O Castro British International School –

I taught at O Castro from 2016-2019. It was a brilliant experience from start to finish. The children in this school are incredible – enthusiastic, engaged, polite and with excellent parental support. They are the schools biggest asset. I taught in the secondary section and the collegiality of colleagues I worked with was excellent. I only left because of lack of opportunity for salary/promotion, otherwise I’d have probably stayed forever such is my love for Galicia and the community at O Castro!

I graduated at O Castro in the first promotion, just shortly after the start of the pandemic. I gained valuable knowledge and I am now in my last year of my honours undergraduate degree. During the pandemic they handled uncertainty and communications with exam boards quite efficiently. Without O Castro, I would not have been able to study at the University I currently am studying at, at most of the teachers were exeptional, making sure that everyone was sufficiently prepared for their exams. The quality of education is actually so high, that I have barely struggled at all with my university studies, as most of the things taught in my course were things I was taught at O Castro.

Estudié en O Castro toda mi vida y mi experiencia fue excelente. Desde primaria se combinan el sistema educativo español y el sistema educativo inglés. Por una parte, el departamento dedicado al sistema educativo español es excelente, consiguiendo el mismo nivel que cualquier otro colegio de España. Por otra parte, el profesorado en inglés es nativo y de diferentes países anglosajones, por lo que desde pequeños se nos acostumbra a comprender a la perfección todos los acentos en inglés. Asimismo, tenemos la oportunidad de cursar clases que no ofrecen en otros colegios como Media Digital o Literatura Inglesa, la que se convirtió en mi asignatura favorita. También se imparten Gallego y Francés obligatorio, por lo que aprendemos cuatro lenguas a la vez, algo que nos diferencia a la hora de acceder al mundo laboral. Es cierto que es un esfuerzo extra, pues se cursan tanto las asignaturas para realizar los A-Levels (exámenes del Reino Unido), como las optativas para poder acceder a la universidad española, pero, tras haber pasado el proceso, creo que merece la pena. Tengo un recuerdo excelente del colegio. Me gradué como parte de la primera promoción en 2020 y ahora estudio un Doble Grado en Derecho y Ciencias Políticas en la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Asimismo, conseguí una beca de movilidad no europea en mi universidad y pasé el curso académico 2022-23 en Estados Unidos, en Washington University in St Louis. Fue una experiencia increíble, y gracias a haber estudiado en O Castro pude realizar mis estudios universitarios en inglés sin problema. En resumen, el estudiar en O Castro supone un esfuerzo académico, pero merece la pena a la larga sin dudarlo. El colegio es pequeño y familiar, por lo que hay un apoyo excepcional al desarrollo tanto personal como escolar. Muy recomendado.

Since I departured from O Castro in 2020 onto university in the UK, I have not met any teacher or lecturer who has proven such a high-level of care and support as in O Castro. Throughout my 13 years of education spent at the school, I had built an innumerable amount of skills, highlighting the ability to speak English at a native level.O Castro gave me the opportunity and encouraged me to complete my undergraduate studies in the UK. Since then, I have achieved an Higher Second Class Honours Degree in BSc Sport & Exercise Science and I’m currently coursing a postgraduate course in MSc Human Nutrition at the 13th highest-ranked university in the country. Furthermore, I also received encouragement for developing my online coaching business, which has grown exponentially over the past couple of years.Overall, I had a great time in this school and I would highly recommend it to any parent.

This is not a good school. Some teachers are very good but some are awful. Ever since Globeducate took over the school everything is making money. Nothing is about education of our children. Teachers are changed frequently (but not the bad ones). The principal does not listen to parent concerns.

My experience at O Castro as part of the very first generation to have graduated was nothing but exceptional! I had the pleasure to interact with a qualified team of professors – increadibly smart, kind and respectful, always there to help with relevant input regarding both class material and personal matters if needed. I have spent 2 years studying at O Castro (Year12 and Year 13), enough time for me to create beautiful memories and gather LOTS of knowledge – an experience that has helped me mature and grow into the person I am today as an University graduate and a global firm full-time employee in the field of Economics and Financial Reporting. Despite coming from an entirely different educational system and culture, while also being really far from home, I never felt alone nor lost. I was guided into reaching my potential in all classes that I have picked, as well as reaching a close to bilingual english level, great communicating skills and a comprehensive understanding of the english and spanish cultures. On this way, I’d like to thank everyone that put so much thought into my educational journey. Thank you, O Castro!

I have been teaching for more than 25 years and teaching here was the biggest professional mistake I have ever made. This is one of the worst schools I’ve ever had the misfortune to encounter. This is the type of place where CV’s go to die.The school is set in the outskirts of Vigo in admittedly very beautiful surroundings but with practically no public transport links and 25euro taxi ride from the centre of town (although it is so remote that often the taxi drivers get lost). The school caters for all ages between 3-18 and follows the Cambridge iGCSE and A Level curriculum. There are about 700 students who pay between 6000 -10 000 euros per year depending on age, whether they eat at the school, or take the bus etc etc…Fees have been steadily rising for some time now and will increase further this year as all senior students will move to an electronic curriculum (with tablets as opposed to books).Wages are obscenely low. Despite the increase in school fees, there hasn’t been a raise for teachers in years. It is virtually impossible to save any money here. The hours are long. Teachers are expected to be on site from 9am until 4-30pm on a regular day, with utterly redundant and pedantic staff meetings at least once a week. Unpaid meetings and duties often follow school. The school will only pay teacher’s salary in the summer if they agree to do either an afterschool club (on a Tuesday) or work in the summer camp. Despite assurances that I would be paid for the after-school club I did, they refused to do so and I was forced to take legal action against them to ensure I got my unpaid wages.The quality of teaching varies dramatically. While some departments are very well-run, others are disorganized and chaotic. There are some very good teachers here who try to make a difference in very trying circumstances. Unfortunately, there are some teachers shouldn’t be anywhere near a classroom and are only in their position because of preferable treatment from the school managers. Some teachers take endless days off, sometimes disappearing in the middle of the day, not bothering to mark any books or provide feedback to students. Sometimes even teaching takes a back seat to the endless cycle of videos that are played on a loop. Some teachers are still clearly addled by their ‘after-school activities.’The school is run by a company called Globeducate. Despite promises to the contrary, Globeducate care little for the education of the students of their school(s) and are really running the school to maximize profits. Management know this and are expected to follow company policy at all costs. Safeguarding of students goes completely out of the window. Serious problems are brushed under the carpet and massive issues go unreported. I have never worked for such an uninspiring, unworthy, and unwelcoming principal that I have for the current incumbent. It took him three months to say ten words to me. He never bothered to observe my class, nor cover lessons that he was assigned to. He welcomes students and teachers alike as though he is sucking on a lemon and gives the impression that he would rather be anywhere else than there. I’ve met earthworms with more charm, charisma and leadership ability.I was fired at 3pm on the last day of the school year. There was no warning or reason given and I never had any disciplinary issues. I was not the first and I certainly won’t be the last. For reasons given above, morale amongst teachers is at an all time low. Turnover of teachers is high as teachers, parents and students are routinely ignored. Complaints go unheeded. The feeling of antipathy that many parents have towards the management of the school is staggeringly high. The absence of any other international schools in Vigo is the only reason that many parents continue to send their children here. If you are a parent, new teacher or prospective student, this place is best avoided. It gets a single star only because the algorithm doesn’t allow me to give it a negative score.Christopher Knight

Estoy encantada con el colegio, el profesorado es estupendo y se preocupan mucho por el progreso de los alumnos, tanto en el aspecto académico como en el emocional. El nivel de inglés es muy bueno y es un aprendizaje muy práctico y significativo para los niños.