← Back to homeThe British College of Benalmádena
Benalmádena, Spain · Private
Illustration · Benalmádena
The British College of Benalmádena is a private British school on the Benalmádena coast, between Torremolinos and Fuengirola, in the quiet Torremuelle development by the sea. It takes children from 1 year into the nursery and teaches them to 18: Pre-Nursery and Nursery, primary on the English National Curriculum, secondary with Cambridge IGCSE and the Sixth Form with Cambridge AS and A Level. Alongside the British curriculum pupils study Spanish language and literature and Spanish geography and history, so they gain both British qualifications and recognition of the Spanish ESO and Bachillerato; after A Level they can enter Spanish universities without the PAU exam. Teaching is in English from the first day, the teachers are British native speakers, and by the time they leave pupils take English at C2 Proficiency level. The school has more than 40 nationalities. Lessons run from 9:00 to 16:00, with eight 45-minute periods in secondary; breakfast club from 8:00, clubs and extra support from 16:00 to 17:00. Holidays follow the Andalusian calendar. Every year the school's pupils receive Cambridge Outstanding Learner Awards, including top in the world and top in Spain in individual subjects. Every Year 13 leaver, in the school's words, goes on to university.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · Pearson Edexcel
Admits from
1 year · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Spanish, French
Class size
up to 20 in Early Years
Admissions The school admits children of different nationalities, of which it has more than 40. To register, a parent or guardian makes an appointment with the principal and comes with the child; after a visit to the school there is an interview, and depending on the year the child may sit an entrance exam. Pupils not yet fluent in English are admitted: during school hours they receive intensive English until they can follow the English curriculum; help with Spanish is also given in small groups. The enrolment documents (registration and health forms) are on the website. Admissions for the 2026-2027 school year are open.
Stages and year groups Grades Pre-Nursery (1 year) - Year 13 (18 years). Pre-Nursery for children of 1 and 2, Nursery and Reception for 2, 3 and 4 year olds across the seven EYFS areas. Primary: Key Stage 1 (Year 1-2, ages 5-7) and Key Stage 2 (Year 3-6, ages 7-11), with French and Spanish subjects. Secondary: Key Stage 3 (Year 7-9) and Key Stage 4 (Year 10-11) with IGCSE courses, including business, Global Perspectives, Travel & Tourism and additional mathematics. Sixth Form (ages 16-18) is a two-year AS and A Level course with a choice of 21 subjects, from further mathematics, computer science and economics to digital media and design; two careers advisers help with the choice. Early Years classes have no more than 20 children.
Address Urb. Torremuelle, C/ Paseo del Genil s/n, 29630 Benalmádena (Málaga)
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · authorised programmePearson · 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
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. Which stages - from the early years programme for three-year-olds up to A-Level - this school is approved for is not stated here.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →PearsonPearson Edexcel, a British exam board
It gives a school approved centre status: that means Pearson exams can be sat in the school itself. What is checked is the premises, the equipment, the secure storage of papers and the presence of trained invigilators.
What the badge means for this school. The school can run Pearson exams on its own premises. The status says nothing about teaching, about results or about the school itself: any school able to run an exam securely holds it. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. Which Pearson qualifications this school is approved for is not stated here.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results The school does not publish pass rates; it writes that IGCSE, AS and A Level results are consistently high, with a large share of A*-C grades and near-complete passes at the highest level, especially in mathematics and sciences. It does keep a list of Cambridge Outstanding Learner Awards since 2009: 7 pupils were top in the world, 52 top in Spain, 8 received high achievement awards. In 2025 there were top in Spain results in A Level Business Studies and AS Level Geography and a high achievement in AS Level Further Mathematics; in 2024 top in the world in IGCSE Spanish and German as foreign languages and seven top in Spain results.
Where leavers go: University of Manchester · University of Exeter · University of Westminster · IE University · University of Groningen · Universidad Carlos III de Madrid · Universidad de Málaga · Universidad de Granada · Universidad de Navarra · Universidad de Córdoba
In the school's words, every year all Year 13 leavers go on to universities in the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland and other countries; among them Manchester, Exeter, Westminster, IE University, Groningen, Carlos III, Málaga, Granada, Navarra and Córdoba, in medicine, engineering, business, law, sciences and creative subjects. The school posts the lists of university entrants for 2024 and 2025 as separate files.
Facilities from the school's official website
✓Swimming pool
✓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 · Playground
Campus: A campus in the Torremuelle development, facing the sea. Classrooms with large interactive whiteboards and computers; four science laboratories, a large gymnasium, two music rooms, two art studios, a primary library and two secondary libraries, four networked computer centres, a concert and drama hall, an infirmary with a full-time doctor, a swimming pool. All premises have air conditioning, heating and an air renewal system, with wireless networking throughout. Seven play areas with sports facilities by age group, the main one a large shady park with a multi-sports area. Lunch is cooked in the school kitchen and served in the dining hall, and there is a cafeteria. The bus runs on two routes, from Churriana and from Calahonda.
Clubs and activities: Choir · Music lessons · Professional singing lessons · Ballet · Additional sport · IT club · Art club · Homework club · Chess club · Drama club
Summer camp: the school runs its own camp; whether it takes children from outside is not stated on the website
A summer school from 1 to 28 July, from 9 to 15 o'clock, for children from 1 year old up to secondary; it is run by the school's own teachers. More than 15 activities in English: intensive English and Spanish, IT, music, art and craft, drama, cooking, sport and swimming in the school pool, optional lunch. For primary and secondary there are weekly programmes in drama (musical theatre, dance, puppetry, stage design), sport (orienteering, team games, outdoor adventure) and art. Places are limited. There is no residential camp.
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 sizein the key facts above
The school does not give the number of teachers. In its words, British native-speaker teachers teach at every stage, in Early Years with qualifications specifically for those years; two careers advisers work in the Sixth Form; the head of music is James Thomas.
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
·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 video surveillance system with cameras in corridors and playgrounds; every classroom, from Pre-Nursery to secondary, has cameras through which parents can see their children in class with an access code. The infirmary is fully equipped, with a licensed doctor working full time. Playgrounds have safety flooring and are divided by age. The school names on its website no written child protection policy, designated safeguarding lead, security guard or recruitment checks.
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%)60 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 data70 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)90 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data95 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 Value for money (6%) scored at the median74 "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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