Oak House School vs St. Paul's School
🇪🇸 Barcelona · Side-by-side comparison on verifiable public data.
Oak House School holds a public inspection verdict (NABSS (National Association of British Schools in Spain) "Accredited member"), while St. Paul's School operates in a market with no public inspectorate — so the former has a verifiable official quality anchor and the latter is judged on accreditation depth. Curriculum is the core differentiator: Oak House School offers British, IB, National while St. Paul's School offers National, American — the choice should follow the family's target qualification system. One practical difference: St. Paul's School offers boarding while the other is day-only — decisive for families who need a residential option. Verify current fees against each school's own figures (see the table below).
Key Facts
| Oak House School | St. Paul's School | |
|---|---|---|
| Curriculum | British / IB / National | National / American |
| Ages | 3-18 | 3-18 |
| Languages of instruction | English, Spanish, Catalan | English, Spanish, Catalan |
| Annual fees | Admission process fee 3,500 EUR (one-time, non-refundable); annual tuition published separately by the school (not stated as a fixed figure on the public fees page) | not public |
| Enrollment | 1,100 | — |
| Boarding | Day only | Day only |
| Inspection rating | NABSS (National Association of British Schools in Spain): Accredited member | — |
| Accreditations | NABSS, IB World School, Cambridge, Pearson Edexcel, Departament d'Educacio (Generalitat de Catalunya), CICAE, ACADE |
Strengths
- ✓Genuinely trilingual outcome in English, Spanish and Catalan, not just English-medium teaching with a foreign-language class
- ✓Exceptional IB Diploma results, with a 36-point average for 2025 well above the 30.6 world average and a 97% pass rate
- ✓Dual British and Spanish curricula plus a choice of IB Diploma or Spanish Bachillerato at sixth-form level
- ✓Confirmed NABSS membership and IB World School status, with Cambridge and Pearson Edexcel as exam partners
- ✓Strong, well-equipped urban campus including pool, multiple gyms, science labs and dedicated music rooms
- ✓Long-established institution, founded in 1968, with a stable non-profit foundation governance model
- ✓Genuine trilingual immersion (English emphasis, plus Spanish and Catalan) taught by native teachers
- ✓Strong reported external language results in Cambridge English First and Advanced and French DELF
- ✓American High School Diploma offered alongside the Spanish curriculum, giving a US-recognised credential
- ✓'Global Learning' study-abroad agreements with partner schools in the US, Canada, England, Scotland and France
Trade-offs
- !Annual tuition is not published as a clear figure on the public fees page, reducing cost transparency for prospective families
- !No explicit published EAL programme detail, which matters for families arriving with little English or Spanish
- !Single urban campus means more limited outdoor grounds than suburban international schools
- !Spain's lack of a graded inspection band makes independent quality benchmarking harder than for UK-inspected schools
- !Day-only provision rules out relocating families who need boarding
- !No International Baccalaureate or British curriculum / A-Level pathway, despite some directory listings implying otherwise
- !No formal external accreditations (NABSS, BSO, CIS, IBO) or UK-style inspection band published on its own site
- !Fees and enrolment figures are not published and must be requested from admissions
- !Limited public exam-results transparency beyond the named Cambridge and DELF language qualifications
Best Fit For
- • Families wanting their child to leave genuinely fluent in English, Spanish and Catalan
- • Academically ambitious students targeting a high-scoring IB Diploma pathway
- • Local and relocating families already settling in Barcelona who want a British-international option
- • Parents wanting a choice between the IB Diploma and the Spanish Bachillerato at sixth form
- • Families wanting an English-immersion education that still leads to the Spanish Bachillerato pathway
- • Bilingual or trilingual families settled long-term in Barcelona rather than on short international postings
- • Students who value strong Cambridge English and French DELF language certification
- • Families wanting a US High School Diploma option alongside the local curriculum
University Placement
School-reported · not independently verified
School-reported, unverified: Oak House describes its class of 2025 as the highest-scoring IB cohort among all IB schools in Spain that year, with a university-entrance exam average of 7.11 against a Catalan average of 5.21 and a position among the top 20 schools in Catalonia.
School-reported, unverified: 'Global Learning' study-abroad agreements with partner schools in the United States, Canada, England, Scotland and France, plus cultural exchanges and United Nations conference participation.
More Comparisons
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I choose Oak House School or St. Paul's School?
Oak House School is best for: Families wanting their child to leave genuinely fluent in English, Spanish and Catalan. St. Paul's School is best for: Families wanting an English-immersion education that still leads to the Spanish Bachillerato pathway. The right choice depends on target curriculum, budget, and family priorities — the two are not linearly comparable.
How do fees compare between Oak House School and St. Paul's School?
Oak House School: Admission process fee 3,500 EUR (one-time, non-refundable); annual tuition published separately by the school (not stated as a fixed figure on the public fees page). St. Paul's School: not public. Verify against each school's own published fees; some figures are sourced from third-party aggregators.
What curricula do Oak House School and St. Paul's School offer?
Oak House School: British, IB, National. St. Paul's School: National, American. Oak House School inspection: NABSS (National Association of British Schools in Spain) "Accredited member".
Do Oak House School or St. Paul's School offer boarding?
Oak House School: day school only. St. Paul's School: day school only.
Questions parents ask
This comparison is BrightKey's independent assessment using verifiable public data only. University-placement figures are school-reported and not independently verified. BrightKey takes no payments from schools. Our method →