← Back to homeInternacional Aravaca
Madrid, Spain · est. 2008 · Private
Illustration · Madrid
Internacional Aravaca is a private school in the Aravaca district of Madrid, opened in 2008, taking children from the age of two to eighteen. Its language scheme is firm and set out in detail: full English in the first nursery year, Spanish added gradually thereafter, 20 to 23 sessions a week in English in the primary school and 14 to 17 hours in the secondary, with French or German added from year 5 at two or three sessions a week; its own language academy teaches English, German, French and Italian in small groups with native speakers, and takes not only pupils but parents too. The programmes run as an IB continuum - Primary Years, Middle Years and the Diploma - while at the senior stage the IB Diploma and the Spanish Bachillerato stand as two separate routes, each with its own fee. Leaving results are disclosed: a 100 per cent pass rate in the EvAU, a top university-access score of 13.73 out of 14, every leaver of the 2023-2024 cohort admitted to their first-choice university, and the list of universities printed by name - from the Complutense, Carlos III and the Polytechnic of Madrid to Edinburgh, Manchester, Geneva, Gothenburg and Roskilde. The campus is well equipped for Madrid: an indoor sports complex with a swimming pool, courts for football, basketball, tennis and padel, a tatami area and a climbing wall, laboratories, libraries, STEAM and art workshops, psychomotor and sensory rooms, an orchard, a playground for the youngest, a separate Baccalaureate building and a kitchen of its own cooking more than six hundred meals a day. The support services are on-site medical care and defibrillators and a staff psychologist, with a speech therapist, an occupational therapist and an educational psychologist working under external agreements; against bullying the school holds Silenole certification and runs the MindUp emotional-regulation programme. What the school does not state: its own street address, pupil numbers or class sizes.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $4 688–11 128 a year
415–985 EUR a month
The year is counted as ten payments a year - that is how many the school itself names.
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
English, Spanish
Languages taught
French, German, Italian
Registration fee
≈ $1 243
1 100 EUR
Summer camp
Yes, open to all
About the fees The fee is taken in ten monthly instalments from September to June or in a single annual payment, and is printed monthly by stage: nursery I2 415 EUR, nursery I3 595, reception I4-I5 624, years 1-3 of primary 712, years 4-6: 718, years 1-2 of secondary 775, years 3-4: 785, the Bachillerato 829 and the Diploma Programme 985 EUR a month. On top of the fee the school charges a non-refundable enrolment fee of 1100 EUR in two instalments and a re-enrolment fee of 825 EUR. Lunch, transport, morning and afternoon care and uniform are charged separately, and the school publishes no amounts for them. Discounts: 25 per cent for a third child in the family, nothing at all to pay for a fourth, and half the enrolment fee for a new nursery pupil with a brother or sister already at the school; paying for the whole year before 30 June 2026 earns 5 per cent.
Admissions Admission runs in five steps: an enquiry and the booking of a visit - in person or virtual, the visit itself with a tour of the campus and a meeting with the team, the assessment, the review of the application with a written offer of a place, and enrolment. The assessment depends on age: from year 3 of primary the school asks for reports from the previous school and runs a placement test, while younger children are invited to a taster day. A place is held for 5-10 days, and to secure it a family pays the enrolment fee of 1100 EUR and the re-enrolment fee. The documents: copies of the parents' or guardians' identity papers, the family book or the pupil's identity document, passport photographs in a number that varies with age, proof of payment of the fee and the deposit, academic records and a transfer certificate from the previous school. Admissions run all year and the school can take a child at any point in the academic year; it sets no English-level requirement for applicants. The school does take foreigners: in its words, students of 37 nationalities make up 23% of its community.
Stages and year groups Grades nursery I2 (from age 2) - the second year of the Bachillerato or of the Diploma Programme, up to 18. The stages run right through: the nursery, ages 2-6 (nursery I2 and I3 and reception I4-I5) on the IB Primary Years Programme; the primary school, ages 6-12 (1º-6º EPO) on the same programme together with the Spanish LOMLOE; the secondary school, ages 12-16 (1º-4º ESO) on the IB Middle Years Programme; and the senior stage, ages 16-18, by one of two routes - the Spanish Bachillerato (1º-2º BTO) or the IB Diploma Programme (DP1-DP2). The nursery day: lessons 9:00-13:30 in four blocks with a half-hour break, lunch and rest 12:30-14:30 with a nap for two- and three-year-olds, activities 14:30-16:10 and a snack 16:10-17:00. There is morning care from 8:00 to 9:00 and afternoon care from 17:00 to 18:00.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
ACS WASC · accreditationIB · PYP, MYP, DP · authorised programmeInternational Schools Partnership · 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
ACS WASCAccrediting Commission for Schools of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
An American regional accreditation of the institution, working since 1962 and covering some 5,500 schools in California, the Pacific and Asia. It judges the whole school: a self-study, then a team visit. It gives the same status to supplementary and virtual programmes, so the category of an entry is worth checking separately.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →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: PYP (ages 3-12), MYP (ages 11-16), DP (ages 16-19). PYP is the primary stage, ages 3 to 12. It is not a set of subjects but a frame for the whole school: learning is built around lines of inquiry, and there are no exams at the end. MYP is the middle stage, ages 11 to 16. There are no exams here either; at the end an optional electronic assessment of pupils' work is possible. 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.
International Schools Partnershipschool network
A group of private international schools, founded in 2013 by five leaders from international education. The numbers diverge: the home page gives 121 schools in 26 countries and "132,000+" pupils, the "About us" page - 106 schools in 25 countries, the "Who and where we are" page - 121 schools in more than 26 markets and 118,000 pupils. The site writes that schools keep their own character, brand and curriculum when they join ISP, but does not say whether ISP buys the schools, manages them under contract or brings them together by membership.
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
Exam results The 2023-2024 cohort: a 100 per cent pass rate in the EvAU, with every leaver admitted to their first-choice university. The school gives the average EvAU score differently on two pages - 8.7 out of 10 on its "why choose us" page and 8.10 out of 10 on its Diploma Programme page. The top university-access score was 13.73 out of 14, and 35.48 per cent of pupils scored above 12 out of 14. The school publishes no separate figures for the IB Diploma Programme.
Where leavers go: University of Edinburgh · University of Glasgow · University of Manchester · University of Liverpool · Lancaster University · Cardiff University · University of Birmingham · University of Kent · Coventry University · University of Exeter · University of Aberdeen · University of Winchester
and others, 38 universities in the school's list in allThe school prints the list on its Diploma Programme page with no breakdown by year and no number of leavers per university. Alongside it stands the claim that every leaver of the 2023-2024 cohort was admitted to their first-choice university; the school gives no proportion going on to university for other years.
Facilities from the school's official website
✓Swimming pool
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio · Playground
Campus: The campus stands in Aravaca in Madrid, a few kilometres from the centre, in a residential area with green space and good transport. There is an indoor sports complex with a swimming pool, courts for football, basketball, tennis and padel, a tatami area and a climbing wall. The teaching spaces: classrooms and STEAM workshops, science laboratories, art workshops, libraries, psychomotor and sensory rooms and a separate Baccalaureate building. For the youngest there is a playground of their own and kid-sized classrooms, and for everyone an orchard for learning outdoors. The kitchen and dining room cook more than six hundred meals a day, the menus are planned by ARAMARK, and there are menus for allergies and dietary restrictions. The school bus runs seven routes through Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Aravaca, Majadahonda, El Plantío, Boadilla del Monte and Las Rozas, with a monitor on every bus. The school lets its premises for celebrations, events and sport, and offers a virtual tour of the campus. It names no theatre. The school names STEAM workshops but no makerspace as such; robotics, programming and 3D printing are activities rather than a room.
Clubs and activities (23): Football school · Judo · Padel · Tennis · Ballet · Rhythmic gymnastics · Roller skating · Street dance · Pre-sports training · Chess · Debating club · Theatre · Robotics · IA filmmakers · IA news · Eco-School · Imagine Creativity · Magic laboratory · Little artists · Language academy · Music school · Classical music · Contemporary music
Summer camp: the school runs its own camp and takes children from outside as well
The summer camp runs from 23 June to 24 July, from 9:00 to 15:00, with extended hours from 8:00 and until 16:00, and takes children aged 2-12 from any school. There are three camps: IA Mini Camp for ages 2-5 with themes such as "Lost in Space" and "Under the Sea", IA Camp for ages 6-12 over five themed weeks, and IA Tecno Camp for ages 8-12 with robotics and virtual reality. Sessions run in full English immersion with native speakers, lunch is included, and there is a pool every day. The price depends on the number of weeks and the school does not print it; its own pupils get a further 8 per cent discount.
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 leadership is named: head teacher Marta Martínez, in charge of the school since 2008 and twenty years in education; Early Years and Primary coordinator Valme García; head of learning Miguel Asensio (at the school since 2016); Secondary and Middle Years Programme coordinator Alice Pallarés; Baccalaureate and Diploma Programme coordinator Tatiana Calvo; Primary Years Programme coordinator Laura Orán (almost fifteen years at the school); head of counselling Miriam Serrano; and the heads of admissions and of marketing. The staff psychologist is Patricia Núñez. The school describes its teachers as highly qualified and bilingual, but publishes neither their number, nor qualifications, nor the pupil-teacher ratio, nor class sizes.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
✓Access control
✓Nurse or medical room
✓Counsellor
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policySilenole
The school has a child protection policy as a document of its own and a named team: designated lead Miriam Serrano, her deputy Miguel Asensio, head teacher Marta Martínez and psychologist Patricia Núñez, who is trained in child development and therapeutic approaches. Medical care is on site and there are defibrillators. Psychological support is in-house, while a speech therapist, an occupational therapist and an educational psychologist work under external agreements. Entry to the buildings is logged, parents are told of events in real time through the Familia app, and pupils have tuition insurance and accident insurance. Against bullying the school holds Silenole certification, runs the MindUp emotional-regulation programme and publishes a separate bullying-prevention policy and a coexistence plan; separate documents also cover absenteeism, digital devices, intimate care, physical intervention, safe arrival, the staff code of conduct, weapons and whistleblowing. The school names no CCTV, no security staff and no staff safeguarding training explicitly.
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%)95 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 data85 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)90 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data90 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 "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