a third child, 20 per cent for each further child, and 2000 euros off the capital levy for the children of alumni.
Admissions The grade is set by age: PK3 takes three-year-olds, PK4 four-year-olds, K5 five-year-olds. The school makes English a condition and says so plainly: preference is given to native and advanced English speakers; a child with beginner English may be considered from PK3 through Grade 2, while applicants for Grade 3 and above are expected to have an advanced level. Spanish is not needed on entry: the school runs beginner, intermediate and advanced levels of Spanish from Grade 1 up. The application fee is 250 euros. The school does take foreigners: in its words, it has around 960 students from 60 countries. There are separate terms for those coming for one semester: those accepted by 30 June pay for the whole year, those accepted later pay proportionally.
Stages and year groups Grades PK3 - Grade 12, ages 3-18. The stages run right through in four divisions: early childhood (PK3, PK4, K5), elementary (Grades 1-5), middle (6-8) and high school (9-12). The Early Childhood Center holds around 90 children, with an average class of fifteen and two teachers per class; the High School has around 375 pupils. Every leaver receives the American diploma, which requires 22 full-year credits: four English, three mathematics, three science, three social studies, three world language, three electives, two physical education and one community service. The school has offered the IB Diploma Programme since 2009 and the IBCP since September 2025, and in both cases the pupil receives the American diploma alongside it.
Address Carrer Jaume Balmes 7, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
MSA · accreditationIB · DP, CP · authorised programmeCIS · membershipschool 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
MSAMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools
One of the oldest American accreditations, working since 1887 in more than a hundred countries and linked to the Office of Overseas Schools of the US State Department. It judges the school as an institution across twelve areas, including finances, governance, premises and student support.
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 →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), CP (ages 16-19, with a vocational slant). 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. CP is the final stage with a vocational slant, ages 16 to 19: some of the DP subjects plus an applied qualification. It is meant for those heading into a trade or an applied degree rather than an academic one.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →CISCouncil of International Schools
It accredits international schools and is a paying association at the same time. It examines governance and ownership, the curriculum, teaching, student wellbeing, staff and premises; a team of volunteers from other CIS accredited schools visits the school. Membership and accreditation are different things here, and schools confuse them more often than anything else.
What the badge means for this school. The school belongs to this organisation but has not been through its accreditation. The difference matters: membership is usually paid for and has no external inspection behind it. The entry is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →American programme
The American school programme, with the High School Diploma at the end. It usually comes together with AP courses, which the College Board stands behind, and with an American accreditation - MSA, NEASC or Cognia.
What this means for this school. The diploma is written out by the school itself: the American programme has no common leaving exam, and the content of the senior years is set by the school. Outside checking therefore rests on two things here - the accreditation of the school, and the AP exams if the school runs them.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Average IB score
37 (world average 30.88)
Exam results The average IB Diploma score by year, according to the school: 2022 - 36 with 75 graduates, 2023 - 35 with 86, 2024 - 35 with 85, 2025 - 35 with 91, 2026 - 37 with 89, against a world average of 30-32; the school calls the 2026 result the best in its history. The average SAT of the Class of 2025 was 1320 (652 in reading and writing, 668 in mathematics), the 88th percentile; 34 of 97 graduates chose to sit the test.
Where leavers go: Columbia University · Cornell University · Duke University · Stanford University · Yale University · Brown University · University of Pennsylvania · University of Chicago · Northwestern University · New York University · Georgetown University · Boston University
and others, 50 universities in the school's list in allThe school writes that about 30% of its graduates go on to Spanish universities each year, while the rest study around the world. It publishes the full list of universities that have accepted its graduates, by country: the United States - more than a hundred universities from Columbia, Yale and Stanford to UCLA and NYU, Europe, the United Kingdom - about seventy, Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore; part of that list is given here.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio · Makerspace
Campus: A campus in Esplugues de Llobregat with Mediterranean views. An auditorium and gymnasium seating more than seven hundred, a fitness centre with cardio machines and weights, six science laboratories, expansive sports fields and courts, and an amphitheatre by the elementary school. Dedicated art rooms with a kiln for firing pottery and dedicated music rooms for both group and private lessons. A maker lab with 3D printers, laser cutters, sewing machines, electric saws and tools for building prototypes. A library with books for all levels in English, Spanish and Catalan. Lunches are cooked daily in the school's own kitchen, and there is a cafeteria with Mediterranean views and a food truck, El Chiringuito. Buses run from Barcelona, Gavá, Castelldefels, Sitges and Sant Cugat.
Clubs and activities (14): School newspaper Blue and Read · Yearbook · Eco club · Model United Nations · Public speaking club · Mathematics club · Gender Sexuality Alliance · School council · Link Crew Leaders · Journalists' club · Ambassadors' club · Primary school head's council · FemSTEM · Economics club
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 writes that its faculty arrive with significant teaching experience and up-to-date pedagogical practice and that it is selective in hiring, but it states neither the number of teachers, nor their qualifications, nor the pupil-teacher ratio. In the Early Childhood Center there are two teachers per class. The High School has a dedicated team of counsellors split into two areas: university and career counselling, and personal and academic support.
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
The school has a fully equipped health office with a full-time health specialist: a sick or injured pupil can be treated at any time and may rest there and wait to be collected. The same specialist oversees the nutritional standard of the school menu. The school publishes no separate child protection policy.
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%)87 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%)90 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data90 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 "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 8 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