International schools
Barcelona and its surroundings offer a wide range of international schools
In Barcelona, Sitges, and the Garraf Coast, you’ll find a variety of educational options at international schools. Some notable ones include the Benjamin Franklin International School, the British School of Barcelona, the Lycée Français de Barcelone in Barcelona or the Lycée Français Bel Air in Sant Pere de Ribes.
These institutions offer educational programs in English and French, following international curricula such as the IB or the British curriculum. In addition, there are bilingual and multicultural schools that provide a global educational experience for international students. It is advisable to research each school individually to determine which best suits your needs, preferences, and those of your children.
The Benjamin Franklin International School offers the American curriculum from Nursery to 10th grade and the International Baccalaureate program.
With students from 3 to 18 years old, it offers an American and international curriculum.
With 700 students from 56 different nationalities, English is the language of instruction.
BFIS has four divisions: Early Childhood, Elementary School, Middle School, and High School.
In the final two years of high school, the school offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). The school also offers the IB in Secondary (MYP). Students with Spanish passports also study the compulsory subjects required to obtain the ESO (Compulsory Secondary Education) qualification.
The British School of Barcelona (BSB) is one of the 5 schools in Spain with “Excellent” accreditation from the British Government.
The BSB, spread across 4 campuses in Barcelona, Castelldefels and Sitges, offers a quality educational and sports environment and facilities, covering all educational stages, from preschool to high school.
A true international community, the BSB welcomes children from more than sixty-five different nationalities.
Barcelona and its surroundings also offer a number of excellent French schools
L’ École Française Ferdinand de Lesseps, It is the oldest French educational center in Spain.
In 1859 Ferdinand de Lesseps founded in Barcelona the first French school on the Iberian Peninsula with humanist values, a multilingual vocation, and linguistic immersion from the age of 3.
Students acquire a native level of French, Catalan, and Spanish, and learn English as a fourth language from the age of four. A language immersion program is offered for students who do not speak French, Spanish, or Catalan. A home for students between the ages of three and eleven.
The school is part of the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE), which has over 500 schools worldwide, facilitating student mobility. This means that no matter where in the world their parents move, the same educational model is guaranteed in all schools belonging to the Agency.
L’ École Française Ferdinand de Lesseps guarantees their children a place at the Lycée Français de Barcelona, where they can continue to enjoy a French education until the Baccalaureate (100% pass rate in the French Baccalaureate and more than 40% with outstanding results).
El Lycée Français of Barcelone
Since 1924, the Lycée Français de Barcelone offers a solid education in all areas.
Managed directly by the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE), the French Lycée provides an education approved by the French Ministry of National Education, and ranges from early childhood education (preschool) to Baccalaureate, in accordance with the French educational system.
However, the Lycée, also recognized and authorized by the Spanish government, incorporates complementary programs stipulated by the Franco-Spanish cultural agreement in Language and Literature, as well as in History and Geography (“Social Sciences”). In addition, Catalan is taught compulsorily, in accordance with the decisions of the local autonomous government, which has jurisdiction over education.
The Lycée Français Bel Air, near Sitges
It was founded in 1992, as a small nursery school located in the Terramar neighborhood in Sitges.
In 1996, it moved to Sant Pere de Ribes to settle in its current premises.
It currently has 650 students spread across 34 classes, from Petite Section to Baccalaureate.
It is a private center, not subsidized and managed by a SL (Limited Company)
Associated with the AEFE (l’Agence pour l’Enseignement Français à l’Étranger) and integrated into the network of French centers in the Iberian zone, it provides education in accordance with the objectives of the French programs.
The teaching is fully approved by the French Ministry of National Education from the Petite Section of nursery school to the Terminale class.
Lycée Français BEL AIR is an official center, accredited by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and by the Generalitat of Catalonia. It is registered in the Register of Foreign Centers.
Recognized and authorized by the competent educational authority, the lyceum provides instruction in the Spanish and Catalan language and culture.