The Grange School

Staff and Student Body

The Grange School employs over 300 teaching and operational support staff, reflecting its scale as one of the larger private international schools in Chile. The student body numbers approximately 2,200 pupils across Pre-Kinder to Year 13, with a student-to-teacher ratio of approximately 8.8:1 — notably low and conducive to close academic relationships.

The school describes itself as serving a predominantly Chilean student population (approximately 90%), supplemented by around 10% international students, making it primarily a school for local elite and upper-professional families who value a bilingual British-tradition education, alongside expatriate families resident in Santiago.

The Grangonian Identity

Alumni of The Grange are known as Grangonians, a term that reflects the strong institutional identity the school cultivates. This community extends well beyond graduation: Founder's Day each year draws the wider Grangonian community together to reaffirm the values Mr. Jackson instilled nearly a century ago.

Leadership Team

The school's senior leadership comprises:

• Kate Ingamells-Bland — Headteacher
• Rachid R. Benammar — Principal (as registered with UK BSO authorities)
• James Brackenridge (OG-84) — General Manager (himself a Grangonian, class of 1984)
• Richard Quantrill — Head of Senior School
• Rebeca Aguilera — Head of Upper Prep

The fact that the General Manager is himself an alumnus (OG-84) illustrates the depth of loyalty the school generates across generations.

Campus and Community Life

The school's 92,000 m² campus in La Reina provides ample space for a full British-tradition co-curricular programme. Sports, arts, STEM clubs and performing arts activities — including the annual GRAF festival — ensure that community life extends well beyond the classroom. The inclusion programme and pastoral care framework further cement the school's commitment to every member of its community.

The Founding Vision

At the heart of The Grange School's philosophy is a deceptively simple but demanding ambition, stated by founder John A. S. Jackson: "We want to form pupils that are trustworthy and will be useful to society." Nearly a century later this statement still anchors the school's Proyecto Educativo.

British Traditions in a Chilean Context

The school explicitly positions itself within the tradition of English public schools — not in the sense of being state-funded (it is entirely private), but in the British sense of the term: independent schools with strong co-curricular programmes, house systems, pastoral care structures and a commitment to developing character as well as intellect.

This tradition is expressed through:

• A bilingual English-Spanish learning environment from the earliest years
• Integration of Cambridge International qualifications alongside the Chilean national curriculum
• A comprehensive co-curricular programme spanning sports, arts, STEM, service and performing arts
• Strong pastoral care running in parallel with academic studies
• Annual traditions such as Founder's Day and the GRAF festival

Holistic Development

The school's stated aim is the intellectual, moral and physical growth of every pupil. This tripartite vision — mind, character, body — echoes the classical British public school ideal and is reflected in the breadth of the co-curricular offer, which encompasses everything from yoga and wellbeing clubs to competitive sports and academic STEM challenges.

Fair Play and Community

Concepts such as fair play, respect and community are woven into the school's values, reflecting both its British heritage and its Chilean context. The school serves a community that is predominantly Chilean but educated to a bilingual international standard — graduates are expected to participate confidently in both Chilean society and the wider global community.

Looking Forward

As The Grange approaches its centenary in 2028, it frames this milestone not as a moment of nostalgia but as a renewal of its founding legacy. The school's recent COBIS accreditation — joining a global network of quality-assured British international schools — signals a continued commitment to benchmarking itself against the best British educational standards worldwide.

Origins and Founding

The Grange School was established on 4 June 1928 by John A. S. Jackson, an Anglo-Chilean educator who had been trained at Cheltenham College and Cambridge University. Jackson returned to Chile with a clear ambition: to transplant the best traditions of English public schooling to South America. He opened the school in Villa Ángela, Santiago, with a founding cohort of just twelve pupils.

His founding philosophy was succinct and enduring: "We want to form pupils that are trustworthy and will be useful to society." This mission statement, now displayed prominently on the school's homepage, has guided the institution for nearly a century.

Growth Through Adversity

The school's early years coincided with the 1929 global financial crisis, which forced a pivotal strategic shift. Originally conceived primarily for expatriate and Anglo-Chilean families, the school broadened its intake to include a wider body of Chilean students — a decision that would ultimately define its character as a school serving both local and international communities.

Campus Expansion

Over the following decades the school developed its campus at Av. Príncipe de Gales 6154, La Reina, Santiago. Today the site encompasses approximately 92,000 m² of grounds with 30,108 m² of built facilities — a remarkable transformation from its modest beginnings. The campus houses separate zones for Lower Prep, Upper Prep and Senior School students, all within a single unified site that the school describes as park-like in character.

Founder's Day Tradition

Since 1959 the school has observed an annual Founder's Day ceremony, during which the Grangonian Community gathers to remember Mr. Jackson and reaffirm the values he instilled. This tradition underlines the school's strong sense of institutional identity and continuity across generations of alumni.

Approaching Its Centenary

As The Grange School approaches its centenary in 2028, it stands as one of the oldest and most respected British-tradition schools in Latin America, holding accreditations from the British Schools Overseas (BSO) inspectorate and membership of COBIS, HMC, IAPS and other prestigious UK educational bodies — remarkable affiliations for a school located thousands of miles from Britain.

Two Curricula, One Coherent Programme

The Grange School's academic identity is defined by its dual-curriculum model. Students work simultaneously within:

• The Chilean national curriculum, preparing them for the Chilean university entrance examination (PSU/PAES)
• The Cambridge International programme, progressing through Cambridge Primary, Cambridge Lower Secondary, IGCSE and culminating in A-Levels in the Senior School

This integration is relatively rare and demanding, requiring teachers to map learning objectives across two national frameworks while maintaining the rigour expected of both.

Bilingual Delivery

All academic subjects are delivered primarily in English, with Spanish taught as a compulsory subject and used in specific curricular contexts. The school describes itself explicitly as bilingual, with English comprising approximately 85% of instructional time and Spanish the remainder. Students who complete the full programme from Pre-Kinder to Year 13 typically emerge as genuinely bilingual in both written and spoken English and Spanish.

Senior School Academic Programme

In the Senior School the programme becomes particularly rigorous. Students describe it as "diverse" — encompassing sciences, humanities, languages and the arts — and the school states it prepares pupils "to the highest standards of university entry." A strong Pastoral Care framework runs alongside academics to ensure students are supported socially and emotionally throughout their studies.

Inclusion and Learning Support

The school operates an inclusion programme providing support for students with additional learning needs. While details of staffing ratios for learning support are not published, the inclusion ethos is referenced in the Senior School's official description.

International Recognition

As an approved Cambridge International Centre, The Grange prepares candidates for Cambridge examinations including IGCSE and A-Levels. It holds British Schools Overseas (BSO) accreditation following inspection by UK authorities (DfE URN: 146746), providing independent quality assurance and benchmarking against British educational standards.

Assessment Process

The Grange School operates a moderately selective admissions process. Applicants at all levels from Kinder upward are required to:

• Sit entrance examinations in English, Mathematics and Spanish
• Complete additional exams in Science (from 7th grade) and Social Studies (from 8th grade)
• Attend an interview conducted in both English and Spanish — reflecting the school's core bilingual identity

The school stresses the importance of language proficiency: "Given the importance that knowledge [of English]..." is cited as a key criterion even at Kinder entry level.

Fee Structure (2026)

Fees are denominated in Chile's Unidad de Fomento (UF), an inflation-indexed unit, which protects the school's income against Chile's historically variable inflation rates. The published 2026 structure is:

The annual tuition of UF 270 (a single rate across all year groups) is paid in monthly instalments, making the per-month cost approximately UF 22.5. At a representative UF rate of ~CLP 38,000, this corresponds to roughly CLP 10.3 million per year (approximately USD 11,000–12,000), competitive for a bilingual Cambridge-curriculum school in Latin America.

No Published Acceptance Rate

The school does not publish an acceptance rate or annual application volume. Given its examination and interview requirements and its strong reputation among Santiago's professional and expatriate communities, it is reasonable to infer that demand is healthy and places may be limited in popular year groups.

No Scholarships Found

No formal merit or need-based scholarship programme is publicly advertised. Families seeking financial assistance should contact the school's admissions office directly.