← Back to homeMDI International College - Colegio María de Icíar
Riba-roja de Túria, Spain · est. 1968 · Private
Illustration · Riba-roja de Túria
MDI International College is the former Colegio María de Icíar: a private school founded in 1968 by Rafael Vilar Gallego and María Begoña Rey de Arteaga on the road from Manises to Riba-roja de Túria near Valencia; it is now led by a former pupil, Estibaliz Vilar-Rey. The school calls itself a bilingual international school following the Spanish curriculum, inspired by Montessori, Steiner Waldorf and the farm school, with infant school, primary school, ESO and bachillerato; authorisation of the Valencian education department no. 46007268. Lessons are in Spanish and English, with native or fluent English-speaking teachers, and Valencian is taught for the number of hours the region requires. Classes are small, pupils are grouped into small units, and the school puts emotional and social development on a par with academic work. The grounds are about 70000 square metres of countryside with separate buildings for each stage, a covered pavilion, stables, a riding ring and a school farm; children ride, work in an organic vegetable garden and spend much time outdoors. Through the year there are seasonal festivals in the Waldorf tradition: the harvest festival, the lantern festival, the Advent spiral. The school recently received accreditation as an American school and writes that it welcomes pupils of many nationalities. It publishes its fees itself.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $3 389–7 761 a year
300–687 EUR a month
The year is counted as ten payments: the school does not say how many payments it takes.
Languages of instruction
Spanish, English
About the fees The school publishes its fees itself, for the 2024/2025 school year, and charges them in ten monthly payments: 300 euros in the infant school, 387 euros in primary, 489 euros in the first cycle of ESO, 587 euros in the second cycle of ESO and 687 euros in bachillerato. There is a 20 percent tuition discount for a sibling. Newer prices are not yet on the site.
Admissions Registration and enrolment are open all year: the school sends the application form on request to its admissions address, and the registration page has a form with the pupil's and parent's details, the level of study and the previous school; contact by WhatsApp is also possible. The school invites families to visit and offers the child a trial day in class. It names no entrance tests and no language requirements. The school accepts foreigners directly: in its vision it writes that it welcomes and includes pupils of a wide variety of nationalities and cultures.
Stages and year groups Grades infant school - 2nd year of bachillerato. Stages: infant school, primary school, ESO and bachillerato following the Spanish curriculum. The infant and primary school run from 9:00 to 17:00, with an extended day possible from 8:00 to 18:00; ESO and bachillerato from 9:00 to 14:05 and from 15:10 to 17:00, with Friday afternoons free. The 2025-2026 school year runs from 8 September to 19 June, with assessment each term. Classes are small and pupils work in small groups; the school gives no class size in figures.
Address Carretera Manises a Riba-roja del Túria km 10, Riba-roja de Túria, Valencia
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
MSA · accreditationschool 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
MSAMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools
One of the oldest American accreditations, working since 1887 in more than a hundred countries and linked to the Office of Overseas Schools of the US State Department. It judges the school as an institution across twelve areas, including finances, governance, premises and student support.
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 →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 hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Campus: About 70000 square metres of countryside: separate buildings for each stage, a psychomotor room, a music room, a library, a covered pavilion and sports courts, technology and language classrooms, laboratories, an assembly hall that is also a chapel, and a canteen with its own kitchen. Outdoors there are stables, a riding ring, a school farm and an organic vegetable garden. A school bus from Valencia.
Clubs and activities (6): Sports clubs · Music lessons · Horse riding · Eco garden · Ski trip · Sailing and water sports
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 school presents its teachers by name, with their subjects and a few words about themselves: in primary, teachers of mathematics, of English and science, of music, history and Valencian, and of physical education, one of whom holds a degree in special needs education and C1 English; in ESO and bachillerato, a teacher of English, history and geography in her eighth year at the school, a teacher of technology, biology and geology specialising in agriculture, and a teacher of language, economics, philosophy and history. The team includes an educational psychologist specialising in learning difficulties and neurodevelopmental disorders. English is taught by native or fluent teachers. The school states neither the number of teachers nor the pupil-teacher ratio, only stressing its small classes.
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 policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The school has a dedicated first aid room and an educational psychologist. The gates are open only from 8:00 to 9:30 and from 16:30 to 17:15; pupils brought by car sign in and out with their form tutor every day. Telephones and tablets are not brought to school unless a teacher has asked in advance. The school names no written child protection policy, no security staff and no video surveillance.
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%)60 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 data75 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data90 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data76 "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.
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