← Back to homeDeutsche Schule Madrid - Colegio Alemán de Madrid
Madrid, Spain · est. 1896 · Private
Illustration · Madrid
Deutsche Schule Madrid is a private German school in Madrid, an official German school abroad, and it has taught, in its own words, "between cultures since 1896". It now has about 1700 pupils of 22 nationalities, and each year about 120 leavers successfully pass the German Abitur, which is recognised in Spain without the EBAU and in Germany. The school is financed by family fees, a subsidy from the German government and contributions from sponsors. The stages run right through: Kindergarten from three to six, where German is the language of communication and learning and each group of 18-25 children has two native-speaker teachers; Primaria - grades 1-4; Secundaria - grades 5-12 on the German curriculum, with Hauptschule and Realschule exits after grades 9-10 and the Abitur after grade 12. Spanish language and literature and the geography and history of Spain are taught in Spanish, as Spanish law on foreign schools requires; beyond German and Spanish the school teaches English and French. Without German a child can enter through the Rama E branch: after a preparatory course in grades 3-4 the child joins class 5E and by grades 9-10 merges with German-speaking classmates. Correspondence with families is also in Spanish. Since 2015 the school has occupied a new campus in Montecarmelo, which the World Architecture Festival in 2016 named the most beautiful school building in the world. The school publishes its fees itself, monthly, in euros.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $5 705–9 027 a year
505–799 EUR a month
The year is counted as ten payments: the school does not say how many payments it takes.
Programmes
German programme
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
German, Spanish
Languages taught
English, French
Students
about 1700 pupils of 22 nationalities
Class size
18-25 children per Kindergarten group
About the fees Fees for the 2026-2027 school year, monthly from September to June (the school's provisional table): Kindergarten: 680 euros, grades 1-4: 505 euros, 5-6: 542 euros, 7-10: 583 euros, grade 11: 639 euros, grade 12: 799 euros from September to April. The school is financed by family fees, a subsidy from the German government and contributions from sponsors; in individual cases it grants scholarships according to the family's financial need, approved by the school's scholarship committee.
Admissions Admission has four steps: an application through the form, a visit to the school, a personal interview with the child and the family, and formalisation. The decision on admission is taken by the head, the school recognises no one's right to a place, and admission comes with a probation period of 6 months; the class is assigned on the basis of the previous school's marks or an entrance test in German, mathematics, English, Spanish and if needed physics and chemistry. The bachillerato can be entered only at the start of grade 11. German is not required on entry: Kindergarten takes children from three, and from the fifth grade children without German can enter through the Rama E branch after a preparatory course; parents need not know German. The school sets no condition of citizenship: children of 22 nationalities study there, and for native German speakers from other countries there is temporary guest schooling in grades 9-11, for at least half a year, at 650 euros a month.
Stages and year groups Grades Kindergarten from age 3 - grade 12 (Abitur). Kindergarten from three to six, Primaria - grades 1-4, Secundaria - grades 5-12 on the German curriculum: Hauptschule and Realschule end after grades 9-10, Gymnasium with the Abitur after grade 12. The Rama E branch from class 5E is for children without German: four years of intensive German in small groups, joint classes from grades 9-10. The bachillerato is entered only at the start of grade 11.
Address C/ Monasterio de Guadalupe, 7, 28049 Madrid
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
Exam results The school writes that each year about 120 pupils successfully complete their schooling with the Abitur; it publishes no average scores and no pass rate.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Playground
Campus: Since 2015 the school has occupied a new campus in Madrid's Montecarmelo, built with home automation and with care for the environment: a multi-sport hall and a football pitch, libraries, music, art and science rooms, an auditorium with natural light, a spacious canteen with its own kitchen and separate yards for Kindergarten, Primaria and Secundaria. The World Architecture Festival in 2016 named it the most beautiful school building in the world. The bus routes are run by Alsa-Maitours.
Clubs and activities (5): Music school · Sports club · Evening tutorials · German language courses · Literary café
Summer camp: the school runs its own camp; whether it takes children from outside is not stated on the website
In summer the school runs six camps: for Kindergarten (ages 3-6), the music school camp (ages 6-12), Vorwaerts (ages 6-15), the Ciudad de la Raqueta tennis camp (ages 4-15), a football camp (ages 6-15) and a ceramics camp (ages 8-12). The school gives dates and prices in a separate leaflet for each 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
In Kindergarten the groups have 18-25 children of the same age, each led by two teachers whose mother tongue is German. The school does not publish the number of teachers, their qualifications or the pupil-teacher ratio in the school grades; it names a technical director, a guidance department and a medical service.
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 room
✓Counsellor
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The school has its own medical service and a guidance department, alongside programmes for inclusion and for gifted pupils. The school publishes its internal regulations, access rules, rules for trips and excursions and rules for the use of electronic devices. It names no security staff, no video surveillance, no child protection policy and no anti-bullying protocol.
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 data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data90 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data73 "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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