Runnymede College is a
co-educational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
independent school
An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...
located in
La Moraleja
La Moraleja is an affluent residential district of Alcobendas municipality in northern Community of Madrid, Spain, in the Madrid metropolitan area; located next to El Soto and El Encinar de los Reyes. The Spanish version of Greenwich, it is home ...
,
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, Spain. It was founded in 1967 by Arthur Powell
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
as the first
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
school in Spain. It is a private non-denominational school offering a British education to boys and girls of all nationalities from the age of two to eighteen.
The education offered follows the English
National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with state or other ...
, with pupils taking
IGCSE
The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an English language based examination similar to GCSE and is recognised in the United Kingdom as being equivalent to the GCSE for the purposes of recognising prior attain ...
s at the end of
Year 11
Year 11 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is the eleventh or twelfth year of core education. For some Year 11 students it is their final year ...
and their
A-level
The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
s at the end of
Year 13
Year 13 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England and Wales, Northern Ireland and New Zealand. It is sometimes the thirteenth and final year of compulsory education, or alternatively a year of post-compulsory e ...
. Runnymede has been referred to as probably the most academically achieving British school overseas, scoring higher than many of the prominent English
Public Schools.
As of 2010 there were 750 students, with about 50% being from Spanish families and 20% being from British families; there were 37 nationalities in the student body. Warwick Mansell of ''
The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' wrote that Runnymede was "medium-sized" in terms of its student body.
[
]
History
Runnymede College was founded as a private senior school in 1967, to provide a British education for English-speaking students of all nationalities who were resident in Madrid. In 1987 the primary school was inaugurated.[Mansell, Warwick.]
Expat guide to Spain: schools
. ''The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
''. 30 March 2010. Retrieved on 24 October 2015. In 1998 the school moved to its current location.[
]
Notable alumni
Notable alumni include Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia
Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia (russian: Мария Владимировна Романова; born 23 December 1953) has been a claimant to the headship of the Imperial Family of Russia (who reigned as Emperors and Autocrats of all ...
, her son Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia
Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia (russian: Георгий Михайлович Романов, Georgiy Mikhaylovich Romanov, also spelled ''Romanoff''; german: Georg Mikhailowitsch Romanow; born 13 March 1981) is the heir apparent to M ...
, rugby union England player Simon Shaw
Simon Dalton Shaw MBE (born 1 September 1973) is a former English rugby union player who played as a lock. He played for Bristol, London Wasps and Toulon. He won 71 caps for England between 1996 and 2011, and 2 for the British & Irish Lions ...
and women's rights activist Elif Shafak
Elif Shafak ( tr, Elif Şafak, ; born 25 October 1971) is a Turkish-British novelist, essayist, public speaker, political scientist and activist.
Shafak writes in Turkish and English, and has published 19 works. She is best known for her n ...
.
See also
* British migration to Spain
British migration to Spain has resulted in Spain being home to one of the largest British people, British-born populations outside the United Kingdom in the world, and the largest in Europe. Migration from the UK to Spain has increased rapidly sin ...
* Education in the United Kingdom
Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter with each of the countries of the United Kingdom having separate systems under separate governments: the UK Government is responsible for England; whilst the Scottish Government, the Welsh ...
References
External links
Runnymede College
– official website
{{National Association of British Schools in Spain
Educational institutions established in 1967
International schools in the Community of Madrid
British international schools in Spain
Schools in Alcobendas
1967 establishments in Spain