← Back to homeThe British School of Gran Canaria
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain · est. 1966 · Private
Illustration · Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
The British School of Gran Canaria is a British school on Gran Canaria founded in 1966. It has two campuses: at Tafira near Las Palmas de Gran Canaria a primary and secondary school, and at South near Maspalomas in the south of the island a primary school only. It has about 650 pupils, from the pre-school group to age 18; its community counts more than 40 nationalities, the largest group being Spanish. The school is not-for-profit: it is owned by an association of parents, strategy and finances are overseen by an elected Board of Governors, and any surplus is reinvested in the school. The curriculum is the British National Curriculum, taught in English; most teachers are native English speakers recruited in the UK. At the end of Year 11 pupils sit about ten IGCSEs and on their results can also obtain the Spanish ESO certificate; in Year 12 and Year 13 they sit AS and A Level, and for entry to Spanish universities there is separate preparation for the Spanish entrance examination. About 65 per cent of leavers go to British universities and about 25 per cent to Spanish ones. The school holds British Schools Overseas accreditation and publishes the inspection reports of 2023 and 2026. It publishes its fees itself, per year, in euros; in summer both campuses run English-language camps.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $7 689–9 806 a year
6 806.1–8 680.2 EUR
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE, A-Level
Admits from
18 months · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Spanish, French
About the fees The school publishes its fees itself for the 2026-2027 school year, per year, in euros, paid by direct debit in 10 monthly instalments from September to June: primary (Nursery - Year 6) 6806.10 euros, Year 7 - Year 9: 8289.90 euros, Year 10 - Year 11: 8517.70 euros, Sixth Form (Year 12 - Year 13) 8680.20 euros. Without direct debit the fee is paid in advance by term (40, 30 and 30 per cent) with a 5 per cent surcharge, or for the year before the start of school without the surcharge. The pre-school group from 18 months at Tafira and South: 422 euros a month from 8:40 to 12:00 or to 12:30 and 470 euros from 8:40 to 15:30, lunch 76 euros a month. Tuition discounts: 30 per cent for the third child, 60 for the fourth, 90 for the fifth. Two Sixth Form pupils can receive a 50 per cent scholarship based on their IGCSE and GCSE results.
Admissions The school admits children of different nationalities: in its words, its community counts more than 40 nationalities, although Spanish pupils are the largest group. Many families do not speak English, and the school says it brings such children, with structured support, to a level close to native speakers, immersing the youngest in an English environment from the start. Admission begins with a visit to the school and meetings with its staff. Depending on age, the child is assessed: an English entrance test, a mathematics evaluation and, for older pupils, examinations in other subjects; school reports for the current and previous years are required. The school also expects good behaviour and a commitment to school life. When the application form is submitted, 25 per cent of the entrance fee is paid. Before the start of the year new pupils attend taster days with their class.
Stages and year groups Grades Pre-School (18 months) - Year 13 (age 18). A pre-school group from 18 months with a flexible timetable and automatic entry to Nursery. Infants (ages 3-6, Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1), Juniors (ages 7-10, Key Stage 2), Secondary (ages 11-15, Key Stages 3 and 4) and Sixth Form (ages 16-18, Key Stage 5). At the end of Year 11 most pupils sit about ten IGCSEs and, with the required number of IGCSE passes, also obtain the Spanish ESO certificate; AS is taken in Year 12 and A Level in Year 13. South has only primary pupils; the secondary school and Sixth Form are at Tafira.
Address Crta. Tafira a Marzagán s/n, El Sabinal, 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
BSO · accreditationCOBIS · accreditationCambridge · IGCSE, A-Level · 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
BSOBritish government inspection of schools overseas
A scheme of the UK Department for Education: a school abroad is inspected against the standards for independent schools in England, including safeguarding and the standards for boarding. The inspections are done by independent inspectorates approved by the department, and the inspectorates themselves are monitored annually by Ofsted. The reports are published in full on the government website.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →COBISCouncil of British International Schools
An association of British schools abroad with a quality inspection of its own. It has nine membership categories, and the word "accredited" appears in seven of them, although COBIS does its own inspection in one: in the rest it recognises an accreditation granted by somebody else.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →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. At this school: IGCSE (ages 14-16), A-Level (ages 16-18). IGCSE means exams at around Year 10 or 11, the British counterpart of a lower secondary leaving certificate. A-Level is the senior years, and their results are what British and many other universities admit on.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results The school publishes pass rates by year. 2025: IGCSE and GCSE 95.2 per cent, AS 97.2 per cent, A Level 100 per cent; 2024: 91, 96 and 95 per cent. The school's pupils have received Cambridge and Edexcel awards for the highest result in Spain, in Europe and in the world, including in Spanish, French, art and physical education.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓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 · Art studio · Playground
Campus: Tafira, by the Bandama volcanic crater, about 15 minutes from Las Palmas; the campus was rebuilt in 2015. The infant classes are on the ground floor with access to a play area with a soft surface and a separate area for Nursery, the junior classes on the first floor in interconnected classrooms. Secondary has subject rooms, chemistry, physics and biology laboratories, an art room with a pottery kiln and graphics computers, a music room with practice rooms and instruments, and a computer suite. At the centre is the shared Ágora hall for drama, exhibitions and assemblies; there is a large sports hall with a stage and a dining room. Outside there is a small synthetic 5-a-side football pitch, a volleyball court and a hard court for basketball and football; local facilities are also used for sport. South near Maspalomas, 5 minutes from the GC1 motorway: built in 1997, 10 large classrooms with interactive whiteboards, two small libraries, a dining room with a kitchen, play and sports areas. School buses run across Las Palmas and the south of the island.
Summer camp: the school runs its own camp; whether it takes children from outside is not stated on the website
In July the school runs English-language summer camps at both campuses for children aged 3-16. At least half of the time the children study English in classrooms with qualified teachers, the rest is sport, creative activities and trips, at Tafira including horse riding, all in English. At Tafira lunch is included in the price, while the bus and breakfast from 7:30 are paid separately. Prices and dates are given in separate files.
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
Most teachers are native English speakers recruited in the UK; Spanish and other foreign languages are taught by the languages department. The school recruits staff under safer recruitment rules with pre-employment checks, full background checks and references. The headmaster is Julian Clark. The school does not state the number of teachers, class sizes or the pupil to teacher ratio; for the pre-school group it promises a low number of children per adult.
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
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
✓Staff training
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school publishes a safeguarding and child protection policy, an anti-bullying policy, policies on safer recruitment, safe working practice, pupil supervision, online safety and first aid, and entry and departure procedures for each campus; a member of the Board of Governors is responsible for each of child protection, health and safety, safer recruitment and anti-harassment. First aid staff have been trained in paediatric emergencies and the school holds the SafeKids certificate; both campuses have defibrillators and staff are trained to use them. Internet use at school is filtered by a firewall, and access to most social media is blocked. The school mentions no video surveillance, no security guards and no permanent nurse.
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%)85 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%)95 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data55 "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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