UNITED KINGDOM / AGILITYPR.NEWS / June 25, 2026 / An award-winning school has been recognised as one of the 50 best schools in the world by T4 Education. Learnlife, which has three schools in Barcelona, has been shortlisted for the 2026 World’s Best School Prizes, widely regarded as the world’s most prestigious education awards celebrating schools making an outstanding impact on learners and communities worldwide. The recognition marks an important milestone for Learnlife, which opened its first school in 2019.

The international school group, which educates around 300 learners across Primary and Secondary levels, has been nominated in the Innovation category, placing it among the top 10 most innovative schools across the globe. It has been recognised for tackling one of education’s most fundamental challenges: moving away from systems built around control and towards an innovative model built on trust, responsibility, and learner ownership.

Learnlife has also inspired change worldwide by training 600 educators across 60 schools to bring learner-centred education into their own classrooms, and welcoming hundreds of educators to its schools each year.

Education thought leader Valerie Hannon, the influential co-founder of the Innovation Unit and the Global Education Leaders' Partnership praised Learnlife’s approach, noting, “Learnlife is a truly wonderful school and it has been an honour to be a part of its journey. It is exceptional and extraordinary: but it need not be. It shows what schools can be and do and intentionally sets out to model brilliant education in practice to help others. At this time of learner disengagement and disillusion, societal polarisation and environmental crisis, the work of Learnlife could not be more essential”.

Learnlife approaches education as a lifelong, transformational journey and has repeatedly been named as one of HundrED’s most impactful and scalable innovations in education worldwide. 

The school combines global educational research with continuous collaboration between learners, educators, and designers to create a learning ecosystem that evolves over time. Flexible learning environments, authentic assessment, learner-led pathways, and a strong focus on wellbeing work together to develop agency, adaptability, and life-readiness. Technology supports reflection and growth rather than monitoring and ranking, while learners play an active role in shaping their own experience.

“We are honoured to see this work recognised on a global stage,” says Christopher Pommerening, Founder of Learnlife. “This demonstrates that trust-based, life-ready learning is not only achievable, but also delivers incredible outcomes. We hope it encourages more schools, educators, and policymakers to explore new ways of preparing young people for the future.”

The impact of Learnlife’s approach is visible throughout its community. Learners demonstrate high levels of engagement, ownership, and self-direction, routinely setting goals, seeking feedback, and reflecting on their progress. Earlier this year, an independent Leaps Student Voice Survey ranked Learnlife above global school benchmarks across all seven measures assessed, with particularly strong results witnessed in terms of agency, relevance, and whole-child development.

Learnlife was selected from thousands of applications worldwide for The World’s Best School Prizes which celebrate schools demonstrating excellence and positive impact across five categories: Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives. The winners will be announced in November, while public voting for the Community Choice Award runs from 25 June to 29 October 2026.

For more information about the school’s mission, visit www.learnlife.com.

For information about the awards, or to vote for Learnlife, visit www.t4.education/worlds-best-school-prizes.