← Back to homeColegio Santa María del Camino
Madrid, Spain · est. 1957 · Private
Illustration · Madrid
Colegio Santa María del Camino is a private, secular, co-educational school of Catholic inspiration in Madrid's Puerta de Hierro quarter, at Calle Peguerinos 13. It was opened in 1957 by Pilar Anadón and María Espinosa and began as a charitable educational foundation: the school reinvests all its resources in itself. The stages run right through, from age one to university: nursery, Infantil, Primaria, ESO and an upper stage in two forms - the national bachillerato and the IB Diploma Programme. The school describes itself as a Colegio del Mundo del IB authorised for the whole continuum: the Primary Years Programme, the Middle Years Programme and the Diploma, and names its stages the IB way - PYP 1-9, MYP 1-5. The school keeps classes small and the relationship between pupil and teacher close. It names its "marks of identity" as follows: a family-like and close school, internationalism, personalisation and excellence, active methodologies, plastic and visual arts, and a wellbeing programme. For the school internationalism means a network of families and former pupils from different countries, teachers and families from abroad whom the school is glad to welcome, and the SMC Abroad programme with partner schools in other countries. Among its services are a school nurse, a guidance office with psychological support, support teachers, a school bus, a dining hall, swimming and a cultural hub; the school has a friendship agreement with the Teatro Real. In summer it runs three camps open to all children, and a summer catch-up school. The school does not name the language of lessons outright; its pages for parents, admissions and price files are written in Spanish, and the conclusion that teaching is in Spanish is drawn from that, while English is described as the language of the international project and of nursery sessions.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $5 762–10 958 a year
510–970 EUR a month
The year is counted as ten payments: the school does not say how many payments it takes.
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · National programme
Admits from
1 year · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
Spanish
Summer camp
Yes, open to all
About the fees The school publishes its prices itself, as files for the 2026/2027 school year, by the month. First cycle of Infantil (ages 1 and 2): a full day from 9:00 to 17:00 - 625 euros a month with lunch and snack, a half day from 9:00 to 13:30 - 510 euros with lunch, ten payments. PYP 1-3 (ages 3-5) - 560 euros; PYP 4-8 (primary years 1-5) and MYP 1 (year 6) - 670 euros; MYP 2-3 (ESO 1-2) - 725 euros; MYP 4-5 (ESO 3-4) - 800 euros, all in ten payments. Bachillerato: the first year, national and IB Diploma, 870 euros ten times, the second year 970 euros nine times. Payment can be monthly, from September to June, or for the year in July with a 3 per cent discount on tuition and dining; the third child in a family gets 30 per cent off, and the fourth studies free.
Admissions The school admits foreigners and says so plainly: its section on internationalism says that the school warmly welcomes teachers, pupils and families who come from abroad, and it separately offers its summer school to international pupils who will join the school the following year and to those who have spent a year studying abroad. Admission begins with the form on the site or an email to the admissions office: the family asks for an information visit, with which the process begins. On enrolment there is an enrolment fee of 600 euros (children of former pupils and a third sibling are exempt), and every March 200 euros to reserve the place for the next year, non-refundable. The school publishes no deadlines, entrance tests, documents or requirements for language or homologation.
Stages and year groups Grades nursery from age 1 - bachillerato. The stages as the school itself divides them: the first cycle of Infantil for children aged 1 and 2, PYP 1-3 (Infantil, ages 3-5), PYP 4-8 (primary years 1-5), MYP 1 (year 6), MYP 2-5 (ESO years 1-4) and an upper stage in two forms - the national bachillerato and the IB Diploma Programme for ages 16-19; the second year of the bachillerato lasts nine months. Classes, the school says, are very small.
Address Calle Peguerinos, 13, Puerta de Hierro, 28035 Madrid
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, 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: 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.
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
·Librarynot stated on the website
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: A building in the Puerta de Hierro quarter. The school names a dining hall, a food lab, a school bus with full and partial routes, swimming in the primary programme and a cultural hub; the page on its spaces and gardens does not currently open.
Clubs and activities (7): Música en el Camino · Cultural Hub · Swimming · Cultural and sports trips · SMC Abroad · Fine and visual arts · Social action
Summer camp: the school runs its own camp and takes children from outside as well
In the last week of June and in July the school runs three camps - for the Escuela Infantil, the SMC Kids Camp and the SMC Talent and Skills Camp - open not only to its own pupils but also to relatives, friends and local children; registration is by form, with the programme in a separate file. Also in July there is a summer school: a catch-up or extension course tailored to each pupil - for those who did not reach the year's goals, for pupils returning after a year abroad and for international pupils joining the school the following year.
Teaching staff
The school publishes neither the number of its teachers nor their qualifications.
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 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 school nurse - a separate monthly service - a guidance office with specialists in guidance and psychological intervention who carry out psychometric testing and support pupils in their academic, personal and social life, support teachers and a wellbeing programme. The school names no 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%)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 data55 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 data70 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