Spain · La Moraleja
This is Runnymede in La Moraleja, not King’s College Soto and not the American School of Barcelona. The school calls itself Madrid’s oldest British international school. It is a day school. The live fee table on the official site is for 2026–27.
Curriculum as published:National Curriculum of England · IGCSE · A-Level · Spanish Language and Sociales
Languages of instruction:English
Runnymede College is a co-educational day school at Calle Salvia 30, 28109 La Moraleja, in Alcobendas, north of Madrid. The switchboard is +34 916 508 302. The contact page uses secretary@runnymede-college.com; the handbooks use office@runnymede-college.com.
The headmaster’s welcome calls it Madrid’s oldest British international school, founded in 1967. That is the school talking about itself. Use runnymede-college.com. If a search result drops you on King’s College Soto, you are on a different campus: Soto is the large British site in Tres Cantos, day and boarding, part of Inspired. If you land on the American School of Barcelona, you are in Esplugues, on a US diploma and IB timetable, with Catalan as well as Spanish. Runnymede is neither.
It is family-run. The welcome page says it remains independent, “not owned by a private group or investor.” The February 2025 BSO report names Frank M. Powell as headteacher and proprietor. The 2025–26 senior handbook lists Georgina Powell as assistant head, Manuel Powell as chief operating officer, and Cristina Powell as head of logistics.
The useful questions are ordinary. Can this child sit a British entrance test in English and maths? Will they get enough Spanish? A-levels, not IB — and does the school file the Spanish homologación for this passport? Can you pay termly, extras included? There is no boarding house if the flat falls through.
The admissions policy calls it a co-educational day school for children aged 2 to 18. The welcome page adds non-denominational, and “boys and girls of all nationalities.” Since 1993, the handbooks say, the Spanish Ministry of Education has authorised Spanish pupils. The senior handbook is blunt about the mix: many nationalities, “but the majority of students come from Spain.”
It is selective. Tests check that a child can cope with the British curriculum. The policy looks for academically able children who want top universities. It is also day only. If you need a bed, Soto is the British conversation north of Madrid, not this one.
The welcome page currently prints 1,090 pupils. The February 2025 BSO report prints 1,153 (625 boys, 530 girls). Ask the office for this term’s roll.
La Moraleja is a residential pocket of Alcobendas, not the Salamanca grid and not Tres Cantos. The 2025–26 senior handbook says La Moraleja Metro (Line 10, zone B1) is a six-minute walk. Registration is 08:50. Seniors are dismissed at 16:00. Buses leave at 16:10, with a late bus at 17:30. There is no parent parking on site. Seniors enter at Calle Salvia 40; the postal address stays Salvia 30. Sit that drop-off once before you sign.
The school began in 1967 at Calle José Rodríguez Pinilla 13, with 40 pupils. In 1969 it moved to El Viso. Frank and Cristina Powell founded the Junior School in 1987. Current handbooks date the present La Moraleja site to 1998; the 2025 BSO report says the whole school has been in La Moraleja since 1990. Ask which year they mean for this campus.
A November 2024 news post says a new 3,000 square metre Prep building and the Frank Murphy Memorial Library opened that summer. The 2025–26 handbook names a laboratory, a SEND department, two music rooms and a performing arts space, and said sports facilities including an artificial grass pitch would follow. The 2026–27 nursery handbook already prints pitch rules. Walk the field. Early Years names an “Enchanted Garden” forest-school area. Ask to see an ordinary Year 5 classroom, not only the library.
Think in the three schools the college now uses.
Pre-Prep: Pre-Nursery to Year 3. Children may join from two. Pre-Nursery: second birthday before 31 August of the year of entry. Nursery runs 08:50–15:50, with hot lunch and an afternoon rest until the third term, and expects children to be toilet trained. Reception should arrive with a basic understanding of English. Early Years names a native-English teacher, Read Write Inc phonics, and weekly Spanish. The BSO report notes that for nearly all those youngest children English is an additional language.
Prep: Years 4–8. The Prep page calls this “the first and only bespoke Independent Prep School for pupils in Years 4 to 8 in Spain.” That is the school’s line. Duncan Bailey is named there as Prep head from September 2023. The 2026–27 nursery handbook names Anthony Rendall. Ask which name is on the door. The Prep page adds French, Drama, Computer Science and PSHE, with form tutors at both ends of the day. From Year 3 each child has a school iPad.
Senior: Years 9–13. English National Curriculum, then (I)GCSE at the end of Year 11 and A-levels at the end of Year 13. There is no IB. The BSO report says Year 9 studies 15 disciplines, then at least 11 IGCSE or GCSE subjects. The senior curriculum page makes Maths, English and French the core, plus Spanish and Sociales, then options. Art is a GCSE; the rest IGCSE. Homework on the 2025–26 handbook is 7½–8 hours a week in Year 9 and 12 hours in Years 10–11.
Sixth Form: Years 12–13. Students typically take three or four A-levels. The BSO report says most take four and may drop one in Year 13. The Sixth Form page currently lists Art, Biology, Chemistry, Drama, English Literature, French, Geography, History, Latin, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Music, Physics and Spanish. The 2025–26 handbook also names Economics and Business Studies. Ask for this year’s block. All Sixth Formers sit IELTS at the end of Year 12. An EPQ is optional.
Instruction is in English. The senior handbook says English must be spoken in lessons except Spanish, Lengua, Sociales and French. The printed aim is a native-speaking level of English. Reception already expects a basic understanding. From Year 1 the gate is an English paper. The BSO report says secondary pupils who need a boost before IGCSE can take supplementary English in Years 10 and 11. Ask whether this child would sit it, and whether it sits inside tuition.
Spanish is on the IGCSE core, with Sociales beside it. If you hold a Spanish passport, ask how Lengua and Sociales sit on the Year 7 and Year 12 timetables. The university pages say the school handles convalidation and homologación — the título de bachiller path — and the Credencial de Acceso. Some Spanish faculties still want PCE exams. That is the local paper trail. It is not automatic because the child hears Spanish at lunch.
French is core through IGCSE. The BSO report notes that many Sixth Form French students sit DALF C1. Latin is still on the current A-level list. Ask what is staffed this year.
Enquiry form first. Then a visit with the headmaster or assistant headmistress. Then, if a place exists, the tests. The school year runs September to August. Children born on or after 1 September go into the following year. The policy says no exceptions and no fast-tracking.
What the two official admissions pages print:
Assessments are sat at the school. Remote sittings only in exceptional circumstances. Results are not shared with parents. A child on the waiting list may have to re-sit after 12 months. The headmaster writes the offer. You confirm with a signed contract — all holders of parental responsibility, or proof of sole custody — and the non-refundable enrolment fee. Waiting lists “can be long at certain entry points.” Siblings sit the same tests; some waiting-list priority is possible, not automatic.
Disclose SEND, allergies and learning needs before the exam. The policy welcomes children the school can support. Hiding a report to “get in first” is how you lose the place later.
The fees page currently publishes tuition per term for 2026–27, plus extras and buses. The policy says fees are subject to annual review. We are quoting the table that was live on 31 August 2026. Fees are termly, three terms a year.
One-time and annual extras named for 2026–27
| Fee | 2026–27 |
|---|---|
| Enrolment (one-off, on enrolment) | €3,500 |
| Re-registration, per child | €600 |
| Medical insurance | €40 |
| School outing (one-off) | €115 |
The re-registration fee is deducted from the following year’s first-term tuition. Insurance, the page says, covers accidents and illnesses at school.
Lunch, 2026–27
| Term | Amount |
|---|---|
| First | €920 |
| Second | €645 |
| Third | €645 |
That is €2,210 for the year. The nursery handbook treats lunch as part of the Nursery day. Ask whether it is compulsory in Year 7.
Day tuition, 2026–27, euros per term
| Year group | Per term |
|---|---|
| Pre-Nursery | €3,100 |
| Nursery–Reception | €3,700 |
| Years 1–3 | €4,450 |
| Years 4–8 | €5,800 |
| Years 9–11 | €7,150 |
| Years 12–13 | €7,900 |
Multiply by three for a year. A Prep Year 7 at those rates is €17,400 before lunch, bus, insurance or trips. A Sixth Form place is €23,700 before the same extras. Add lunch and you are already looking at €19,610 or €25,910. Then add the €3,500 enrolment fee the first year.
Bus charges, 2026–27
| Origin | First term | Second | Third | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Moraleja / El Soto de la Moraleja, one way | €440 | €330 | €330 | €1,100 |
| La Moraleja / El Soto de la Moraleja, two ways | €770 | €580 | €580 | €1,930 |
| Elsewhere, one way | €680 | €510 | €510 | €1,700 |
| Elsewhere, two ways | €1,180 | €890 | €890 | €2,960 |
“Elsewhere” is the school’s word. Ask which stop is your street. Afternoon buses leave at 16:10; two 17:30 late buses run into the city and La Moraleja. Change a booking before 14:00.
External examinations, 2025–26 — note the year. The fees page still prints last year’s exam table.
| Exam | 2025–26 |
|---|---|
| IGCSE, per exam | €215 |
| A-level, per exam | €570 |
| AS and EPQ, per exam | €290 |
| DALF B2 | €225 |
| DALF C1 | €280 |
| IELTS | €280 |
Four A-levels at those rates are already €2,280 in papers, plus IELTS if the whole year group still sits it. Ask for the 2026–27 exam sheet. The fees page does not print a sibling discount or a means-tested remission. The BSO report describes Fundación Runnymede as a founder charity that fundraises to send a local child to a British university. That is not a discount on Year 7.
There is one portable sixth-form route: A-levels. The university pages walk UCAS (choices between late Year 12 and early Year 13; Oxbridge and medicine on 15 October), US applications (records, references, often SAT), and Spanish faculties.
For Spain, those pages say students typically need three or four A-levels, converted to a mark out of 10. The school obtains the convalidation, homologación and Credencial de Acceso. Some universities still want PCE exams. Ask what this subject combination produces for this passport.
The school published preliminary 2026 A-level results on 17 August 2026. 92 Year 13 pupils; 79% on four A-levels or more; 54% of grades A* or A, pending remarks; 85% B or above; 80% already at a first-choice university. Of that cohort, 54% were heading to the UK, 22% to Spain, 16% to the United States. Named destinations include St Andrews 12, ICADE 7, LSE 5, UCL 5, Oxford 4 and Imperial 3. The homepage tile “Top University Offers 2026” prints larger offer counts. Offers are not destinations. Treat both as the school talking about itself.
Penta International inspected the school for BSO on 10–12 February 2025. The school meets the standards; the judgement is valid for three years. The inspection page quotes “outstanding” lines. We are not repeating them as our verdict.
The admissions policy welcomes SEND if the school can offer the support required, and only if you disclose it. The 2026–27 nursery handbook names SEND coordinators by section, a counsellor, and the nurse as Coordinador de Bienestar y Protección. The BSO report mentions a full-time educational psychologist. Bring the reports.
In-hours clubs, the senior handbook says, have no charge. After-school extras are booked through the office. Uniform comes from El Corte Inglés in Sanchinarro. Senior pupils get a school iPad. Mobile phones are prohibited on site. Houses are currently Austen, Keynes, Locke and Newton.
Ask whether this child would pass the English and maths papers this January. Ask which year the CAT4 starts — the two admissions pages disagree. Ask how many hours of Spanish a new Year 4 actually gets. Ask what Extra English would cost, and for how many terms. Ask whether lunch is compulsory after Nursery. Ask whether 2026–27 exam prices have replaced the 2025–26 table. Ask who leads Prep this term. Ask what convalidation produces for this passport. Ask what happens if the posting ends in March — the public fees page does not print a refund rule.
If you live in Madrid, sit the morning traffic into La Moraleja once before you sign. Soto boards. This one does not.
We are not saying Runnymede is the best British school in Madrid. We are not guessing a waitlist or inventing a 2026–27 exam price the fees page has not printed. We are not treating homepage university tiles as a placement promise. We are not collapsing this school into King’s College Soto or the American School of Barcelona.
Read the current fees page and admissions process, and write to contact before you give notice. This is a map. The school still has to be the right Tuesday.
Official pages and documents we read. If a figure matters to your budget or your application, open the link and confirm it is still current.
Friendly orientation, not an application. Dates, fees, and programme details move. Confirm everything with the school.
A non-profit American day campus in Pozuelo, not Soto and not La Moraleja. The school prints two tuition columns — family and corporate — plus a capital fee. Confirm the academic year on that page before you budget.
Soto de Viñuelas, Tres CantosThis is the Soto campus, not a smaller city satellite. It is day and boarding, English in the classroom, and part of the Inspired group. The newest complete fee tables we could read as text are for 2024–25. Ask for this year’s numbers before you budget.
MadridAn AEFE lycée on two Madrid-area sites, not a British house in Soto and not an American campus in Pozuelo. The 2026–27 page prints first-inscription euros. The public quarterly tuition decisions we could open are still labelled 2025–26.
Esplugues de LlobregatThe official site is asbarcelona.com. The campus is in Esplugues, not Eixample. English is the classroom language. Spanish and Catalan are part of the week. The school prints two price lists: family and corporate.
Madrid is not one British campus. Two British doors on the north side, an American campus in Pozuelo, and a French AEFE lycée on two sites. Ask which paper, then time the M-40.
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