← Back to homeThe British School of Costa Daurada
El Catllar, Spain · est. 2008 · Private
Illustration · El Catllar
The British School of Costa Daurada (BSCD) is a private non-denominational British school in the village of El Catllar near Tarragona. It grew out of Jigsaw, which opened in Tarragona in 2008 as a nursery and language academy: in 2013 Jigsaw British School passed a NABSS inspection and gained accreditation, in 2014 the Government of Catalonia authorised it as a school with code 43012745, in 2015-2016 the school moved to El Catllar, in 2017 it opened the primary school, and since 2020 it has been called The British School of Costa Daurada and has been opening the secondary stage. It takes children from 4 months and teaches the English National Curriculum up to GCSE and IGCSE; the school gives 2026 for its first GCSEs and 2028 for A Level (Sixth Form). The English curriculum takes about 80 percent of the 35 lessons a week and is taught in English; the other 20 percent are German, Catalan and Spanish and Catalan humanities in their own languages, so the programme also covers Spanish and Catalan requirements and by Year 11 pupils obtain recognition of the ESO diploma. Most pupils learn English as an additional language, and teachers work with them in small groups every day. Lessons run from 9:00 to 16:00, the morning club from 7:30, after-school care until 17:30. The school has a wellbeing department with a full-time psychologist, a mentoring programme for new pupils and support for families relocating to the area. In Year 10 and Year 12 pupils do work placements, and from Year 9 they have a careers adviser.
Key facts
Programmes
Pearson Edexcel
Admits from
4 months · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Spanish, Catalan, German
Summer camp
Yes, open to all
Admissions The school calls itself inclusive and admits children of any faith, culture and background; it writes separately about families moving from another country and gives them a mentor: help with enrolment, housing, healthcare, banking and transport, and a mentor family if needed. Parents who do not speak Spanish are given translation at key meetings. Admission starts with an application through a form and an interview with the head of admissions. Babies are admitted from 16 weeks; for Nursery a child must turn 3 before 1 September, for Reception 4 years. Entry to primary requires a suitable level of English, checked in two interviews; from Year 3 applicants take a written and spoken English test. For secondary: a spoken and written English test, an interview with the head of secondary and a mathematics assessment. The school asks for reports from the previous school and references; a non-refundable application fee is charged.
Stages and year groups Grades nursery from 4 months - Year 13 (Sixth Form, 16-18 years). Early Years: nursery from 4 months, Nursery from 3 years, Reception from 4 years (EYFS). Primary: Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. Secondary: Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 with GCSE and IGCSE; the school gives 2026 for its first GCSE exams and 2028 for A Level (GCE) in the Sixth Form. From Year 1 Catalan and Spanish are compulsory up to Year 11, German from Year 5; Spanish and German as foreign languages can be taken at (I)GCSE. From Year 9 pupils choose new subjects. A class has 18 to 22 pupils.
Address Carrer Mas de la Creu 4, 43764 El Catllar (Tarragona)
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Pearson · authorised programmeNABSS · school is part of the networkschool 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
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 →NABSSschool network
NABSS (National Association of British Schools in Spain) is not an owner of schools but an association of British schools in Spain, founded in 1978 by a group of leading British schools in the country. According to the association, it has more than 80 member schools, which educate more than 49,000 children and employ more than 5,000 teachers. Only schools officially authorised by the Spanish authorities as foreign schools teaching the British education system and certified by the British Council after inspections can be members; new schools that are still developing are not admitted straight away. The association represents the schools' common interests, encourages collaboration between them and holds an annual conference; its school finder places member schools in Madrid, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Andalusia, the Balearic and Canary Islands, Murcia and other regions. The association's site is nabss.org.
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.
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
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Playground · Makerspace
Campus: Three buildings in a natural setting near El Catllar, in a building with energy class A. Spacious bright classrooms with interactive whiteboards and outdoor access; a STEAM room with modern technology, a science laboratory, the Library Hub, an amphitheatre, a climbing wall, a dining room and an open-air lunch area, a multi-sport pitch, changing rooms, the Olive Tree playground and a forest where Forest School sessions take place. The school bus runs on several routes, and the vehicles are adapted for children with special needs.
Clubs and activities: House of Values · Outdoor Learning · Green School · STEAM · Library Hub · Drama · Music Hub · School newspaper · Robotics and Coding Academy · BSCD Music Academy · BSCD Football Academy · Sports clubs · Art · Homework club
Summer camp: the school runs its own camp and takes children from outside as well
Summer programme away from campus:
The summer camp from 25 June to 31 July is open both to the school's pupils and to children from outside, who choose their weeks. A week combines baking, sports and games, adventure and STEAM; there are sailing and swimming weeks, trips and excursions. Half day from 9 to 13 o'clock without lunch or full day from 9 to 16 o'clock with lunch. Each week has its own price, given in the flyer; 10 percent discount for 6 weeks or for a sibling. For secondary there is a separate summer project with team challenges, climbing, the maritime club, cycling trips and a three-day trek in the Llauset mountains with a night in a refuge.
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 Foundation Stage and the younger Key Stage 1 classes each class has a teacher and an assistant; from Year 3 support teachers and assistants join according to the class's needs. Teachers work daily with pupils in small groups on English as an additional language. The wellbeing department is run by the head of SEND, a full-time school psychologist and the head of wellbeing.
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 roomnot stated on the website
✓Counsellor
✓Child protection policy
✓Staff training
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school publishes policies on child protection, anti-bullying, behaviour, conflict resolution, SEND and health and safety. Two staff members are specially trained as safeguarding leads and run sessions for all staff at the start of the year; the school works under the Spanish law 8/2021 on protecting children from violence. The leadership carries out weekly whole-school observations together with the wellbeing department; there is a full-time psychologist and an anti-bullying programme. Staff involved in meals hold certificates under Spanish regulations, and nuts are not allowed on site because of allergies.
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 data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data75 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data80 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.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country