Frequently asked questions
What families ask before deciding, answered in writing. If something is missing, admissions replies within 24 hours.
Admission and calendar
How to get in, when the year starts and what a place requires.
What is the admissions process?
It starts with an information request. Admissions replies within 24 hours and proposes an interview.
The interview covers three things: sporting level, academic situation and fit with the model. Out of that comes the specific programme, at its published amount, and any extras added to it.
Is there a minimum level to get in?
There is no fixed minimum level, but there is an assessment.
This is a high-performance programme, so each sport's technical direction assesses whether the student is a fit. Depending on the case, it looks at competition results, rankings, videos and references, or asks for an in-person trial.
The programme comes out of that assessment: not every student trains the same way or with the same goal.
What ages are accepted?
From 14 to 24, in two stages: School (14 to 17), with a Spanish or international school and legal guardianship when they do not live with their family in Spain; and University (18 to 24), with a partner university or a gap year. What counts is where you study, not your age: an 18-year-old still at school goes through the School stage.
They are not the same programme with caveats: accommodation, supervision, academic route and paperwork all differ.
When does the year start and until when can I apply?
The main academic year starts in September, following the Spanish academic calendar.
Some academic and sports programmes also accept entry in January or February, to fit with other countries' calendars. And depending on availability and the programme, some sports allow students to join at other points in the year.
Admissions confirms the available entry dates and the places left in each programme.
Do you need to speak Spanish?
No. Some academic options are taught entirely in English, and training runs in English or Spanish within an international environment.
That said, the programme takes place in Spain and we recommend working on Spanish: it helps students settle in and make the most of the whole experience, on and off the court.
Can we visit before deciding?
Yes. Visits to the training centre, the academic centre and the residence are arranged and coordinated with admissions.
Visas and recognition
Residence permits, immigration and recognition of previous studies.
Do you help with the student visa?
Yes. You can handle it yourself or arrange it through ESS.
If they arrange it with us, we work with a firm specialising in immigration: we coordinate the file and provide the centre's documentation, and they handle the consular process with you.
Is the visa included in the price?
No. The student visa is an additional service added on top of the programme.
You can handle it yourself or arrange it through ESS. If you arrange it with us, we work with a firm specialising in immigration: we coordinate the file and provide the centre's documentation, and they handle the consular process with the family. The cost is set out in writing before anything is signed.
Consular fees are always paid by you.
How far in advance should the visa be started?
Three months at the very least, and it is wise to allow more. In some countries the process takes up to five months.
The real timeline depends on the country of origin, the relevant consulate and the type of procedure, so there is no single date that works for everyone. As soon as you confirm the programme, we arrange a meeting with the specialist firm to review the specific case and set a realistic timetable.
The rule of thumb: the sooner admission is closed, the more margin there is.
Do previous studies need to be recognised?
It depends on the education system of origin and the academic route chosen. Recognition is handled by a provider specialising in academic recognition that works with ESS.
What qualification does my child obtain?
The one awarded by the academic centre attended: a Spanish national qualification, International Baccalaureate, British curriculum, American High School Diploma or the corresponding university degree.
The qualification is issued by the centre, not by ESS. Each partner institution awards its own official qualification.
Does it help to get a university scholarship in the United States?
Yes, it is one of the routes. What ESS prepares is the record that makes it possible, not the scholarship itself.
The United States route — American High School Diploma and SAT preparation — is the usual path, and the combination of academic and sporting record is what universities look at.
We support the process and prepare the documentation, but no institution can guarantee a scholarship or a university offer, and we will not do so either.
Under-18s
Guardianship, custody, medical insurance and supervision of a student under eighteen.
What happens if my child is under 18?
They enter through the School stage: a school in Madrid and a residence with mentors who live alongside the students, plus legal guardianship in Spain if they do not live with their family, managed by the school if it has boarding or by a specialist provider if they live in a residence coordinated by ESS.
It is a different programme from the University stage, not the same one with added supervision.
What exactly is guardianship?
It is the legal representation a minor needs to live and study in Spain when their parents live in another country.
Its scope is limited: it covers the legal and administrative matters needed during the student's stay, and does not replace the family in anything else.
How it is arranged depends on where the student lives. If they attend a boarding school, the school usually includes and manages it. If they live in a residence coordinated by ESS, it is handled by an external provider specialising in immigration, and we coordinate the process with the family.
The documents produced also serve for the visa file.
Is medical insurance included?
No. International medical insurance is an additional service.
You can take it out with the provider of your choice or arrange it through ESS, in which case it is set out in writing and added to the programme amount.
It is a requirement for the student visa, so in practice it is not optional: what the family chooses is who provides it.
Who is with the students outside training and class?
Residential mentors who live alongside them, with round-the-clock security and controlled access.
The hours that are neither training nor class are organised too: meals and supervised study.
How do I follow my child's progress from another country?
Through the ESS Tutor, who is the family's point of contact throughout the year.
Every student has their own ESS Tutor, at all three levels. The tutor is in touch with them almost daily, coordinates their day-to-day with the school or university, the coaching staff and, if they live in a residence, the residence, and is who the family turns to for anything.
Every term you receive a report on academic progress, sporting development and how they are settling in. And there is a channel open 24 hours a day for anything that cannot wait for the report.
Price, payments and deadlines
What the amount covers, how it is paid and what happens if something changes.
What exactly does the price include?
Each level has a starting price, per full academic year with taxes included, and what it covers changes with the level:
Sport only: your sport's programme — training, competition and monitoring — and the ESS Tutor.
Sport + education: the sports programme and the school or university you choose, without residence. The amount depends on the centre.
Full programme: the sports programme, the school or university you choose and the residence, with mentors who live alongside the students. It is the only level with residence. The amount depends on the centre, and each centre has its starting price on the pricing page.
Six extras can be added on top of any level, each with its starting price and set out in writing before signing: guardianship with visa, if they are 14 to 17, do not live with their family in Spain and the school does not cover it; student visa; health insurance; high performance — initial assessment, sports psychology, physiotherapy and nutrition —; door-to-door transfers; and the search for alternative academic and residence options.
Full board is not included in any level: it is an optional extra, added on request at an additional cost.
Flights, arrival and departure transfers, consular visa fees and personal sports equipment are always outside the level.
Why do we publish a starting price?
Because the final amount depends on what you choose. Sport only is a fixed amount per sport. Sport + education and the Full programme depend on the school or university: their starting price is that of the most economical centre, and within a centre it changes with the school stage or the degree.
That is why the pricing page lists the Full programme centres by name with their starting price: so that the figure you take away is the one for your case. The exact amount goes in the proposal, in writing and before signing, and the extras are added separately, each with its own.
How and when is payment made?
In three payments: 40% in May, 20% in August and 40% in November.
If the booking is made before May of the previous academic year, the plan can start with an initial payment of 10% of the enrolment fee.
The exact amounts and dates for each family are set out in the commercial proposal and provided in writing before signing.
Is the deposit refundable?
As a general rule, no. Neither the deposit nor any amounts already paid.
Exceptions exist only where the contract expressly provides for them, and in that case costs already incurred are deducted: administration, visa management and so on. That includes a visa refusal, which does not automatically entitle the family to a refund.
A change of mind or a voluntary withdrawal during the contracted period does not give rise to a refund.
The full terms are provided in writing before signing, and admissions goes through them one by one in the interview.
Can the programme be changed mid-year?
The programme is adjusted during the year, and that is part of how it works: training loads, service arrangements, adaptations to the competition calendar.
What is contracted for the full year is the programme. A fundamental change — of sport or academic route — is reviewed with the technical direction and the school, agreed in writing, and may affect the amount depending on when in the year it happens.
Are there scholarships or financial aid?
There may be, depending on the student's sporting level, academic profile, the programme and the opportunities available at the time.
Each case is assessed individually during admission. There is no open call and no fixed number of places, and we cannot guarantee that one will be awarded.
If price is the obstacle, say so in the interview: it is better to know from the start.
Day-to-day life
Where they live, how they get around, what they eat and who is with them.
Can we choose the residence?
We assign it, and we do so on a clear basis: distance to the training centre and the student's age. A fifteen-year-old does not live where a twenty-one-year-old university student lives, and half an hour less commuting a day adds up to a hundred hours a year.
That said, we work with several residences. If there is a specific reason to prefer another one, it is considered among the available options.
How much time is spent commuting each day?
The model runs on two hubs within Madrid, north and west. Inside each one, residence, training and academic centre are ten minutes apart.
The longest journey in the whole model, between the two hubs, is twenty-five minutes.
Who takes the students to training and school?
It is an additional service: a transport plan designed around the student's timetable, coordinated by the ESS Tutor with the operations team, subject to route availability.
Flights and arrival and departure transfers are always outside the programme.
How are meals organised?
They are served by the residence and the school or university: breakfast and dinner at the residence, and lunch at the school, university or residence, depending on the class timetable. If a student needs guidance, nutrition is a high-performance extra with an ESS professional.
When do they study if they train every day?
Supervised study is part of the day, not on top of it. The residence has study rooms and the academic timetable is built around the sporting one.
Exams are rescheduled when they clash with competition, and competition travel is formally recognised.
What happens during holidays?
The programme follows the calendars of the academic centre, the sports programme and the residence, which do not always coincide.
Activity runs for most of the year, with two breaks: summer and Christmas.
Admissions provides the full calendar before enrolment, including what happens with the residence and training in each period.
Let's talk about your case
We'll reply within 24 hours with all the information you need.