Bilingual education case studies

A number of countries are working with Cambridge to deliver bilingual programmes. Below are just a few examples of countries using Cambridge qualifications alongside their own national curricula. You can also read examples of bilingual programmes developed specifically for ministries of education.

Bilingual education with Cambridge: Netherlands school case study

Stedelijk College in Eindhoven uses the Content and Language Integrated Learning approach - known as CLIL. This video school case study explains more.

Liceo Luigi Galvani, Bologna, Italy

Visit the Liceo Luigi Galvani website

Liceo Luigi Galvani in Italy, follows a bilingual education programme based around Cambridge IGCSE. Some subjects are taught in Italian and also in English. Teachers and students explain how the team teaching method works for them.

TTO schools in the Netherlands

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Visit the European Platform website

TTO schools are a network of bilingual state schools in the Netherlands. Several TTO schools are following the Cambridge Lower Secondary Programme and using Cambridge Checkpoint, a diagnostic testing service which provides feedback in English, Maths and Science. Teachers say that the tests support learning:

The Cambridge Checkpoint exams, together with the progress checks, give schools, teachers, parents and pupils an educational diagnostic tool to monitor the educational progress of our Dutch bilingual pupils in multiple subjects. The statements of achievement are also a formal way to end the first three years of bilingual education.
Mr A Piketh, Bilingual Coordinator, Stedelijk College, Eindhoven

Ministerio de Educación and British Council, Spain

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Learn more about the British Council Bilingual Schools project and Spain

The British Council has been working on a bilingual schools project with the Ministry of Education in Spain since 1996. More than 80,000 young people in Spanish state schools are now receiving a bilingual education.

Schools follow the national curriculum for subjects taught in Spanish, and an integrated curriculum for subjects taught in English. At secondary level, students can take Cambridge IGCSE examinations in subjects including English, Geography, History and Biology.

Speaking about her experience of Cambridge IGCSE, a Head of English at a Madrid school said:

These exams test pupils' understanding of the effects of words. For the first time, I felt I was really teaching English, not just the grammar.
Carmen García, Head of English, Manuel de Falla School, Madrid