← Back to homeDeutsche Schule Bilbao - Colegio Alemán de Bilbao
Bilbao, Spain · Private
Illustration · Bilbao
Deutsche Schule Bilbao is a private German school in Bilbao with a history of more than a hundred years, standing on a site of more than 33000 square metres next to the Begoña basilica, two minutes from line 3 of the metro. It calls itself a European school of encounter and teaches five languages at once, naming the target levels: German C2, English C1, Basque B2, French B1 and Spanish. German here is not only the language of lessons but part of the method: under the DFU system (Deutschsprachiger Fachunterricht), mathematics, physics, chemistry, history, biology, art, music, sport, ethics and philosophy are taught in German - and the school says plainly that most of its pupils are from the Basque Country and German is not their mother tongue, so DFU serves the language and the subject at the same time. The stages run from a nursery through Kindergarten and Grundschule to Gymnasium and the bachillerato. The timetable differs by stage: Kindergarten 9:00 to 14:00, Grundschule 8:55 to 14:10, Gymnasium 7:30 to 15:00; after-school activities run Monday to Thursday with pick-up at 16:30. Uniform is compulsory in Kindergarten and Primaria, and the sports kit from Kindergarten to grade 12.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $6 665–10 662 a year
590–943.75 EUR a month
The year is counted as ten payments a year - that is how many the school itself names.
Programmes
German programme
Languages of instruction
German, Spanish
Languages taught
English, French
Registration fee
≈ $1 921
1 700 EUR
About the fees The school states its 2026/2027 fees monthly: they are charged for the whole school year and paid in ten monthly instalments from September to June, eight for grade 12. It is made up of tuition and a maintenance charge: the nursery from 590 EUR a month (370 tuition + 220 maintenance), Kindergarten 640, Grundschule grades 1-4: 670, Gymnasium grades 5-8: 690, grades 9-10: 720, Oberstufe grade 11: 755, and grade 12: 943.75 EUR a month (668.75 + 275). Over a year that comes to between 5900 EUR in the nursery and 7550 EUR in the Oberstufe. The one-off non-refundable entrance fee is 1700 EUR, or one month's fee for Gastschüler. Discounts on the entrance fee: 10 per cent for a second child, 20 for a third, 30 for a fourth and beyond; for early payment in the nursery and KG1, from 10 to 30 per cent depending on the year, up to 50 per cent on one entrance fee when several children enrol at once, and 20 per cent for employees of partner companies; the discounts are cumulative. On tuition the discount starts with the third child at 20 per cent and the fourth at 30. School insurance is a one-off 57 EUR in November.
Admissions Enrolment is open all year round: the school invites families to ask without commitment. A pupil leaving for a German school abroad for a school year pays 50 per cent of the entrance fee to reserve a place and settles it with the last school payment before leaving; it is non-refundable. Where a family moves for professional reasons, a deposit of 600 EUR is paid for each place reserved instead of an entrance fee; the reservation lasts at most two school years and is refunded only if the pupil returns within that time, by deduction from the first payment. The school takes foreign pupils: children starting in the nursery or kindergarten, it says, need neither the German language nor German citizenship. Entry is possible into any class up to the start of the 11th, and up to and including the 10th at any point in the school year; but from the 3rd year of primary school admission depends on the child's level of German. The decision on admission is taken by the school management.
Stages and year groups Grades Nursery - Gymnasium and bachillerato. The stages run right through: the school's own nursery, Kindergarten, Grundschule and Gymnasium with the bachillerato. The timetable differs: Kindergarten 9:00 to 14:00 with pick-up at 14:00 or at 15:00 after lunch, Grundschule 8:55 to 14:10 (drop-off from 8:45), Gymnasium 7:30 to 15:00. After-school activities run Monday to Thursday with pick-up at 16:30. The office is open 7:00 to 17:00 Monday to Thursday and until 16:00 on Friday; it is closed in August.
Address Avda. Jesús Galíndez, 3, 48004 Bilbao (Vizcaya)
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
ZfA · accreditationschool 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
ZfACentral Agency for German Schools Abroad
A German federal agency. It recognises a school as a German school abroad, funds it and grants the right to award the German leaving certificate. Quality is examined by a state inspection about once every six years, and schools that pass receive the mark of an excellent German school abroad.
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 →German programme
The German school programme. Recognised German schools abroad award the Deutsches Internationales Abitur, the German leaving certificate used for entry to universities in Germany. Behind the recognition stands the federal agency ZfA.
What this means for this school. ZfA recognition comes at levels: a school that takes pupils through to the German leaving certificate is one thing, a school with the DSD language diploma, where German is taught as a subject, is another. Which level this school holds is not stated here.
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
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: A site of more than 33000 square metres of natural surroundings within Bilbao itself, next to the Begoña basilica and two minutes from line 3 of the metro. The school describes its classrooms as adapted to the stage they serve and equipped with the latest technology. It has its own dining hall and its own bus service with stops in various towns; the sporting side of its after-school activities is organised by the company GoldiaSports.
Teaching staff
The school publishes neither the number of its teachers nor their qualifications.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
The school says nothing on its website about security, medical care or pupil support.
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 data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data70 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.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country