← Back to homeAtalaya International School
Estepona, Spain · Private
Illustration · Estepona
Atalaya Colegio Internacional is a private school in Estepona on the Costa del Sol, in the residential area of Urbanización El Marqués. The campus is new and large: more than 16000 square metres, of which 6000 are for classrooms and 6000 for sports facilities. Teaching is bilingual: English and Spanish are the languages of lessons rather than subjects, and the school certifies the level of English with Cambridge English exams, for which it is itself both a preparation and an exam centre. Children of more than 30 nationalities study there. The stages run straight through from kindergarten at three to graduation, and in the upper years there is a choice of the Spanish bachillerato, the IB Diploma and the American DUAL double diploma, in which the American diploma is earned online, in English. School football, basketball, volleyball and cross-country teams compete in tournaments at neighbouring international schools, and there is a summer camp. The school does not publish its tuition fees: it discusses money with each family personally.
Key facts
Languages of instruction
Spanish, English
Admissions Admission takes four steps: an enquiry through the form or by telephone on 952: 003: 171, a visit with an explanation of the school's project and a tour of the campus, a trial day - depending on the child's age, he or she may be invited to spend a day at the school, take academic tests and a personal interview - and enrolment after approval by the school's leadership. If there is no place, the child goes on a waiting list, and the application on it must be renewed every year. The form asks for the school year, the language of correspondence (Spanish or English), the stage and whether the school bus is needed. The school writes that it teaches children of more than 30 nationalities; it names no separate requirements for foreigners - documents, residence permits or recognition of schooling abroad.
Stages and year groups Grades kindergarten from age 3 - baccalaureate, up to age 18. The stages are: preschool (the second substage, from 3 to 6 years of age), primary school, compulsory secondary education (ESO) from 12 to 16 in two two-year substages, and then the baccalaureate. At the senior stage there are three routes at once: the Spanish Baccalaureate, the IB Diploma and the DUAL Diploma. Separately the school runs preparation for the university entrance examinations (P.A.U.).
Address Calle Pico Alcazaba 24-28, Urbanización El Marqués, 29680 Estepona, Málaga
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeschool 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
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 →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
The school publishes nothing about where its leavers go: no share going on to university, no exam results, no list of universities.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: A recently built campus of over 16000 square metres: 6000 are classroom facilities and 6000 sports facilities. Meals are prepared in the school's own kitchen every day, the menus are supervised by a nutritionist, and there are vegetarian options and separate menus for pupils with allergies and intolerances; teaching staff supervise the tables, and the school treats the lunch room as part of its education. A school bus runs a timetabled route with stops - in the morning and back at 16:27.
Clubs and activities: Football · Basketball · Volleyball · Cross-country
Summer camp: the school runs its own camp; whether it takes children from outside is not stated on the website
In summer 2026 the school ran a summer camp, Campamento de Verano 2026, announced in June with a poster. The school gives no dates, ages, programme or price in text.
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 by name, with photographs and positions: the manager, the director general, the directors of secondary with the baccalaureate and of pre-school with primary, teachers by stage - kindergarten, primary, secondary and baccalaureate - the guidance department with counsellors and a speech therapist, and the administration. The school writes that it looks for highly prepared people with a vocation and that all staff are trained to use the defibrillator. It does not give the number of teachers, their qualifications or 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
✓Counsellor
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
✓Staff training
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The school's medical service is run by an outside organisation, Redvital Salud: a school nurse is on the premises every day during all school hours, she has a fully equipped nursing station, administers medication following the established protocols and follows up pupils with pathologies and allergies. The school is declared a cardio-protected space: a semi-automatic external defibrillator stands inside the main entrance, and both teaching and non-teaching staff receive ongoing training on it. Separately there is a Guidance and Psychological Assistance Department, which runs the tutorial action plan for Secondary and the Baccalaureate, handles attention to diversity and academic and professional guidance, and advises pupils and families both in groups and individually.
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%)82 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data70 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data70 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data70 Value for money (6%) scored at the median55 "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.
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