Alcobendas, Spain · PrivateColegio Brains La Moraleja is a campus of the private Brains International School network in Alcobendas, north of Madrid, in the La Moraleja district. Of the IB programmes, the diploma is named for this campus: in its IB section the network lists La Moraleja among its schools with the IB Diploma Programme and publishes the campus average diploma score - 32 out of 45. The network mentions the PEP primary programme only in general, without campus names, so it is not asserted for this school. There are five campuses on the domain, and the address rather than the name tells them apart: Brains also has a Madrid campus, Arturo Soria, which is easily confused both with this one and with another Madrid school of the same name. The network keeps prices in separate PDF sheets per campus. The school names the language of lessons on the campus page: the nursery for children from one to five years old runs entirely in English, and in primary school, from 6 to 12, pupils, in its words, express themselves as easily in English as in Spanish; the school profile calls the teaching bilingual, Spanish and English. French or German pupils from 3 to 18 learn by choice, two lessons a week.
Key facts
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · authorised programmeBrains International Schools · school is part of the networkWhat stands behind each entry
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: PYP (ages 3-12), MYP (ages 11-16), DP (ages 16-19). PYP is the primary stage, ages 3 to 12. It is not a set of subjects but a frame for the whole school: learning is built around lines of inquiry, and there are no exams at the end. MYP is the middle stage, ages 11 to 16. There are no exams here either; at the end an optional electronic assessment of pupils' work is possible. 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 →Brains International Schools is a private group of international schools in Madrid and Gran Canaria, managed by the Sánchez Hita family. The group names Manuel Sánchez and María Hita as its founders; it gives no founding year and states its age differently - "45 years" in one place and "more than 40 years" in another - and we quote both. The site lists five centres: La Moraleja (Alcobendas), Orgaz and Arturo Soria in Madrid, and Las Palmas and Telde in Gran Canaria. Age ranges differ by centre, from children aged 9 months to 6 years at Orgaz to "from 1 year to university" at La Moraleja. The group's site is colegiobrains.com.
What this means for this school. The network owns or operates the school. Its accreditation and programme authorisation the school obtains separately, in its own name.