← Back to the rankingAurinkorannikon suomalainen koulu
Fuengirola, Spain · Private
Illustration · Fuengirola
Aurinkorannikon suomalainen koulu (the Finnish School of the Sun Coast, Colegio Finlandés in Spanish) is a private Finnish school in Fuengirola operating under the Finnish Basic Education and Upper Secondary Schools Acts, with the right to award Finnish certificates. It has a preschool year, basic education perusopetus for grades 1 to 9 and an upper secondary lukio; the lukio opened on 1 August 2007 as the first own upper secondary school of a Finnish school abroad, and the school calls it the only Finnish lukio abroad. Graduates sit the Finnish matriculation examination ylioppilastutkinto on the coast, at the same time as in Finland. Teaching is in Finnish following the Finnish national curriculum; Spanish is compulsory for everyone from the preschool year. Many families come to the coast for a short time, so the school invests heavily in helping newcomers settle in, with peer tutors. The school has a nurse, a school psychologist, a school social worker and special needs teachers, and conflicts are resolved through restorative mediation.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $2 316–3 050 a year
2 050–2 700 EUR
Programmes
Finnish programme
Admits from
6 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
Finnish
Languages taught
Spanish, English, Swedish, German
About the fees Fees 2026-2027 for pupils enrolled by 20 September: preschool year 2050 EUR per year (960 in autumn and 1160 in spring per term, or 240 EUR per month), grades 1-9 2300 EUR per year (1100 and 1300 per term, or 270 EUR per month); monthly payment means 9,5 instalments a year and a 10 EUR monthly surcharge. These rates apply only to pupils for whom the school receives Finnish state funding. Pupils starting after 20 September pay more: spring term 1800 EUR (preschool) or 2200 EUR (grades 1-9), monthly 410 or 470 EUR. Upper secondary: 2700 EUR for the first and second year, 2200 EUR for the final or fourth year, payable in two parts; for a single study period 900 EUR (cap 2800 EUR) or 850 EUR for later years (cap 2500 EUR).
Admissions The school admits only Finnish citizens with a municipality of residence (kotikunta) in Finland according to the Finnish population register; this requirement applies for the whole period of study. After the online application the school checks the child's municipality of residence, citizenship and mother tongue in the register, then invoices a 600 EUR place reservation fee; the place is confirmed once the fee and the first invoice are paid and a register extract on legal guardians is provided. Registration for the 2026-2027 school year opened on 26 January 2026 and is for one year; until 3 May priority goes to pupils staying the whole year from August, after which places are given for the autumn term, the spring term and shorter periods. A child without a Finnish school report is placed in a grade together with the special needs teacher according to age and readiness. Grade 9 pupils must start no later than the beginning of the spring term. Upper secondary admission requires an average of at least 7,2 in academic subjects on the basic education certificate; students under 18 must have a guardian on the coast. Admission is decided by the principal and can be appealed to the Finnish Licensing and Supervisory Agency.
Stages and year groups Finnish track: preschool year (esiopetus) for six-year-olds, basic education perusopetus grades 1-9 under the Finnish national curriculum (grades 1-6 taught by a class teacher, 7-9 by subject teachers) and upper secondary lukio with the ylioppilastutkinto matriculation exam, taken on site in spring and autumn. Status: the school states it is a private school under the Finnish Basic Education and Upper Secondary Schools Acts with the right to award certificates. There is no local Spanish curriculum; Spanish is a compulsory subject.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
OPHThe Finnish government has licensed the school to provide basic education under Finnish law, and Opetushallitus names it on its list of Finnish schools abroad: the curriculum and the certificates are Finnish.
school 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
OPHFinnish National Agency for Education (Opetushallitus)
A Finnish school abroad: the Finnish curriculum, a Finnish government licence to provide basic education, state funding and Finnish certificates.
What the badge means for this school. This is a Finnish school abroad: the Finnish government has licensed it to provide basic education under Finnish law, and Opetushallitus names it on its list. The entry is not a quality inspection. The curriculum and the certificates are Finnish. Whom the school admits and what it charges are on its own website. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Finnish programme
The Finnish school curriculum taught in Finnish: the basic school, perusopetus (Years 1-9), and at some schools the lukio upper-secondary school with the Finnish matriculation examination, ylioppilastutkinto.
What this means for this school. The curriculum is set by the Finnish state: the Finnish government has licensed the school to provide basic education under Finnish law, the school receives state funding and awards Finnish certificates. A child who returns to Finland carries on without switching from another system.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results In spring 2026, 11 of the school's upper secondary students passed the ylioppilastutkinto matriculation examination and graduated (annual report 2025-2026). The school does not publish scores.
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 transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Campus: The school is in the Los Pacos district of Fuengirola; the grounds include several buildings, yards and a sports field, and the upper secondary school has a separate building. The Aurinkola restaurant cooks on site, varied and vegetable-focused food; pasta on Mondays, soup on Thursdays, salads with lunch; every pupil takes part in lunch. The morning club for preschool and grades 1-2 is free, the afternoon club is paid. The school takes part in the Finnish active school programme and is mobile-phone-free during breaks. Upper secondary students receive a laptop and textbooks. There is no boarding: upper secondary students arrange their own housing, and minors must have a guardian on the coast.
Clubs and activities: Spanish Club · Training Club · Hobby Horse Club · Choir Club · Visual Arts Club · Drawing Club · Reading Club · Board Games Club · Band Club · First Aid Club · Ball Games Club · Just Dance Club · Puzzle Club · Music and Movement Club · Crochet 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 2025-2026 annual report names 31 teachers: the principal, two vice principals, 21 subject teachers, six class teachers and the preschool teacher. The school also has special needs teachers, assistants, a school psychologist, a nurse, a school social worker and a guidance counsellor; it takes student teachers for placements every year.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
✓CCTV
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
✓Nurse or medical room
✓Counsellor
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school grounds are under video surveillance; basic education pupils may not leave the grounds during the school day, and preschool pupils and pupils up to grade 5 are brought and collected by adults. There is a plan against bullying, violence and harassment; conflicts are resolved through restorative mediation with trained peer mediators and adult mediators; teachers must inform parents of bullying and violence. Student welfare services: nurse, psychologist, school social worker; if a pupil has five days or 25 hours of unexplained absence in a month, the school must notify Spanish social services.
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%)72 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 data85 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data65 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.
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