Cities / Barcelona / Hamelin-Laie International School
Hamelin-Laie International School
Nord Anglia school on the Maresme coast, 20 minutes north of Barcelona by train. Around 600 students from 45+ nationalities, ages 1 to 18, with boarding available for up to 45 students. Offers IB Diploma alongside the Spanish National Bachillerato.
In brief
Large trilingual day and boarding school on a 26,000 square metre seafront campus in Montgat, twenty minutes north of central Barcelona. Operated since 2022 by Nord Anglia Education, with around 1,300 pupils from nursery through to IB Diploma and Spanish Bachillerato.
The school built its reputation as a pioneer of trilingual learning in Catalonia, and Mandarin is taught from primary as an additional language through a Confucius Institute classroom. The campus is genuinely impressive: an indoor auditorium, an outdoor amphitheatre, a dance school, a separate language school and a residential boarding option.
Parent voice is mixed in a way buyers should know. Strong threads on the warmth of teachers and the academic results through to IB, set against a recurring concern that the student body is around 80 percent Spanish or Catalan, which makes the international tag feel thinner than the brochure suggests. Native English teaching across the school is the other recurring complaint. Fees roughly 11,000 to 15,500 euros.
Fees
| Fee | Age | Type | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Nursery (ages 1-2, includes lunch) | 1 | Annual | €11,454 |
| Early Years / Nursery / Reception / Year 1 (ages 3-6, includes lunch) | 3 | Annual | €11,186 |
| Primary Year 2-7 (ages 7-12, includes lunch) | 7 | Annual | €12,920 |
| Secondary Year 8-11 (ages 12-16, includes lunch) | 12 | Annual | €14,370 |
| National Bachillerato (ages 16-18) | 16 | Annual | €12,764 |
| IB Diploma Year 1 (ages 16-17) | 16 | Annual | €15,491 |
| IB Diploma Year 2 (ages 17-18) | 17 | Annual | €15,493 |
| Annual Registration / Re-enrolment Fee (Pre-Nursery) | One-time | €696 | |
| Annual Registration / Re-enrolment Fee (Primary) | One-time | €840 | |
| Annual Registration / Re-enrolment Fee (Secondary) | One-time | €960 | |
| Annual Registration / Re-enrolment Fee (Bachillerato) | One-time | €1,064 | |
| Annual Registration / Re-enrolment Fee (IB Diploma) | One-time | €1,291 |
Reviews
- Parent and student reviews are polarised. Online ratings cluster mid-range and reviews split between satisfied trilingual families and detailed, highly critical accounts.
- Critical reviews focus on management. One parent wrote that the school treats "economic benefits over educational quality" as the priority, charging extra for activities such as transport to free museums.
- Several parents on community discussions describe English-medium teaching where teacher English is uneven, and Spanish acquisition support that struggles with non-Spanish-speaking children. One described the cohort as more than 80% local.
- Parents and a student have raised pastoral concerns including bullying and teachers reading marks aloud in front of the class.
- Positive reviews exist and they are specific: trilingual confidence, warm and engaged teachers, a real international community for some families. Children of those parents are described as "genuinely happy at school."
- The split is sharp enough that fit varies by year group, language need and how a family will negotiate add-on costs.
Head of school
Mrs. Sarah Osborne-James
As the Principal of Hamelin-Laie International School, Mrs. Sarah Osborne-James leads with a visionary and student-focused approach, adapting seamlessly to diverse situations through her strength in flexibility. With an active presence, she fosters trust and collaboration among students, colleagues, and the community, emphasizing the importance of relationships. As a progressive educational thinker, she makes decisions centered on students, valuing the impactful tool of Student Voice.
Academic results
- IB Diploma average score 2025 30 points
- National Baccalaureate 2025 average score 11.024 out of 14
- National Baccalaureate 2025 highest score 12.842 out of 14
- IB Diploma highest score 2025 43 points