Madrid, Spain
International schools in Madrid: what families need to know
Madrid has one of Europe's deepest international school markets, and one of the most confusing at first glance, because three different kinds of school compete for the same families: British-curriculum schools, IB and American schools, and Spanish concertado or private bilingual schools that teach a largely Spanish curriculum in two languages. What suits your family depends almost entirely on how long you expect to stay. This guide covers admissions, curricula, the school year, fees, areas and how places actually work here.
Your contact details stay private until you choose to continue with a school.
Your request
- Where you are moving
- Madrid
- Children
- Sofia (age 8) · Luca (age 5)
- Curriculum
- British preferred
- Start
- August
One request. We ask relevant schools whether they have places for each child. Your contact details stay private until you choose to continue with a school.
Example request. School names in these examples are fictional.
Madrid in short
- Curricula available in Madrid: British, IB, American, and Spanish bilingual.
- The Madrid school year runs Early or mid-September to late June, with the main intake at the start of it.
- Schools are overseen by Ministerio de Educación and the Comunidad de Madrid; foreign-curriculum schools are separately authorised.
- Tuition is published per year group by each school. Registration, deposit, transport, uniform, meals and examination entries are normally billed separately.
- Availability is decided per child, per year group and per campus, so two children in one family can get two different answers from the same Madrid school.
- You can create one request and we ask relevant Madrid schools whether they have places for your children and what happens next.
Prepared by InternationalSchools.orgPublished September 2026Last reviewed September 2026
Madrid at a glance
The facts that shape a Madrid school search
- Oversight
- Ministerio de Educación and the Comunidad de Madrid; foreign-curriculum schools are separately authorised
- Main curricula
- British, IB, American, and Spanish bilingual
- School year
- Early or mid-September to late June
- Ages served
- 3 to 18
- Language
- English, Spanish or bilingual, depending on the school type
How admissions work in Madrid
Most Madrid schools follow the same stages, whatever the curriculum.
- 1
Enquire and check the year group
Confirm the year group each child would enter in Madrid. Age cut-offs differ between systems, so the same child can be placed a year apart in two schools.
- 2
Assessment
Most schools assess before offering a place. This can be a short online task, a classroom visit or a subject test, depending on age.
- 3
Offer, deposit and registration
An offer is usually held only after a registration fee or deposit is paid. Check whether either is refundable before you accept.
Documents to prepare
Some documents can take time to arrange from abroad. Start collecting them before you have chosen a school.
- Passport and, where required, visa or residence documents for each child
- Birth certificate
- School reports for the last two years
- Transfer or leaving certificate from the previous school
- Vaccination and health records
- Any learning support or assessment reports, shared early rather than late
More detail: how international-school admissions work.
Curricula families meet in Madrid
We explain each system once, in the curricula library, rather than repeating it city by city.
British curriculum
IGCSE and A Level, and how English year groups are set by age.
International Baccalaureate
PYP, MYP and the Diploma, and who the IB suits on a later move.
American curriculum
US grades, high-school credits and AP, with their own placement rules.
Changing curriculum mid-move
What transfers cleanly between systems and where a child may repeat or skip a year.
The Madrid school year and when to apply
Timing decides how much choice you have. These are the stages most families move through.
Six to nine months ahead
Start looking for the main intake
Popular year groups in Madrid fill first, and assessment slots become scarce close to the intake.
Three to six months ahead
Assessments and offers
Schools assess, then make offers within days or weeks. Registration fees and deposits usually follow immediately.
One to three months ahead
Places confirmed, waiting lists move
Waiting lists move as leaving families release places, so keep asking rather than assuming a school is closed.
Start of the school year
Term begins
The Madrid school year runs early or mid-September to late June.
Mid-year
In-year entry
Possible, but limited to whichever year groups have room. This is where asking schools directly saves the most time.
What school costs in Madrid
Published tuition is the starting figure, not the total. These are the charges to budget for.
What the Madrid market costs, in round numbers
Mid band- Primary, per year
- EUR 8,000 – 16,000
- Secondary, per year
- EUR 10,000 – 22,000
- Roughly, in US dollars
- US$9,000 – 24,000
Indicative annual tuition across mainstream international schools, for the stated academic year. Individual schools publish their own fees per year group, the top of each market runs above these ranges, and registration, deposits, transport, uniform, meals and examination entries are billed separately. Figures refer to the 2025/26 academic year. Compare fees across cities.
- Tuition
- Published per year group by each school
- Registration fee
- Charged at application or offer stage, usually non-refundable
- Deposit
- Secures the place and is often deducted from the first term's tuition
- Transport
- School transport is charged separately and varies by distance and route
- Uniform, books, devices
- One-off costs at the start of the year, higher in the first year
- Meals and activities
- Optional at most schools, but a real part of the annual budget
- Examination entries
- IGCSE, A Level, IB and AP entries are billed in the exam years
See also understanding international school fees.
Places and waiting lists
Which Madrid schools have places for your children?
A place is not something a school has in general. It exists for one year group, at one campus, for one intake. Two children in the same family can get two different answers from the same school on the same day.
School websites cannot tell you this. Availability changes when a family leaves, when a contract ends, or when a new year group opens. That is why we ask schools directly instead of publishing a number that would be out of date by the time you read it.
For each child, a Madrid school can answer that a place is available, that there is a waiting list, that the intake is full, or that it cannot confirm yet. You see the answer, the fees and the next step, and you decide where to focus.
Your contact details stay private until you choose to continue with a school.
Answers from schools · 2 children · British curriculum · Starting August
Westbrook International School
Answered in 1 day
North campus · British · Annual fees: Shared with your answer
- Sofia · Year 4Place available for AugustPlace available
- Luca · Year 1Place available for AugustPlace available
Next step: Assessment, then offer
Harbour Ridge Academy
Answered in 2 days
City campus · British · Annual fees: Shared with your answer
- Sofia · Year 4Place available for AugustPlace available
- Luca · Year 1Waiting list, reviewed monthlyWaiting list
Next step: Campus visit, then assessment
Elmfield International College
Answered in 3 days
Main campus · British · Annual fees: Shared with your answer
- Sofia · Year 4Full for the August intakeFull for this intake
- Luca · Year 1Place available for AugustPlace available
Next step: Register interest for January
Your contact details are shared only with the schools you continue with.
Example answers. School names in these examples are fictional.
Choosing where to live in Madrid
We do not rank areas. These are the questions that decide whether a school works day to day.
Northern suburbs: Alcobendas, La Moraleja, Las Rozas, Pozuelo
The classic international school belt. Large campuses with playing fields, family housing and, for many parents, a manageable drive into the north of the city.
Central Madrid: Chamartín, Salamanca, Chamberí
City-centre schools tend to have smaller sites. Families gain walkability and public transport and give up space.
Southern and western corridors
Boadilla, Majadahonda and Villaviciosa have a growing set of bilingual and international schools, often at lower fees than the northern belt.
Buses cover long distances here
Madrid school buses run wide routes, so a school forty minutes away may still be practical. Ask for the actual route and pick-up time before ruling it out.
Moving to Madrid with children: a checklist
The school-related steps that decide how smooth the first term is.
- Confirm each child's year group under the curriculum you are moving to in Madrid.
- Collect and, where required, attest school reports and certificates before you leave.
- Ask schools about places for every child in the same request, not one at a time.
- Check whether registration fees and deposits are refundable if your move date changes.
- Check the visa or residency steps that enrolment can depend on.
- Ask about learning support early, since capacity is decided case by case.
- Line up housing only after you know which school can take all of your children.
See also the moving-abroad timeline.
Moving with more than one child
One school that works for every child, not one child
Most families moving to Madrid are moving with more than one child, and the hardest part is rarely finding a good school. It is finding one school that can take all of your children in the same year.
Checking each child separately, school by school, is where the search becomes slow. A school that has room in Year 1 may be full in Year 4, and you only learn that after two emails and a wait.
One request covers every child. Each school answers for each child, so you can see immediately where all of your children could start together, and where you would be splitting the family across two schools.
- Ask once for the whole family, not once per child.
- See sibling answers side by side before you contact anyone.
- Ask about sibling priority and start dates while places are still open.
Answers side by side
Westbrook International School
Harbour Ridge Academy
Elmfield International College
Sofia · Year 4
Luca · Year 1
Curriculum
British
British
British
Area
North campus
City campus
Main campus
Annual fees
Shared in answer
Shared in answer
Shared in answer
Next step
Assessment, then offer
Campus visit, then assessment
Register interest for January
Example comparison. School names in these examples are fictional.
How schooling works in Madrid
Spanish education is administered regionally, so the Comunidad de Madrid oversees schooling locally within the national framework. Foreign-curriculum schools also need authorisation from their home system: British schools are inspected by British Schools Overseas inspectorates, and IB schools are authorised by the IB. A Spanish private school and an authorised British school are legally different things, and that difference shows up at university-application time.
Three school types, three different outcomes
Foreign-curriculum schools lead to IGCSE and A Level, the IB Diploma or a US high school diploma. Spanish private and concertado schools lead to the Bachillerato, sometimes in a bilingual form.
For Spanish university entry the Bachillerato route is the simplest; for a family that may move again the international route travels better. Decide this before you compare schools.
Concertado schools are not free-for-all
Concertado schools are privately run and partly state-funded, with lower fees than private international schools. Admission follows regional rules including catchment and points criteria.
They can be excellent value, but they are Spanish-language-first environments, which is a large step for a child arriving with no Spanish.
Timing and the September intake
The Madrid admissions cycle for most private and international schools runs from winter for the September intake, and the strongest schools fill early in the popular entry years.
In-year places exist and open steadily because of corporate turnover, but they are unpredictable in the most sought-after year groups.
Spanish support matters more than parents expect
Even in fully English-medium schools, Spanish is taught as a subject and daily life outside school runs in Spanish.
Ask what beginner Spanish provision looks like in the year group your child enters, and how children are grouped by level.
What families get wrong in Madrid
The local details that cost families a term, a deposit or a long daily drive.
Comparing schools of different types on fees alone
A concertado school and an authorised British school are not the same product. Compare the qualification and the language of instruction first.
Assuming Spanish university entry is automatic
International qualifications need a recognition process for Spanish universities. Ask the school how its leavers do this.
Renting in the centre and enrolling in the north
The northern belt holds many of the largest campuses. A central flat can mean a long daily drive against traffic.
Applying late for the popular entry years
Entry at 3, at the start of primary and at the start of secondary fills earliest. Start in the winter for a September place.
Overlooking the extras
Enrolment fees, materials, lunches, uniform, buses and after-school activities are billed separately and add up.
Official Madrid resources
Primary sources for regulation, inspection and enrolment. We link out rather than paraphrase.
How InternationalSchools.org works in Madrid
One request. We ask relevant Madrid schools whether they have places for your children and what happens next.
- 1
Create one request for Madrid
Where you are moving, each child's age, the curriculum you prefer and when you want to start. One request covers the whole family.
- 2
We ask relevant Madrid schools
We start with schools that serve your children's ages in Madrid. Curriculum, budget and area help us decide which relevant schools to ask first.
- 3
Schools answer for each child
Availability, fees, timing and what happens next. Your contact details stay private until you choose to continue with a school.
Schools cannot pay to be prioritised, and we do not publish scores or predict availability. How we select schools.
Questions families ask about Madrid
Find out which Madrid schools have places for your children
One request, every child, answers from the schools themselves.
Your contact details stay private until you choose to continue with a school.
Go deeper on Madrid
How fees compare across cities
What is published, what is billed separately and how Madrid compares with the other markets we cover.
Compare the main curricula
British, IB and American side by side, and what a later move between countries changes.
How admissions work
The stages most international schools use, and where relocating families lose time.
Continue reading
Waiting lists and availability
How waiting lists really work, and what to ask before you join one.
School year and intake timing
When places open, and what a mid-year move changes.
How it works
From one request to answers from the schools themselves.
Other destinations
You can create a request for any destination, published guide or not.
Last reviewed: September 2026
Guide version 3.0. Madrid information is compiled from official regulators, curriculum authorities and school-published material. Fees, intakes and requirements are set by individual schools and change, so confirm details directly with a school before you rely on them.
Sources
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