← Back to homeEl Limonar International School Villamartín
San Miguel de Salinas, Spain · Private
Illustration · San Miguel de Salinas
A British school in San Miguel de Salinas, in the Villamartín area in the south of the province of Alicante, one of the two El Limonar International Schools (the other is in Murcia); both belong to the Cognita group. It takes children from 3 to 18: early years, primary, secondary and sixth form. Teaching is in English, but the school combines the British programme with the Spanish one, and graduates receive dual documents: IGCSE and the Spanish ESO certificate, A Levels and the Spanish Bachillerato. The school is accredited by NABSS, recognised by the Spanish Ministry of Education, is a Pearson Edexcel examination centre and a preparation centre for Cambridge English and Trinity examinations. By graduation pupils, according to the school, speak at least three languages fluently: English, Spanish and German or French, with Cambridge, Trinity, DELE, Alliance Française and Goethe-Institut examinations. On its main page the school names more than 600 pupils from more than 35 countries, on the campus page more than 650. The headteacher is Jon Wayth, the executive principal of both ELIS schools is Vanessa Grimward. In 2026 a graduate of the school was admitted to Oxford for life sciences. The school publishes its fees itself.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $6 355–11 286 a year
562.5–999 EUR a month
The year is counted as ten payments: the school does not say how many payments it takes.
Programmes
Pearson Edexcel
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Spanish, German, French
Students
More than 600 pupils on the main page and more than 650 on the campus page, from more than 35 countries.
About the fees The school publishes its fees itself, for the 2026-2027 school year, monthly, 10 months a year: nursery for three-year-olds part time 562.5 euros, full time 750, Reception 750, Years 1-2: 805, Years 3-6: 880, Years 7-11: 985, sixth form Years 12-13: 999 euros a month.
Admissions The school writes that its programme suits both children for whom English is the native language and international pupils who want to learn English, Spanish or a third language; pupils of more than 35 nationalities attend. Admission has seven steps: a conversation with admissions, a visit on an open day or a private tour, with online interviews available; an application; an assessment or taster day checking English for the relevant year group; a time-limited offer of a place subject to availability; completion of the admissions booklet, documents and payment of the 1500 euro non-refundable enrolment fee.
Stages and year groups Grades Nursery (3 years) - Year 13. Early years for children of 3-5 (Nursery, including part time, and Reception), primary 5-11 (Years 1-6), secondary 11-16 (Years 7-11) with IGCSE and the Spanish ESO, sixth form 16-18 (Years 12-13) with International A Levels and the Spanish Bachillerato. The school publishes how British and Spanish year groups match: Year 2 is the first grade of Spanish primary, Years 12-13 are Bachillerato.
Address Las Filipinas 15, Urb. Blue Lagoon, 03193 San Miguel de Salinas, Alicante
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Pearson · authorised programmeCognita · school is part of the networkNABSS · 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 →Cognitaschool network
A group of schools launched in 2004; the legal entity in the footer of the site is Cognita Holdings Limited. The site names 90 schools in 21 countries, 14 curricula and more than 22,000 staff, and the numbers agree on all the pages read. The section on a school joining the group speaks of working with the owners of schools and of integrating the school, but does not say outright whether the school passes into ownership; the word "franchise" does not appear on the site. The majority owner of Cognita itself is named as Jacobs Holding AG.
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.
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
Where leavers go: University of Oxford
The school runs a careers and university guidance programme: the upper school team helps with applications, and pupils in Year 11 and Year 12 do work experience in public and private organisations. In 2026 the graduate Zhang Zhiyou was admitted to Oxford for life sciences. The school does not publish a full list of university places.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
✓Theatre or assembly hall
·Librarynot stated on the website
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio · Playground
Campus: A purpose-built campus of 12000 square metres; the early years building was recently renovated. 56 classrooms with interactive whiteboards, computers, iPads and tablets. Music and art rooms, a drama area for 200 people, a motricity room and an indoor gym for the youngest, a study centre for A Level students. Separate play areas for nursery and primary, a grassy primary playground, multi-purpose football and basketball pitches. Buses run from Torrevieja, Pilar de la Horadada, Orihuela Costa, Guardamar del Segura, Almoradí, Ciudad Quesada, Los Montesinos, Los Alcázares and other places.
Clubs and activities: Taekwondo · Robotics · Football · Fusion Dance · Duke of Edinburgh's International Award
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
The school names its leadership: the executive principal of both ELIS schools Vanessa Grimward and the headteacher Jon Wayth. About teachers it speaks in general terms, as caring staff with high expectations of themselves; it does not publish the number of teachers or the ratio to pupils.
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 trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The school calls child protection its first responsibility and publishes a section of school policies. Pastoral care is built on the support team tracking each child's progress, on work with mental health and personal development. Buses run with professional drivers and monitors.
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 data70 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 data80 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.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country