Colegio Santiago Internacional

Colégio Santiago Internacional (CSi) opened in Tavira in September 2012 and now teaches around 130 students from more than 27 nationalities, serving both the international community in the Algarve and Portuguese families looking for an international education. It is an independent, coeducational, open-admission school led by director Ana Alves, teaching bilingually in English and Portuguese to the model and guidelines of the National Curriculum of England, through to A-Level. The school occupies a 15th-century building in the centre of Tavira, with 16 classrooms including a science laboratory, a music studio, a radio station, a computer room and an art room, plus a canteen serving fresh food bought daily from Tavira market with no added salt or fat other than olive oil. Class sizes are capped at 18 pupils, taught by a team of 17 teachers, 2 classroom assistants and 6 support staff. CSi runs a private taxi school-run service with local operators Nuno Taxi and Caleça Taxi, covering routes from Tavira towards Spain, Vila Real de Santo António and Faro. Exam results at CSi run above the average for schools in the United Kingdom. The school's first A-Level graduate, in 2013, went straight on to Aerospace Engineering at California State University, Long Beach, and other alumni have gone on to a BA (Hons) in Sport and Sports Law at UCFB Wembley, pilot training at ATF Flying School in Spain, and university places in Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Portugal. For 2025/26, annual fees range from EUR 4,855 (Years 1 to 4) to EUR 7,618 (Years 12 and 13), with termly and monthly payment options, plus an annual registration fee of EUR 395 (covering insurance, textbooks, exercise books, library and internet access, and lockers), a refundable EUR 700 security deposit, and separate charges for meals (EUR 130 to EUR 160 a year) and transport (EUR 180 a year). Families with more than one child get a 5% discount for a second sibling and 7% for a third or more.