← Back to homeSt Edward's College
Birgu, Malta · est. 1929 · Private
Illustration · Birgu
St Edward's College is a Catholic independent school in Birgu (Città Vittoriosa), housed in the former Cottonera Military Hospital, built in 1878. The college opened in October 1929 as "St Edward's Catholic School for Boys" with 29 pupils, backed by Baroness Strickland, and took boarders from the start. It now has five sections: Early Years (Nursery from age two, KG1, KG2, Years 1-2), Junior School (Years 3-6), Middle School (Years 7-8), Senior School (Years 9-11) and Sixth Form (Years 12-13). In the Senior School pupils prepare for "either the MATSEC Examinations (Malta's National Secondary School Examinations) or the internationally recognised IGCSEs"; the core includes English Language, English Literature, Maltese, Mathematics, Religion or Ethics and one more language chosen from French, Italian or Spanish, which start in Year 5. Since 2009 the Sixth Form has followed the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), and it is mixed and international: "This cohort is both international and co-educational". The Kindergarten, opened in 2007, took both boys and girls from the start; in December 2024 the college announced a move to full co-education from September 2025: girls move up the school with the KG2 cohort that entered Year 1 in 2025, while the upper classes of the Junior, Middle and Senior School are still boys. Lessons are in English: the website and all materials for parents are in English, English language and literature are core subjects, and international pupils are offered "Maltese for Foreigners or Extra English classes (T.E.F.L.)". The school day in Early Years runs from 8:30 to 14:00, and from Year 3 to Year 11 from 8:30 to 15:00, with clubs and supervision afterwards. From Year 6 there are overnight stays on campus, and from Year 7 educational trips abroad (Sicily, Paris, London).
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $3 211–12 485 a year
2 842–11 051 EUR
Programmes
IB · DP · Cambridge · IGCSE · National programme
Admits from
2 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Maltese, Italian, French, Spanish
About the fees Fees for the 2026-2027 school year: Nursery 2842 euros, KG1 and KG2 3952 euros, Year 1 5208 euros, Year 2 5353 euros, Years 3-5 7013 euros, Year 6 7904 euros, Years 7-8 8397 euros, Years 9-11 9284 euros, Years 12-13 (IB) 11051 euros a year, paid by term. Boarding per year: twin room 7 days a week 31676 euros, 5 days 23396 euros; single room 7 days 36051 euros, 5 days 26396 euros. Swimming from Year 3 costs 15 euros a year.
Admissions The college admits children from age two (Nursery) to the Sixth Form (ages 16-18). IB Diploma candidates have an entrance interview with the Head of IB. From September 2025 the college is becoming co-educational gradually, from the bottom up: girls are in Nursery, KG, the classes the mixed cohort has reached (it entered Year 1 in 2025) and the Sixth Form. Boarding is open to boys from age 11 (Years 7-11) and to boys and girls aged 16-18 in the Sixth Form; the school describes "a diverse boarding environment with students from multiple nationalities". The college admits international pupils: non-EU students pay an administrative charge of 200 euros per term, non-EU boarders can get visa assistance for 200 euros, and international pupils are offered Maltese for Foreigners or extra English.
Stages and year groups Grades Nursery-Year 13. Early Years: Nursery (from age two), KG1, KG2, Years 1-2; Junior School: Years 3-6 (ages 6-10); Middle School: Years 7-8 (ages 11-12); Senior School: Years 9-11 (ages 13-15), preparing for MATSEC SEC or IGCSE; Sixth Form: Years 12-13 (ages 16-18), IB Diploma.
Address Triq San Dwardu, Birgu (Città Vittoriosa), BRG 9039
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeCambridge · IGCSE · authorised programmeThe IB register lists the Diploma Programme at the school. The Cambridge register names it as a Cambridge centre. Alongside the IGCSE, the school prepares pupils for Malta's state MATSEC SEC examinations.
school 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: DP (ages 16-19). 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 →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 →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
Exam results Of its IB leavers the college writes: "The College's students have reached an average of 83% when compared to the international average of 79%", without stating the year or what the figure measures. The college does not publish its average IB score or its MATSEC and IGCSE results.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
✓Boarding
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Campus: The college occupies the former Cottonera Military Hospital, built in 1878. The chapel is in the Old Magazine of the Knights' period and was inaugurated in 1935; the laboratories were completed in 1968; in 2013-2014 a modern sports complex with a gym was built in the historic St James Gate, and a running track was laid out in 2013. There is a boarding house with single and twin rooms, three meals a day plus a snack (vegetarian and halal options) and access to the sports facilities.
Clubs and activities: Tennis · Taekwondo · STEM workshops · Catechism classes · Maltese Language for Foreigners · First Aid · Media Studies · Drama · Guitar Lessons · Experimental Science · Cookery
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 roomnot stated on the website
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The college publishes a Safeguarding Policy and an Anti-Bullying Policy in its Policies section.
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%)84 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 data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)90 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data75 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