← Back to homeIES Vasco de la Zarza
Ávila, Spain · est. 1984 · State
Illustration · Ávila
A state secondary school in Ávila under the Junta de Castilla y León. It opened on 13 January 1984 as a polytechnic vocational training institute, for ten years taught only vocational courses and from the 1995-1996 school year became a compulsory secondary school; two years after opening it took the name of the Ávila Renaissance sculptor Vasco de la Zarza, and in the 2023-2024 school year it marked its fortieth anniversary. Today it runs ESO compulsory secondary school, bachillerato and vocational training; ESO and bachillerato each have their own deputy head. Some ESO pupils study in the bilingual programme of the education ministry and the British Council: in May-June pupils of this programme can sit Cambridge IGCSEs, geography in ESO year 3, and English as a first language, biology, Spanish and history in ESO year 4. The main language of lessons is Spanish; in the bilingual programme some subjects are taught in English. The school has a library with yearly readings and expressive reading contests (in 2022-2023 its reading plan won an award), Erasmus+ exchanges for secondary and vocational students, trips (in spring 2026 pupils of the British Council programme went to Ireland) and a game day in English with the sixth-year pupils of the nearby CEIP Comuneros de Castilla primary school, where future pupils come from. Vocational students take part in the regional CyL Skills championships and the national young installers contest.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE
Languages of instruction
Spanish, English
About the fees The institute is a state school under the Junta de Castilla y León; the site names no tuition fee, and education in Spanish state schools is free of charge. The site has sections on the Releo Plus free textbook programme and on grants and allowances.
Admissions The site publishes no separate admission conditions for the institute. Entry to the MEFPD-British Council bilingual programme is by an entrance exam, announced on the school notice board; future pupils of the programme come mainly from the nearby CEIP Comuneros de Castilla primary school, with whose sixth-year pupils the institute holds a game day in English every year.
Stages and year groups Grades ESO year 1 - bachillerato year 2; vocational training. The institute runs ESO compulsory secondary school (years 1 to 4), bachillerato and vocational training courses; the site has sections on the university entrance exams (PAU) and on preparation for the vocational access exams. Some ESO pupils study in the MEFPD-British Council bilingual programme, which has an entrance exam. The school names no class size and no number of groups per year.
Address Calle Valladolid 19, 05005 Ávila
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE · 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
CambridgeCambridge International Education
Part of the University of Cambridge. It allows a school to teach the Cambridge programmes and to enter pupils for the exams. There are four stages and they are authorised separately: primary, lower secondary, IGCSE and A Level. If the stages are known they are named in the line below; if that line is missing, the school does not publish them, and the Cambridge registry does not show stages either - it gives only the name of the centre, the country and whether private candidates are accepted. Cambridge calls what it does registration rather than accreditation, and the network holds about ten thousand schools.
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: IGCSE (ages 14-16). IGCSE means exams at around Year 10 or 11, the British counterpart of a lower secondary leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results The school does not publish exam results. It says that pupils of the British Council bilingual programme can sit IGCSEs every year in May-June: geography in ESO year 3, and English as a first language, biology, Spanish and history in ESO year 4; the site gives neither grades nor pass rates.
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
·Librarynot stated on the website
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: A building in Ávila at Calle Valladolid 19. The school library ("Biblio del Vasco") is named, with exhibitions, a book fair for Book Day and pupil librarians; the playground is being greened, and stands with books to read during breaks have been moved out there. For vocational training there are workshops where students prepare for the CyL Skills championships. The school publishes no full list of premises.
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%)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 data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data60 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