← Back to homeThe O'Brien International School and College
San Miguel de Salinas, Spain · est. 2013 · Private
Illustration · San Miguel de Salinas
A small British school and college in San Miguel de Salinas, ten minutes from Torrevieja. It opened in June 2013 as a licensed language and examination centre and then grew into a school from the early years to the sixth form and college; it also teaches adults who want to gain a qualification or learn a language. The programme is British: the early years follow EYFS, Key Stages 1-3 follow the English national curriculum, with 80 per cent of the week taught in English and 20 per cent given to Spanish language and culture, then IGCSE in Years 9-11 (usually 10 subjects, of which English, mathematics, science and Spanish are compulsory) and International A Levels in Years 12-13; exams are taken with Pearson Edexcel. Pupils are grouped by level and not only by age; the school has a large support service for children with special needs and individual plans. Teachers are graduates of universities in Spain, the USA, Kazakhstan, Venezuela, the United Kingdom and Ireland. The school writes that it was inspected by Penta in October 2023 and listed with the British Council in 2023. The school itself reports that its premises are still classified as commercial and that it is awaiting a change of land use, after which it will be added to the official register of schools of the Valencian Community; all inspections, it says, have already been passed. The school publishes its fees itself, monthly.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $4 858–6 383 a year
430–565 EUR a month
The year is counted as ten payments: the school does not say how many payments it takes.
Admits from
5 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Spanish, Russian
About the fees The school publishes its fees itself, monthly: primary school 430 euros a month, secondary school 495 euros a month, four A Level subjects 565 euros. There is a 5 per cent discount for the second child. Exam fees are paid separately, and the amount is given by the secretary.
Admissions Admission is year-round, first come first served, while places are available: the family submits an application and has an initial discussion at which the school decides whether it can meet the child's needs; if there are no places, the child is put on a waiting list after the application and the registration fee. Pupils can join at any point in the school year. Pupils from the EU and with permanent residence in Spain are admitted without restriction, while the school cannot yet support or sponsor visas for non-EU families until it receives official registration as a school. From September 2026 the school no longer accepts external exam candidates: exams can be taken only by pupils taught at the school.
Stages and year groups Grades Reception (EYFS) to Year 13. The early years follow EYFS (Reception), with 10 to 15 per cent of the time in Spanish; Key Stage 1 (Years 1-3), Key Stage 2 (Years 4-6) and Key Stage 3 (Years 7-8) follow the English national curriculum, with 80 per cent of the 35 lessons a week in English and 20 per cent Spanish language and culture; Key Stage 4 (Years 9-11) has about 10 IGCSE subjects: compulsory English language, mathematics, science and Spanish, and optional computing, economics, history, geography, sociology, statistics, English as a second language, business, art, music, psychology, physical education and religious studies; the sixth form (Years 12-13) takes International A Levels: English, Spanish, mathematics and one of business, Spanish, geography, economics, history, sociology; there are intensive one-year A Level courses. For pupils in the Spanish system the school runs revision classes, including for the Spanish university entrance exams.
Address C. Gran Vía Balcón Costa 62, 03193 San Miguel de Salinas, Alicante
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
BSO · 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
BSOBritish government inspection of schools overseas
A scheme of the UK Department for Education: a school abroad is inspected against the standards for independent schools in England, including safeguarding and the standards for boarding. The inspections are done by independent inspectorates approved by the department, and the inspectorates themselves are monitored annually by Ofsted. The reports are published in full on the government website.
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
Where leavers go: Sheffield Hallam University
The school publishes testimonials from former pupils: graduates have entered British universities, including Sheffield Hallam University, obtained first-class and 2:1 degrees, and one became a lecturer at University Centre Myerscough (UCLan). The school does not keep a list of universities by graduating class.
Facilities
The school does not describe its premises on its website.
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
What the listings show: a university degree for all teachers
The school names about 18 staff: the owner and director John Doyle O'Brien (social sciences, health and safety officer), the deputy director Sabrina Patiño (Spanish, educational psychologist, AQA Spanish examiner), an administrator and examinations officer, and heads of the departments of mathematics, English (also the special needs coordinator), modern languages, religion, business, art and Russian, statistics and biology, music and sport, the head of primary, two early years teachers and a primary and ICT teacher. All teachers are graduates of universities in Spain, the USA, Kazakhstan, Venezuela, the United Kingdom and Ireland; one of the English teachers worked for more than 40 years in British schools.
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 roomnot stated on the website
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school publishes a safeguarding statement, a child protection policy and policies on anti-bullying, mobile phones, discipline, supervision of children, fire safety, first aid, risk assessment and attendance, as well as a complaints procedure. A security lead is designated among the staff; the director is responsible for health and safety. The school's computers are wiped daily by security software.
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 data70 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data55 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