(FROM 8 to 13 YEARS OLD)
The Preparatory or Prep schools, are private schools for children from 8 to 13 years old where they receive a tailor-made education to later access the Public School, which are also private.
Prep schools are small, very familiar and welcoming schools. The children are at home and always surrounded by their Houseparents.
Classes are very small in number of students. The facilities and surroundings are perfect and prepared for this age range. They have a wide variety of both sports and artistic activities.
(FROM 13 to 18 YEARS OLD)
Public schools are private schools for children from 13 to 18 years old. On some occasions they also accept students from the age of 11.
If we compare them with the Prep schools in the face of admission it is somewhat more demanding and it is always required to have a certain level of English. The level of demand both academically and linguistically will be significantly higher.
During the admission process the student must take some entrance exams, usually based on an English, mathematics test and an interview with the Headmaster or Deputy Head of the school.
Like the Prep schools, these schools have fantastic facilities for all kind of sports and arts in all their varieties.
Classes are also quite small, limiting the number of students to no more than 15 or 20.
Guardian: English law obliges any underage student whois to stay in the country for a period of more than 12 weeks to have a "Guardian". This figure must be appointed and consented to by the child's parents or guardians and is the child's legal guardian during his or her stay in the country. The guardian is the liaison between the school, the child and the parents, he must be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Half term: In England the school year is divided into Terms, there are usually 3 periods of about 14 weeks each. In the middle of these periods there is a week of vacation that is called Half Term. During that week the school closes and the children cannot stay in it. If the child does not return to Spain or if the parents do not come to see him, we propose families so that the child has an accommodation.
Exeat: In English boarding schools children live in school from Monday to Sunday. But there are certain weekends a year (they change according to the school) in which for various reasons (cleaning of the school, rest of the staff), the school remains closed from Friday afternoon toSunday night, not being able to the child remain in the school. We propose foster families so that the child has adequate accommodation during these periods. Not all schools have Exeats, some don't.
Independent School: Private school. Within the private schools we can find:
• Preparatory Schools (Prep): Private schools for ages between 8 and 13 years. Forages under 8 years it is called Pre-Prep and they do not usually have boarding schools. These schools are so named because they prepare for entry to the"public schools".
• Public Schools: Private schools for ages between 14 and 18 years. They are private schools, the denomination can lead to confusion.
Table of equivalences of courses
In this table you can see the equivalences of the courses, as well as the official exams:
5th grade - Year 6 SATS in English, Maths and Science
6th grade - Year 7
1st year of ESO - Year 8
2nd year of ESO - Year 9
3rd year of ESO - Year 10 Choice of subjects for GCSE
4th eso - Year 11 GCSE
1st year of Baccalaureate - Year 12
2nd year of Baccalaureate - Year 13 - A Levels or IB
