← Back to homeSwans International School
Marbella, Spain · est. 1971 · Private
Illustration · Marbella
Swans International School has been running in Marbella since 1971 and occupies two sites: the primary school is in the old El Capricho villas, which have grown into a modern primary building, while a separate building for Years 6-13 was purpose-built in Sierra Blanca in 2006, at the foot of La Concha mountain. Pupils come from more than fifty nationalities, many teachers have been there for over ten years and some for over thirty. The route is British: Foundation Stage from the age of three, where almost everything happens through play, primary school from 5 to 11, secondary from 11 to 16 with GCSE and IGCSE examinations, and a senior stage that is the IB Diploma Programme alone - a choice the school explains plainly: the Diploma is international and prepares students for university better than British A levels. The school publishes its results in detail: the Class of 2025 had a 100 per cent Diploma pass rate, eight students scored above 40 points (the top 9 per cent worldwide), one scored 45 out of 45, and leavers went on to LSE, ESADE and Carlos III University in Madrid. Scores above 40 go on a board in the secondary school reception. The extracurricular side is not an add-on at Swans but a programme of its own: its debate team is one of the best in the country, the student council takes part in school decisions, theatre shows are performed on a professional stage, there is a school magazine called Pulse and a student radio station, and all Year 10 and Year 12 students are invited to complete the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award with hikes and camps in the Andalusian countryside.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · Cambridge · IGCSE · Pearson Edexcel
Languages of instruction
English
Admissions The school does not describe a separate admissions procedure on its site: /admissions is an enquiry page inviting families to write to the admissions team, and the school asks all prospective families to come and see the school before choosing, with tours arranged by admissions. It names no entrance test, no English requirement and no deadlines. What it does say about language is different: in Foundation Stage most teaching happens through play, which the school says is particularly helpful for children learning English or Spanish as an additional language. The school takes foreigners: it has pupils of more than fifty nationalities. A place is offered after an enquiry to the admissions office; on the offer of a place a non-refundable entrance fee is paid, and on acceptance a refundable deposit.
Stages and year groups Grades Foundation Stage from age 3 - Year 13. The stages are British and run right through: Foundation Stage and Reception from the age of three, primary school from 5 to 11, secondary from 11 to 16 with GCSE and IGCSE examinations, and Sixth Form from 16 to 18 - the two-year IB Diploma Programme. There are two sites: the primary school at El Capricho and Years 6-13 in the 2006 building in Sierra Blanca. The school does not run A levels at all and explains this as a deliberate choice in favour of the IB Diploma.
Address C/ Lago de los Cisnes s/n, 29602 Marbella, Málaga (Secondary); Urb. El Capricho s/n, 29602 Marbella (Primary)
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmePearson · authorised programmeCambridge · IGCSE · 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: 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 →PearsonPearson Edexcel, a British exam board
It gives a school approved centre status: that means Pearson exams can be sat in the school itself. What is checked is the premises, the equipment, the secure storage of papers and the presence of trained invigilators.
What the badge means for this school. The school can run Pearson exams on its own premises. The status says nothing about teaching, about results or about the school itself: any school able to run an exam securely holds it. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. Which Pearson qualifications this school is approved for is not stated here.
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 →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results Class of 2025: a 100 percent IB Diploma pass rate, eight leavers scored above 40 points (the top 9 percent worldwide), one scored 45 out of 45 (the top 1 percent); for the (I)GCSE class of the same year the school names pupils with several grades 7-9. The school does not publish an average Diploma score.
Where leavers go: London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) · ESADE · Universidad Carlos III de Madrid · University College Utrecht · Universidad Complutense de Madrid · Universidad de Navarra
The universities are named for the 2025 IB class: the school publishes them by name together with the scores of its top leavers. It gives no share of leavers admitted and no full 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
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: Two sites in Marbella. The primary school stands on the El Capricho grounds: the school's original villas still form part of what has grown into a modern primary building. For Years 6-13 a separate, purpose-built building was constructed in Sierra Blanca in 2006, against the backdrop of La Concha mountain. The secondary school reception carries a board with the names of students who scored above 40 points on the Diploma. The school says its extracurricular programme has a professional stage where theatre shows are performed, and that its sports teams compete regularly.
Clubs and activities (11): Debating · Theatre · Art · Music · Sports teams · School council · Charity · Duke of Edinburgh's Award · School magazine Pulse · Student radio · Hiking and camps
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 introduces its stage heads by name: the primary school is led by Anne White, a graduate of the University of the West of England who has been at Swans since 2007 - she has been Head of Learning Support and Deputy Head, is fluent in French and Spanish and is herself the parent of four Swans graduates; the secondary school has been led since 2018 by Rob Maldonado, who joined Swans in 2008. The school says its classes are small and that many teachers have been there for more than ten years and some for more than thirty, but it names neither the number of teachers nor the pupil-teacher ratio.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
The school says nothing on its website about security, medical care or pupil support.
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 data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)95 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data60 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 Value for money (6%) scored at the median67 "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 7 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