Good to know
Good to Know
- Most private/international schools in Las Palmas do not publish tuition fees online — you generally need to contact admissions directly for a personalized quote based on your child's age and grade.
- Colegio Arenas (Arenas International School) is the only school in the Canary Islands authorized to teach the full IB continuum (PYP, MYP and DP) from early years through to age 18.
- If a bilingual/private school's fee is quoted, expect it in the rough €300–700 per month range for non-secondary stages, though this varies a lot by school and grade and should be confirmed directly with the school.
- A few well-regarded schools (e.g. the American School of Las Palmas, the German School DSLPA) sit 15–20 minutes outside the city center rather than downtown, so factor in commute/school-bus logistics when choosing a neighborhood to live in.
- Spain requires at least 25% of a subsidized international school's student body to be Spanish nationals for the school to receive government funding — this affects which schools are fully private vs. partially subsidized.
- For international/bilingual schools, book a campus visit early — several schools explicitly encourage this before you formally apply, and it's also your best chance to ask about real-time waitlist status at your child's specific grade level.
- Application/registration fees at private international schools are typically non-refundable, so confirm your intended start date and grade placement before paying.
- If arriving mid-year rather than at the September intake, expect meaningfully fewer open seats, especially in the most popular curricula (British, IB) and at entry grades.
- If you're on a Spanish residence visa with school-enrollment conditions attached, check those conditions carefully before considering homeschooling — some visa categories require proof of school enrollment for accompanying children.
- No documented local homeschooling co-op or in-person group was found specifically in Las Palmas or elsewhere in the Canary Islands — national organizations (ALE, Educación Libre) are the realistic support route rather than a local in-person community.
- The free state/concertado school route exists alongside paid international schools, but its enrollment paperwork and timing window is a separate, more bureaucratic process — worth researching on its own terms if you want to avoid private-school fees.
Schools And Curricula
From 4 months to 18 years
- Name
- Colegio Arenas / Arenas Atlántico (Arenas International School, AIS Gran Canaria)
- Tuition
- Not publicly disclosed by the school; families must request a personalized quote
- Curriculum
- International Baccalaureate — full continuum: Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Diploma Programme (DP), delivered bilingually in English and Spanish
- Location Note
- Campuses at Llano de Los Tarahales and Trasmontaña, within Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
The Canterbury School
- Ages
- 2 to 18 years
- Tuition
- Not publicly disclosed by the school; families must request a personalized quote
- Curriculum
- British curriculum plus IB Diploma Programme (authorized IB World School); Cambridge International Examinations also offered
- Location Note
- Two campuses in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Plaza Milton and Lomo el Diviso), plus a separate Maspalomas campus in the south of the island
Oakley College
- Ages
- 2 to 18 years
- Tuition
- Not publicly disclosed by the school; families must request a personalized quote
- Curriculum
- British National Curriculum for England and Wales
- Location Note
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
The British School of Gran Canaria (BSGC)
- Ages
- 3 to 18 years
- Tuition
- Not publicly disclosed by the school; families must request a personalized quote
- Curriculum
- UK National Curriculum, delivered as a trilingual academic project (English, Spanish, plus a third language)
- Location Note
- Carretera Tafira a Marzagán, El Sabinal, on the outskirts of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
American School of Las Palmas (ASLP)
- Ages
- Nursery (age 3) through Grade 12
- Tuition
- Not publicly disclosed; contact school directly for current fee schedule
- Curriculum
- American curriculum, Cognia-accredited and recognized by the Spanish Ministry of Education, with AP courses in upper grades
- Location Note
- Founded in 1967; campus in Los Hoyos, about 15 minutes' drive from central Las Palmas
Brains International School Las Palmas
- Ages
- 1 to 12 years at the Las Palmas campus (Nursery/Infant/Primary)
- Curriculum
- Bilingual Spanish–English program with an international learning methodology; continuation into Secondary and Baccalaureate happens at the group's Brains Telde campus
- Location Note
- Paseo Tomás Morales, 111, central Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Colegio Hispano Inglés
- Ages
- Not specified in available sources
- Tuition
- Not publicly disclosed by the school
- Curriculum
- Spanish curriculum with strong bilingual English component and international/practical approach to language and technology
- Location Note
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Deutsche Schule Las Palmas De Gran Canaria (DSLPA / German School)
- Ages
- From Kindergarten (Escuela Infantil) through Abitur
- Tuition
- Not publicly disclosed; contact school directly
- Curriculum
- German curriculum leading to the Abitur, approved by Germany's KMK (Standing Conference of Ministers of Education), taught bilingually in German with English and Spanish also present; roughly 800 students
- Location Note
- About 19 minutes' drive from central Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Atlantic School (Colegio Atlantic)
- Ages
- Not fully specified in available sources
- Tuition
- Not publicly disclosed
- Curriculum
- Bilingual Spanish–English academic program, private school with over 40 years of history
- Location Note
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
The Montessori School Gran Canaria
- Ages
- Early years / young learners
- Tuition
- Not publicly disclosed
- Curriculum
- Montessori method with a bilingual (English–Spanish) approach
- Location Note
- Las Palmas / Gran Canaria area
Colegio Claret Las Palmas
- Ages
- Not specified in available sources
- Tuition
- Not publicly disclosed
- Curriculum
- Bilingual education (Spanish curriculum with English immersion)
- Location Note
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
C.P.E.I.P. La Higuerita
- Ages
- Infant and Primary only
- Tuition
- Low/subsidized — concertado (semi-state-funded) fee structure, not equivalent to full private tuition; specific figures not published
- Curriculum
- Concertado (state-subsidized) bilingual school, Spanish curriculum with English, covering only Infantil and Primaria stages
- Location Note
- Marzagán / Las Palmas de Gran Canaria area
Bosqueko Forest School
- Ages
- Early years
- Tuition
- Not publicly disclosed
- Curriculum
- Bilingual (Spanish–English) forest-school / nature-based pedagogy
- Location Note
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria area
Homeschooling
- Visa Specific Risk
- This is a distinct practical risk for foreign/nomad families: some Spanish residence visa categories (non-lucrative, digital nomad, student-dependent) require proof that accompanying children are enrolled at a recognized school, so families on those visas should verify their specific visa conditions before choosing to homeschool rather than assuming the general legal grey area applies equally to them.
- Enforcement Reality
- Outcomes vary by autonomous community and by individual case: some homeschooling families are never questioned by authorities, while others have faced warnings, social-services scrutiny, or court proceedings for not enrolling a child in a recognized school. Court cases have produced mixed results, with some judges ruling in favor of parents' educational rights and others ordering school attendance.
- Country Legal Status
- Decriminalized or tolerated
- Legal Status Summary
- Homeschooling in Spain is neither explicitly legalized nor explicitly banned — it sits in a genuine legal grey area. Compulsory education applies to ages 6–16, and the law does not specify that this education must take place in a school building, but it also does not recognize or regulate home education as a formal pathway.
- Local Las Palmas Community
- Genuinely not documented
- Recommended Practical Step
- Families who do homeschool are generally advised to file a written declaration of home education with their local educational authority (describing curriculum and approach) and to consult a Spanish lawyer familiar with education law before withdrawing a child from an enrolled school, since leaving the school system without an established process is where most reported difficulties arise.
- Constitutional And Statutory Basis
- Spain's Constitution (Article 27) guarantees the right to education, and the Organic Law of Education (LOE, as modified by LOMLOE) requires schooling from age 6 to 16 without spelling out a home-education alternative.
- Local Community Note
- We could not find evidence of a dedicated, documented homeschooling co-op or in-person support community specifically in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria or the Canary Islands. The active, named homeschooling communities we found in Spain are concentrated on the Costa del Sol/Andalucía, in Catalonia, Madrid, the Balearic Islands, Valencia and Alicante — not the Canary Islands. Foreign families in Las Palmas wanting homeschooling peer support are realistically best served by plugging into Spain's national organizations (ALE, Educación Libre) remotely, rather than expecting a local Gran Canaria-specific group.
National Support Organizations
- Asociación para la Libre Educación (ALE) — Spain's main national homeschooling association, offering guidance and community connection
- Educación Libre — offers information, legal guidance and community connection, contactable via hola@educacionlibre.org
International Bilingual School Enrollment
- Waitlist Expectations
- Individual, real-time waitlist numbers are not publicly published by these schools, so exact wait times can't be honestly quoted. Families should expect that entry grades (Nursery/Kinder) and popular curricula (British, IB) are the tightest, that a place offer typically requires prompt payment of the registration fee to hold it, and that asking the admissions office directly for the current waitlist status at the specific grade level is the only reliable way to get a real answer.
- State And Concertado Alternative
- Foreign families are not limited to fee-paying international schools. The Spanish state education system is free for all registered residents of any nationality, though books, uniforms and materials are paid out of pocket, and 'concertado' schools (privately run but state-subsidized, sometimes bilingual) sit as a free middle option, but the enrollment ('escolarización') paperwork and timing window for these public/concertado places is a separate, more bureaucratic process than private-school admissions and is worth researching specifically if going that route.
- Timing And How Far Ahead To Apply
- There is no single published national deadline for private international schools — unlike Spain's state/concertado system, most run rolling or year-round admissions with a peak application window in spring for the following September intake. Popular schools and popular grade levels (especially entry-level Nursery/Kinder and secondary transition years) can fill months ahead, so contacting the admissions office 6–12 months before the intended start date is the realistic safety margin for families wanting their first choice, particularly mid-year arrivals should expect fewer open seats and more limited grade-level options than a September start.
- Process Description
- Across the international and bilingual schools serving Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (American, British, German, French, and IB-affiliated options), admissions generally follow a similar pattern.
- Documents Source Note
- The admissions process usually involves an application, academic records, and an interview.
- Priority Admission Note
- Siblings, US citizens, children of alumni and ASLP staff members receive priority admission at the American School of Las Palmas, which is worth knowing since it can affect a first-time foreign family's place in the queue at that specific school.
Typical Process Steps
- Initial inquiry/contact with the school's admissions office (phone, email, or online enquiry form)
- Campus tour or open day visit — several Las Palmas/Gran Canaria schools explicitly invite prospective families to 'schedule a visit' before applying
- Formal application submission with required documents
- Academic assessment and/or family interview
- Offer of place, followed by payment of a non-refundable registration/application fee to secure enrollment
Application Fee Example
- School
- American School of Las Palmas (illustrative example only — fees vary by school)
- Grades 6 To 8
- €1,255
- Grades 9 To 12
- €627
- Preschool To Grade5
- €1,882
- Fee Note
- Application / new-admission fee (per family) — non-refundable at this school.
Typical Documents Requested
- Completed application form
- Copy of child's passport/ID and, for residents, NIE
- Previous school academic records/report cards
- Birth certificate
- Immunization/vaccination records
- Passport-style photos (school-dependent)
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
This section has no cited sources.
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.