← Back to homeColegio Español Cervantes
Montevideo, Uruguay · est. 1990 · Private
Illustration · Montevideo
Colegio Español Cervantes (full name Colegio y Liceo Español «Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra») is a private, secular, family-run school in Montevideo (Uruguay) from the nursery group to the end of secondary school. Its history began in March 1968 with the «La Cigüeña» kindergarten for six children, which Raquel Gonella de Cambón opened in her own home; in 1972 the kindergarten was officially authorised, in March 1990 the Cambón family founded the «Cervantes» primary school, and from 1998 the secondary level opened one year group at a time. Today each level is headed by one of the founder's children. The school calls itself «institución uruguaya con raíces españolas» (a Uruguayan institution with Spanish roots) and the only one in the country recognised by the Spanish Ministry of Education, with «doble titulación académica» (a double diploma). The language of instruction is Spanish: all pages for parents are written in it, while English is described as a separate subject, 10 hours a week in primary school. English is the school's main emphasis: the goal is bilingualism, students sit Cambridge exams from Flyers in grade 6 to Proficiency in year 6 of secondary school, and the school itself is an official Cambridge exam centre. Primary school runs a full day, from 8:15 to 17:00. The three buildings stand next to each other: the kindergarten at Maipú 1761, the primary school at Maipú 1751 and the secondary school at Navarra 1766.
Key facts
Programmes
Spanish programme · National programme
Admits from
6 months · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
Spanish
Stages and year groups Grades Jardín Maternal (from 6 months) - year 6 of secondary school. Uruguayan curriculum: Jardín Maternal (6-24 months), Nivel Inicial (ages 2-5, with elements of Montessori pedagogy and multiple intelligences theory), Primaria (grades 1-6, full day), Secundaria - Ciclo Básico (years 1-3) and Bachillerato (years 4-6). Spanish component under an agreement with the Spanish Ministry of Education: Ciclo Básico adds one hour of history and geography of Spain, Bachillerato adds «Taller de Literatura Española» (year 1) and «Historia del Arte Español» (year 2) for two hours a week each, and «España Actual» (geography, history and literature on the Moodle platform) in the final year. The school writes that graduates receive «el certificado de Bachiller Internacional reconocido por la Unión Europea» (a Bachiller diploma recognised in the European Union) and calls this a double diploma; it is a Spanish diploma under the agreement, not the International Baccalaureate programme.
Address Maipú 1751, Montevideo
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
MEFPDSpain's state register of schools lists it in its "abroad" section as a school under an agreement with the ministry (Centro de Convenio en el Extranjero), code 60001467. Alongside the Uruguayan curriculum the school teaches Spanish subjects and awards the Spanish certificate.
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
MEFPDMinistry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports of Spain
A school of the Spanish education system abroad: run by the Spanish state, or a private Spanish school supervised by the ministry, or a school under an agreement with the ministry. The curriculum is Spanish, and leavers receive the Spanish certificate. Every such school is named in Spain's state register of schools, each with its own code.
What the badge means for this school. This is a Spanish school abroad, and that can be checked in Spain's state register. The entry is not a quality inspection: a school is on the register as part of the Spanish system, not as the outcome of an assessment. The curriculum and the certificate are Spanish. What other programmes the school offers, 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 →Spanish programme
The state school programme of Spain, with the Spanish certificates: ESO at 16 and the Bachiller after the baccalaureate.
What this means for this school. The programme is set by the Spanish Ministry of Education, which also names the school in its state register of schools, in the "abroad" section. Leavers receive Spanish qualifications: the Graduado en ESO after secondary school and the título de Bachiller after the baccalaureate. They are used for entry to Spanish universities; in other countries they are matched to local ones.
National programme
The state school programme of the country the school stands in: it is set by that country's ministry of education, which also licenses the school and awards the leaving certificate. That certificate is used for entry to local universities, and abroad it is matched to the local one.
What this means for this school. This entry does not count towards the score, and that is deliberate. Every lawful school in a country works to the national programme, so on its own it tells one school apart from no other - unlike the French, German or Russian programmes, which are carried abroad and confirmed by the register of their organisation. We show it because a parent needs to know what programme their child is taught and what certificate the child will get. Counting it would lift the whole ranking at once and still tell nobody apart.
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
✓LaboratoriesSecondary school computer room
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
✓CateringLunches from a monthly menu (extra service)
✓School transportSchool transport (extra service)
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: Three neighbouring buildings in Montevideo: the kindergarten at Maipú 1761, the primary school at Maipú 1751, the secondary school at Navarra 1766; an organic garden (huerta orgánica)
Clubs and activities: Escuela deportiva «Real Madrid», fútbol (Real Madrid football school) · Escuela deportiva «Real Madrid», basketball (Real Madrid basketball school) · Danza aeróbica coreográfica (choreographed aerobics) · Danza Flamenca (flamenco) · Robótica (robotics) · Chino Mandarín (Mandarin Chinese) · Taller de arte (art workshop) · Handball · Vóleibol (volleyball) · Taller de recreación (play workshop) · Natación (swimming, for nursery)
Teaching staff
The school publishes neither the number of its teachers nor their qualifications.
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
✓CounsellorA psychologist works directly in the kindergarten groups («Psicóloga en aula»), the primary school has a psychology department with meetings for parents, and the secondary school has a pedagogical and psychological team (Equipo Pedagógico-Psicológico)
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The primary school's extra services include emergency medical cover through UCM.
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 data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data60 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data75 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 Value for money (6%) scored at the median90 "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