← Back to homeIES Jorge Santayana
Ávila, Spain · State
Illustration · Ávila
IES Jorge Santayana is a state secondary school in the centre of Ávila, on Calle Santo Tomás, named after the philosopher George Santayana, who spent part of his childhood in the town. It runs the compulsory secondary stage from twelve to sixteen, a bachillerato in two lines - sciences and technology, and humanities and social sciences - and beyond them a basic vocational cycle in cookery and catering and vocational cycles in hospitality and tourism, so a leaver can come out with a trade qualification. What sets it apart from its neighbours is that the IB Diploma Programme runs at the upper stage. It is not open to everyone: entry needs an average mark of at least seven across the third and fourth years of ESO, an application between March and June and an interview, and the school publishes both the interview calendar and the lists of those admitted. The Diploma runs in Spanish with English as language B at higher level, while French, Latin and Greek have departments of their own. The school has its own library with a "book corner" where pupils publish reviews, and most of its out-of-class life runs around it. There is a guidance department: careers advice, study skills, a separate guide for fourth-year ESO pupils, sessions with the Red Cross and talks by police experts on bullying and the dangers of the internet.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
Spanish, English
Admissions Admission to the Diploma Programme runs separately from the general one. First a candidate has to take part in the ordinary bachillerato application round - from 17 March to 8 April 2026 - while those who have already finished the fourth year of ESO at Jorge Santayana itself already hold a place in the first year of bachillerato and submit only the Diploma application. The Diploma application runs from 17 March to 5 June 2026, on the form the school publishes on its own page. The threshold is an average mark of no less than seven across the third and fourth years of ESO. Then come interviews on the published calendar, the lists of those admitted, and a meeting for the successful candidates on 25 June 2026 at 11:00 in the school library, where they are given recommendations for the summer. The school states the language condition plainly: the Diploma Programme is taught in Spanish, and an applicant must command it at the level of those for whom it is the mother tongue. The admission page says nothing about foreigners or citizenship.
Stages and year groups Grades 1º ESO - 2º Bachillerato, plus a basic vocational cycle and vocational cycles. The compulsory secondary stage runs for four years, from 12 to 16, with diversification routes in the third and fourth. The bachillerato comes in two modalities, Ciencias y Tecnología and Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales; the IB Diploma Programme runs alongside it. Beyond that there is a basic vocational cycle in cookery and catering and vocational cycles in hospitality and tourism, with their own entrance examinations for candidates who lack the required certificate.
Address C/ Santo Tomás 6, 05003 Ávila
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
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
✓Library
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The school stands in the centre of Ávila, on Calle Santo Tomás. It has a library of its own with an "El Rincón de la Biblio" section: monthly recommendations, reading lists, pupils' reviews and events held in the reading room itself; it is also where the school gathers those admitted to the Diploma Programme. Floor plans are published on a page of their own, but the school does not list its rooms in words. The basic cycle in cookery and catering and the hospitality cycles need workshops of their own, but the school does not describe them.
Clubs and activities: Library readings · Book reviews · Study skills · Guía Orienta 4º ESO · Red Cross activities · Lectures on bullying and the internet · Plan Releo Plus
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%)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 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 data65 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 Value for money (6%) scored at the median74 "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 7 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