Live and study in Spain

in a bilingual American High School

Our value proposal: the possibility to study in an American school in Spain

Chester College’s International High School Boarding Program may be right for you if you wish to:

Benefit from a rigorous and motivating bilingual American-Spanish curriculum,
Learn or improve your Spanish up to Advanced level.
Improve your English and enhance your academic English skills.
Maximize your grades and qualifications with a view to meeting the requirements of the universities of your choice.
Prepare for an international language examination (Instituto Cervantes, IELTS, TOEFL, Cambridge, Trinity College London).
Be granted both a High School Diploma and a Spanish “Título de Bachiller”, provided that Grade 12 graduation requirements are fulfilled.
Enjoy a rich and mind-opening cultural, educational experience, in one of Spain’s most remarkable historical cities: Santiago de Compostela.
Be a part of an international educational community that places every student at the center of their educational journey.

We are Chester College International School

Founded in 1985, Chester College International School is a private, independent and coeducational day and boarding school, located in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

It is authorized by the Spanish Ministry of Education (1986) and accredited by COGNIA.

Chester College’s students follow an official American-Spanish curriculum, via English and Spanish (based on the student’s language competencies). Additional second languages are also taught.

Credits taken at Chester College are automatically transferable to other American schools.

Similarly, transfer systems apply to other educational systems in Europe and the rest of the world.

Please find a list of subjects available in our International High School Program here. Kindly contact the Admission Office should you not find a subject you need to take in the listing.

Our location: Santiago de Compostela

Our campus is located at the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela, the final destination of pilgrims and hikers walking the “Camino de Santiago”.

Designated “World Heritage Site” by UNESCO in 1985, it is one of Spain’s most remarkable cities, containing old quarters, churches, convent buildings, a university and an air at once ancient, solemn, lively and modern. The University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) was founded in 1495 and it has over 25 000 enrolled students.

Santiago de Compostela has a population of about 100,000 inhabitants and an international airport.

Boarding options and facilities

Boarding students may stay at Chester College´s boarding residences or in carefully-selected local host families, who work closely together with the school.

There are two boarding options: full boarding (Monday to Sunday) or weekly boarding (from Monday to Friday or Saturday morning) for students who can return home at weekends.

The boarding houses are situated at walking distance from the school grounds, with separate premises for male and female students.

All meals take place in the main school building. They are prepared in our own kitchen using top-quality, fresh ingredients sourced locally as far as possible. All dietary meals are taken care of.

Resident dorm parents accompany the students at all times and strive to create living environments that are homely and fun and conducive to project-work and study.

Full-boarders enjoy a program of activities and trips during the week-ends, taking individual interests into account as much as possible.

“Our son studied three years in Chester College (Grades 10-12) and we couldn’t imagine a better place for him during such stressful (for him and us) teenage years! We are so thankful to all the staff members of Chester College for their great cooperation, deep understanding, strong support, high professionalism and responsibility, must have discipline and school organization and management!!! They helped him a lot in preparation for college entrance.He found there everything he needed for it, so it ended up with a full scholarship in a prestigious US University. No need to explain how happy we are!”
Liubov Tunagur, mother of Esat Tunagur (class of 2015), Economics and Philosophy graduate from SOKA University (USA). Full scholarship. Istanbul, Turkey.
“Studying at Chester has definitely helped me get to where I am now (studying Computer Science and Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh). In fact, studying two different high school systems enabled me to initially apply to universities in both the UK and Spain. Moreover, throughout the application process, the teachers were extremely helpful and advised me constantly. Academically, the skills I learnt at Chester are helping me constantly at university. I often look back to my notes from Math and Physics and remember the important time management and study skills we learnt at school”.
Alejandra Amaro Patiño, Vigo, Spain. Class of 2018. Computer Science and Mathematics student at the University of Edinburgh (UK).
“I was an international student at Chester College for two years. My overall experience was very good. There is just a very lovely atmosphere here.The food is particularly good! I spoke almost no Spanish when I arrived – it soared over two years. I’ve just finished my final exams, I don’t know my marks yet but I overall trust everything went great, so thank you very much to this place they helped me to prepare, and now I’m off to a new phase, a new life, and university. Yes: thanks a lot to Chester College”.
Artem Baglikov, Russia. Class of 2020. Psychology undergraduate at the University of Valencia.

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Admissions The admission period for school year 2024-25 is now open! Provided there are places, and in order to assist families moving to the Santiago area, the School accepts ongoing applications throughout the year.

If you would like to come and see the school or receive more information, please phone us or complete the Contact form below, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Admission RequirementsThe Admissions Department will revise every Admission request individually, and take into consideration both the prospective student’s school transcript and his/her individual motivations.

Applications are accepted from students with no Spanish. A minimum intermediate English level (B2) is required.

1. Complete the contact form: You can do this via the Contact section or by clicking here

Contact Form

2. We will contact you by email or phone to answer your queries and so that you can tell us a little bit more about the prospective student or student’s.
3. Come and see the school: If you like, we can set up a face-to-face, telephone or online meeting with the Admissions Department.

Prior to this meeting, we would expect to receive a scanned copy of the student’s latest final school transcript as well as the most recent termly school report. Non-English native speakers should also ideally provide an English-level certificate (a B2 would be the minimum required for High School). If the student does not have a language certificate, language level will be assessed via a brief interview and through internal tests, if required.

A second meeting will be arranged with the prospective student or students, if they were not present in the first Admissions meeting.
4. Offer of a place: Within 2 weeks we will contact you to let you know whether we can offer the place(s) requested.
5. Confirmation & reservation of places: Families then have 2 weeks formally to confirm their acceptance of the place(s) offered.

Formal acceptance entails completing the registration form (which will be sent to you) and paying the deposit to reserve a place for the year. The school reserves the right to withdraw its offer if these steps are not completed in due time. A number of academic and personal files will be finally requested to open the student’s personal school file: these may be submitted at any point during the student’s first term at school.

Our fees

Click here to download our rates.
You may also download a School brochure here.

Would you like to explore this option further? We encourage you to get in touch
with our Admissions Team by filling in the Contact Form in the link below.

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