Head's welcome

I joined Virtus College as Headteacher in August 2026. What drew me here is that the college does one thing rather than many: we teach Years 12 and 13, and everything that we do is built around those two years.

That focus is the reason we can be unashamedly ambitious. Our model is holistic and personalised, and it is designed with life beyond school in mind. Our core values of Discipline, Resilience, Integrity, Vision and Enthusiasm sit underneath everything we do. They shape students who think critically, work independently, hold themselves to a standard, and contribute to the community around them.

Class sizes here average 6 students and are capped at 10. That number is the single most important fact about how we work, because it is what allows our teachers to know each student properly: what comes easily, what gets avoided, where the pushing needs to happen. In 2026, 66% of our grades were A*–B, and our leavers proudly went on to over 25 different universities through the UK, USA, Spain, the Netherlands and other countries around the world.

Our students arrive from Spanish, British and international schools across Madrid, and many are making the move into an English-language A-Level programme for the first time. We are used to that transition and we plan for it. From the first term we concentrate on what makes a university application succeed, whether that application goes to UCAS, the Common App, or a Spanish university. Our Engineering, Finance, Business, Humanities, Medicine, USA and Oxbridge pathways each carry their own admissions calendar, entrance testing, and subject demands, and students are placed on one from the outset. Our A-Level offer is diverse, our target grades are ambitious, and each curriculum is matched to the student’s academic profile and career aims. Weekly mentoring meetings keep progress under regular review, and our Enrichment Programme builds the experience that admissions tutors and employers look for beyond the grades.

What visitors tend to notice first is the atmosphere. Virtus College is a community, and the care we offer our students is genuine. Teachers run lunchtime sessions for those who feel uncertain about a topic and stretch classes for those ready to go further. Every student is expected to volunteer and to give something back to the community they live in. Manners and kindness cost nothing, and they are part of what I consider a proper education.