← Back to homeSvenska Skolan Marbella
Marbella, Spain · est. 2003 · Private
Illustration · Marbella
A Swedish school abroad in Marbella, in the La Alzambra area near Puerto Banús. It opened in 2003 with five pupils in small premises in the centre of Marbella, has worked in its own building in La Alzambra since 2013 and now teaches about 200 children from 3 to 18. The school follows the Swedish national curriculum, is approved by Skolverket, supervised by Skolinspektionen and authorised by the education authority of Andalusia. Lessons are in Swedish except for languages: children learn English and Spanish from preschool, and from the preschool class 180 minutes a week of each, beyond the Swedish curriculum. The school itself runs the preschool and the years from the preschool class to the sixth; pupils in years 7-9 study by distance with Sofia Distans and upper secondary pupils with Hermods Distansgymnasium, but every day they sit in a school classroom from 9:00 to 15:00 supervised by its teachers. Swedish national tests are taken in years 3 and 6. After lessons an after-school club (fritids) runs until 17:00. Phones are collected during lessons, except for upper secondary pupils. The school keeps contact with the Spanish municipal school Isdabe del Mar and with other Swedish schools abroad through SUF.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $9 603–12 088 a year
8 500–10 700 EUR
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
Swedish
Languages taught
English, Spanish
Students
about 200 pupils aged 3 to 18
Class size
About 20 pupils per class
About the fees The school publishes its fees itself, in euros per term, lunch included. Preschool (ages 3-5) 4450 euros per term. Preschool class to year 6: 5350 euros per term without the Swedish state grant and 4250 with it; eligibility for the grant is approved by Skolverket on an application submitted between 20 September and 20 October, and for new pupils the reduced price applies from the spring term. Distance stages (years 7-9 through Sofia Distans and upper secondary through Hermods) 3450 euros per term plus these schools' own fees. Some Swedish municipalities allow families to take their school funding (skolpeng) with them. The school accepts no more than 2500 euros in cash; card payment is fine.
Admissions The preschool accepts children of any nationality. From the preschool class upwards at least one parent must have a connection to Sweden, because the school follows the Swedish curriculum. Admission is decided by the head: the family fills in an application on the site, the school assesses whether a place is available, and the answer comes by email in March-April. Siblings of pupils and those enrolling for a year or more have priority. To secure a place the school needs the final application, payment of the enrolment fee, copies of the passports of the child and parents, the child's registration certificate and information about any earlier additional support. The preschool takes children from three, if the child is out of nappies and no longer naps. Possibilities for children with special needs are limited: a separate assistant is paid for by the family.
Stages and year groups Grades förskola (age 3) - gymnasium. Preschool (förskola) for children aged 3-5 every day from 9 to 15. Lower and middle years (låg- och mellanstadium) from the preschool class to the sixth year, with advanced English from year 4. Years 7-9 through Sofia Distans and upper secondary through Hermods Distansgymnasium: distance learning on the Swedish curriculum with on-site school supervisors. Woodwork and textile crafts from year 3, home economics from year 6.
Address Urbanización La Alzambra, C.C. Vasari 1 D, 29660 Marbella, Málaga
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · 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
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. Which stages - from the early years programme for three-year-olds up to A-Level - this school is approved for is not stated here.
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 pool
✓Sports hall
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio · Playground
Campus: The building is in La Alzambra (Nueva Andalucía) near Puerto Banús, with a park nearby and the beach within walking distance. Bright classrooms, a sports hall, a 25-metre pool where swimming lessons are held from May to October, three padel courts, an artificial grass pitch, a large fenced garden with an olive grove, sandpits, swings and climbing frames; separate rooms for crafts, art, music and home economics. Lunches with a salad bar are prepared by Sana Catering. There is no school bus.
Clubs and activities: Padel · Jujutsu · Dance · Programming · Spanish · English · Maths
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 sizein the key facts above
The school does not publish the number of its teachers. According to the school, all teachers hold Swedish teaching licences (legitimerade), and turnover is low: at schools abroad teachers usually stay two or three years, here often longer. The preschool has multilingual staff. Older distance pupils are supervised by suitably qualified teachers.
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 declares zero tolerance of bullying, follows an action plan against it and updates its plan against discrimination and degrading treatment every year; incidents are documented, and a ladder of consequences applies for discipline. A pupil health team works at the school: the head, an advisory school doctor, a special needs teacher and two teachers; there is no school nurse, and the school keeps contact with the Costa del Sol hospital. Children swim in the pool only under supervision.
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 data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 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