World Academy of Tirana

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.

An international education group that describes itself as a growing global education group with a portfolio of schools, headquartered in London. Its own figures give eight countries and fifteen schools; we count fourteen, because the two Baleares International College entries, Sa Porrassa and Sant Agusti, are two campuses of one school - shared domain, shared name, shared accreditation and page paths under /campus/ - although the group itself lists them as two schools. All eight countries: Albania, China, Ecuador, Hungary, Mexico, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain - 128 nationalities and more than 6,800 students; on individual school pages the same group describes its reach more broadly, as Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas, and both descriptions are given here as the group gives them. The group applies its own Value Creation Plan to each school while leaving the school, in its own words, full autonomy over teaching and culture. Until 2024 the group was called Orbital Education Group, and the former name still appears on the schools' own pages and in BSO inspection reports. What the group's site nowhere states: whether it owns the schools or manages them - the words portfolio, investment and school partnerships do not settle that distinction, and that silence is recorded here rather than filled in.

What this means for this school. The network owns or operates the school. Its accreditation and programme authorisation the school obtains separately, in its own name.