← Back to homeIES Cervantes
Madrid, Spain · est. 1929 · State
Illustration · Madrid
IES Cervantes is a state bilingual institute in the centre of Madrid, on Embajadores street, and one of the city's historic institutes: it grew out of the "Instituto Nacional de Enseñanza Media Infanta Beatriz", opened in 1929 as a girls' institute. It signs itself with all three of its lines at once - STEM, the International Baccalaureate and the research bachillerato. The bilingual section has run since the 2010/2011 school year: in it all subjects are taught in English except Spanish language, mathematics, the second foreign language and religion, with five hours of English a week; in the bilingual programme English is reinforced through one or more subjects. So the language of lessons here is both Spanish and English. The institute runs the IB Diploma Programme with published results of a completeness rare for a state school: the first cohort of 2021/22 averaged 37.47 out of 45, the second of 2022/23: 36.26, and in 2024: 36.9; each time all pupils obtained the diploma, and six or seven scored above 40 points, with a best result of 44 points in 2024. The school itself compares this with the world average of 32-33. Besides the Diploma the institute runs the research bachillerato, STEM centre status, eTwinning, Erasmus+, a school radio and the magazine "El Ingenioso Hidalgo"; its pupil Antonio Laso González won silver at the 2025 International Mathematical Olympiad. Teaching runs in three shifts - day, evening and adult.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
Spanish, English
Languages taught
German, French
About the fees This is a state institute: it charges no tuition, including for the IB Diploma Programme, and admission to the ordinary lines follows the general rules of the Madrid region and the Ministry of Education. The school names no charges for IB examinations, materials or the cafeteria.
Admissions Admission to the ordinary lines follows the general Madrid procedure: as a state institute the school follows the rules of the Consejería de Educación and the Ministry of Education. In ESO priority goes to pupils of the linked bilingual primary schools of the Arganzuela district - Emilia Pardo Bazán, Legado Crespo, Miguel de Unamuno - and other state bilingual schools in Madrid; for the bachillerato the school adds its own criterion - an average mark of at least 7.0 for years 1-3 of ESO. The bilingual section requires certified English: level A2 for pupils from bilingual primary schools and B1 or higher for those transferring from ordinary ones. Admission to the IB Diploma Programme is separate, through a maturity test: for 2026 it was set for 16 April at 16:00, and the admission policy of January 2026 is published as a separate document. The school says nothing about foreign pupils or the recognition of schooling abroad.
Stages and year groups Grades ESO (from age 12) - 2º Bachillerato, day and evening, plus the adult bachillerato. The institute admits leavers of linked primary schools to ESO, that is, from age 12; the list of what the day shift teaches separately names the 4th year of ESO and both years of the bachillerato in two tracks - sciences and social sciences and humanities - with the International Baccalaureate above them. ESO has a bilingual section and a bilingual programme, the bachillerato has advanced English groups. The evening shift repeats the set without the international line, and there is a separate adult bachillerato. The International Baccalaureate is the IB Diploma Programme: two years for pupils aged 16-18, six subjects, three at higher level and three at standard level.
Address Calle de Embajadores, 70, 28012 Madrid
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeschool 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
IBInternational Baccalaureate
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: DP (ages 16-19). DP is the final stage, ages 16 to 19: six subjects plus a compulsory core of theory of knowledge, an extended essay and CAS. The diploma is accepted by universities all over the world, and in a number of countries it counts for admission on the same footing as the local leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →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
Average IB score
36.9 (world average 30.88)
Exam results The school publishes IB Diploma results by cohort. First cohort, 2021/22: an average of 37.47 out of 45, all 100 per cent of pupils obtained the diploma, best result 43 points, six pupils above 40 points, world average 33. Second cohort, 2022/23: an average of 36.26, again every pupil obtained the diploma, best result 42 points, six above 40, world average 32. In 2024: every pupil obtained the diploma, an average of 36.9, seven pupils above 40 points, best result 44 points out of 45. The school does not show EvAU or ordinary bachillerato results.
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
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The institute stands in the centre of Madrid and occupies the historic 1929 institute building. Its own website gives separate sections to the library, the medical room and the cafeteria; the school does not list its rooms but shows them in a photo album and a virtual tour of the centre.
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 staff is published by department, sixteen of them: German, fine art, biology and geology, economics, physical education, philosophy, physics and chemistry, French, geography and history, Greek, English, Latin, Spanish language, mathematics, music, religion and technology; careers guidance is kept on a separate site. The Diploma Programme coordinator is named: Luis Horrillo. The school publishes no qualifications, no pupil-teacher ratio and no class sizes.
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
·Counsellornot stated on the website
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The institute has a medical room of its own - "Enfermería" is a section of its own website. The school names no psychologist and no security staff; careers guidance is kept on a separate departmental site.
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%)82 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 data60 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