← Back to homeEscuela Europea de Alicante
Alicante, Spain · est. 2000 · State
Illustration · Alicante
Escuela Europea de Alicante is one of the 13 Type I European Schools, the intergovernmental schools of the EU system. The school describes itself as «centro de enseñanza oficial creado conjuntamente por los gobiernos de los Estados Miembros de la Unión Europea» (an official educational institution created jointly by the governments of the EU Member States). It was created by the Board of Governors of the European Schools in November 2000 for the children of staff of the EU Intellectual Property Office EUIPO; teaching began in September 2002 in nursery and primary, secondary opened in September 2003, and the first European Baccalaureate class graduated in the 2005-2006 school year. It is the only school of this type in Spain. There are four language sections: Spanish, English, French and German; a child is enrolled in the section of their mother tongue or dominant language, and in case of doubt the school runs comparative language tests. Children whose language has no section (SWALS) join one of the sections and receive daily mother tongue lessons: currently 16 EU languages in primary and 16 in secondary. The language of instruction is taken from the pages on sections and languages and from the Vademecum: lessons are taught in the language of the section, and nursery learning happens «en la lengua de la sección» (in the language of the section). The only diploma is the European Baccalaureate (Bachillerato Europeo), which gives access to universities in all EU countries on the same terms as their own graduates. Extracurricular activities are run by contractors: AUCA projectes educatius in nursery and primary on Wednesdays and Fridays, Mundosport in secondary daily from October to May. Compulsory school trips take place in P3, P4, P5, S3 and S6.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $5 036–9 443 a year
4 457.8–8 358.46 EUR
Programmes
European Schools programme (European Baccalaureate)
Admits from
4 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
Spanish, English, French, German
Languages taught
Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Slovak, Slovene, Swedish, Romanian, Croatian
Registration fee
≈ $226
200 EUR
About the fees Only Category III families pay school fees; children of EU institution staff (Category I) are exempt, and Category II fees are paid by the organisation. Annual Category III fees for the 2026-2027 school year: nursery 4457.80 euros, primary 6129.55 euros, secondary 8358.46 euros; 20% off for the second child, 40% off for the third and further children. Fees are set every year by the Board of Governors of the European Schools. 25% of the annual amount is paid by 30 June to confirm the place and is non-refundable, the remaining 75% by 30 November; on written request it can be split into three payments.
Admissions The school divides pupils into three categories. Category I covers children of staff of EU institutions and assimilated organisations with a contract of at least one year: «Estos alumnos están exentos del pago del minerval» (these pupils are exempt from school fees), and their applications are accepted all year round. Category II covers children whose fees are paid by a company or organisation under an agreement with the school. Category III covers everyone else: «Alumnos que no pertenecen a las Categorías I y II. Estos alumnos se admiten en función de las plazas disponibles» (pupils who do not belong to Categories I and II are admitted according to available places); siblings of current pupils have priority. Nationality is not named as a condition, and the school describes its pupils as «sin distinción de nacionalidad, ni de lenguas» (without distinction of nationality or language). New Category III pupils apply online only in the spring window (for the 2026-2027 school year from 17 April to 8 May 2026, marked as closed on the website) and only for the classes and sections the Director has declared open; a non-refundable 200 euro fee is charged for processing. A Category III pupil is not admitted to a class that already has 24 pupils; entry above P1 requires successful completion of the previous year; admission during the school year is generally not possible; applications are accepted for at least one full school year. Age: nursery from September of the calendar year in which the child turns 4, P1 at 6. The Director determines the section by mother tongue or dominant language, with tests if needed, held only at the school. Category III families get an answer only after places for Categories I and II are settled, for some classes only in July. The school does not hold open days or pre-admission visits.
Stages and year groups Grades N1-N2, P1-P5, S1-S7. Nursery (Infantil): N1 and N2, children aged 4 and 5 in one mixed group with a teacher and an assistant. Primary (Primaria): P1-P5, ages 6-10. Secondary (Secundaria): S1-S7, ages 11-18, in three cycles - S1-S3, S4-S5, S6-S7. The curriculum is the harmonised European Schools curriculum, identical in all sections except mother tongue lessons, supervised by inspectors from EU countries. The diploma is the European Baccalaureate (Bachillerato Europeo), examined at the end of S7: «La denominación de Bachillerato Europeo pertenece exclusivamente a las Escuelas Europeas» (the name European Baccalaureate belongs exclusively to the European Schools). The school website shows no Spanish national programme, IB or other diplomas.
Address Avda. Locutor Vicente Hipólito s/n, E-03540 Alicante, España
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
European Schools · authorised programmeOne of the European Union's own European Schools (type I): its curriculum and the European Baccalaureate. The school admits the children of staff of the EU institutions first; others are admitted for a fee and if places are available.
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
European SchoolsThe European Union's European Schools (Schola Europaea)
An intergovernmental system of European Union schools with its own curriculum and its own certificate, the European Baccalaureate. It runs thirteen schools of its own, and national schools gain the status of Accredited European School after an audit with a visit by inspectors. The certificate is recognised for university entry in every EU country.
What the badge means for this school. The school runs the European Schools curriculum, and this can be checked in the system's lists at eursc.eu. The system's own schools are checked by inspectors from EU countries, accredited schools pass an in-school audit, and accreditation is renewed every three years. Whether the school awards the European Baccalaureate, and whom it admits, is stated on its own page. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →European Schools programme (European Baccalaureate)
The European Union's European Schools curriculum from nursery to the final year, with the European Baccalaureate as the leaving certificate. Teaching is in language sections, and a second language is compulsory from primary school.
What this means for this school. The curriculum and the certificate are set by the European Schools system, whose Board of Governors is made up of the education ministers of the EU countries. European Baccalaureate papers are marked by the teacher and an external examiner, and the certificate is recognised for university entry in every EU country and in several others. A school may award it only if it is one of the system's own schools or is accredited for the senior years.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results The 2025 European Baccalaureate session had 103 candidates. The school publishes subject averages on a scale of 10: written mother tongue (L1) 7.60, second language (L2) 7.77, mathematics 5 periods 6.71, mathematics 3 periods 5.42; oral L1 8.01. The publication gives no pass rate and no overall average.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: Separate primary and secondary buildings, each with its own library (more than 25000 items in 12 languages in total), a gym, a canteen with its own kitchen (operated by Ausolan), school buses through the parents' association AMPA; the cycle lane reaches the school entrance.
Clubs and activities: Proyecto de música / Orquesta de secundaria
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
Teachers come from many EU countries: «Nuestro personal está compuesto por profesores profesionales, comprometidos y experimentados, procedentes de muchos países de la UE» (our staff are professional, committed and experienced teachers from many EU countries). Each nursery group has a teacher and an assistant. The school has two psychologists trained in clinical and child psychology. The school does not publish the number of teachers or class sizes; its admission policy only bars admitting a Category III pupil to a class that already has 24 pupils.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
✓Security staff
✓Access control
✓Nurse or medical room
✓Counsellor
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
A nurse is on site throughout the school day, and a doctor works at the school on Tuesdays. Two psychologists: one for nursery and primary, one for secondary. The school runs the Finnish anti-bullying programme KiVa, and the KiVa team reviews cases weekly. Parents may enter the buildings only by appointment and after a security check; the secondary school has a security guard at the entrance. Protocols for emergencies, chronic illnesses and administering medication are published in Spanish, English, French and German.
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 data90 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 data61 "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