← Back to homeBritish School of Tirana
Tirana, Albania · est. 2016 · Private
Illustration · Tirana
British School of Tirana is a private British day school in Tirana, in the Kodra e Diellit residential area. It opened in 2016 as an early years setting with the aim of bringing British education standards to Albania and has since grown into a full school from 9 months to 18 years: today it has nearly 500 pupils from more than 15 countries. The school follows only the National Curriculum of England and Wales. The youngest children follow the British Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), adapted for an international community; every group has an English-speaking teacher or teaching assistant and Albanian educators, so the nursery is bilingual. From Year 1 lessons are taught in English: the primary page and the secondary curriculum policy say so, and pupils whose first language is not English get English as a Second Language support. Albanian is compulsory from Year 1 to Year 11, at least five lessons a week; there is a separate course for non-speakers. German or French is taught once a week as a second foreign language. Since 2021 the school has been a Pearson International School and follows Pearson Edexcel: in Year 10 and 11 pupils prepare for IGCSE, in Year 12 and 13 for A Level. Pupils with Albanian citizenship also sit the Albanian Matura exams. On its accreditation page the school says that after several years as a COBIS Compliance Member it is now working towards full COBIS Accreditation, and notes that the EYFS nursery as a separate entity is not part of COBIS membership; in its story it calls itself the first and only fully accredited British-style school in Albania. The average class has 18 pupils, the maximum is 22. There are 60 teachers and 30 administrative staff. The school has four houses - Dajti, Skanderbeg, Buna and Butrint - competing for a cup at the end of each term. The first Sixth Form class graduated in 2025.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $4 906–11 468 a year
400 000–935 000 ALL
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE, A-Level · Pearson Edexcel
Admits from
9 months · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Albanian, German, French
Class size
18 on average, at most 22; usually 20 in years 7-9 pupils
About the fees Fees for the 2026-2027 school year, in lek per year: infants and toddlers (0-3 years) 400000, Nursery and Reception (3-5 years) 500000, Primary, Year 1 - Year 6, 660000, Year 7 - Year 9 825000, Year 10 and Year 11 880000, Year 12 and Year 13 935000. One day of nursery care costs 3000 lek. Fees are paid in instalments: four at school (on registration, 5 September, 5 December and the balance on 5 February), six at the nursery, from 1 September to 5 June.
Admissions The school admits children from 9 months to Year 13 and says it welcomes families of all nationalities; its admissions policy states it is open to children irrespective of race, culture, nationality, gender or religion, both international families and Albanian families living in and around Tirana. The school does not enrol pupils who will be living alone in Albania; if parents appoint guardians, they must be at least 25 years old and details of two guardians are required. From age 5 a child needs age-appropriate spoken and written English, and at least one parent must speak and write English; Nursery and Reception accept weaker English, but moving up to Year 1 depends on the child's English. English as a Second Language support is given as needed and may cost extra. Secondary applicants take the online CAT4 test and a written English test, with possible subject tests for Year 10 and Year 12; primary has no written tests. The assessment fee is offset against school fees if a place is accepted. When places are limited the school considers whether English is the child's first language, UK or other English-speaking citizenship, international or Albanian background, siblings at the school and alumni parents. If a year group is full, the child goes on a waiting list. Children with special educational needs or disabilities are accepted if general entry requirements are met; the school may ask for a psychologist's or medical report, and specific provision may cost extra. Required: application form, latest school report, copy of the child's passport or ID and any learning support information. Under the conditions of enrolment the year group is set by age on 31 December, while the admissions policy uses the British academic year from 1 September to 31 August; there is no acceleration above the age-appropriate year.
Stages and year groups Grades Babies, Toddlers, Nursery, Reception, Year 1 - Year 13. Early Years - 9 months - 5 years: Babies and Toddlers groups, then Nursery and Reception on the British EYFS; the nursery is open 7:30 to 17:30, with Saturday care 8:00 to 13:00. Primary - 5-11 years: Key Stage 1 (Year 1 and Year 2) and Key Stage 2 (Year 3 - Year 6), lessons 9:00 to 15:45, phonics screening in Year 1 and SATs in Year 2. Secondary - 11-18 years: Key Stage 3 (Year 7 - Year 9), Key Stage 4 (Year 10 and Year 11) with IGCSE exams; then Sixth Form, also called Key Stage 5 (Year 12 and Year 13), with A Level. For IGCSE the school lists English Language, Mathematics, Combined Science, Computer Science, Global Citizenship, Geography and Art; for A Level - Mathematics, Further Mathematics, English Literature, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, History, Geography, ICT, Business Studies and Art and Design. The timetable runs over two weeks, six 50-minute lessons a day.
Address Rezidenca Kodra e Diellit 2, Tirana
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
COBIS · accreditationschool is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
COBISCouncil of British International Schools
An association of British schools abroad with a quality inspection of its own. It has nine membership categories, and the word "accredited" appears in seven of them, although COBIS does its own inspection in one: in the rest it recognises an accreditation granted by somebody else.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →CambridgeIGCSE, A-Level
Programmes of the University of Cambridge: the school teaches to Cambridge syllabuses and enters its pupils for exams that Cambridge marks itself. IGCSE means exams at around Year 10 or 11, the British counterpart of a lower secondary leaving certificate. A-Level is the senior years, and their results are what British and many other universities admit on.
What this means for this school. The papers are marked by Cambridge, not by the school, so a leaver's grade does not depend on how strict their own teachers are with them. To enter pupils for these exams a school has to be registered as a Cambridge exam centre; registration as a centre is permission to run exams rather than accreditation of the school, and it says nothing about the quality of teaching. IGCSE is taken at around Year 10 or 11 and A-Level in the final years, and it is the A-Level results that carry a pupil into British and many other universities.
Pearson Edexcel
A British exam board, the second after Cambridge. It issues its own versions of IGCSE and A-Level: the programme is the same in substance, what differs is who sets and marks the exams.
What this means for this school. The exams are set and marked by Pearson, and the school acts as an exam centre. Universities accept IGCSE and A-Level from Pearson on the same footing as the Cambridge ones. One caveat about checking: the Pearson centre search shows only those centres that agreed to be shown, so the absence of a school from it proves nothing.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Where leavers go: Politecnico di Torino · NABA · Webster University · Bocconi University · London Metropolitan University
The first graduating class of 2025 went to Politecnico di Torino for Civil Engineering, NABA in Milan for Interior Design, Webster University in Vienna for Business Management, Bocconi for Artificial Intelligence and London Metropolitan University for Games, Animation, Modelling and Effects.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Art studio · Playground
Campus: The nursery has its own British Nursery School building in Rezidenca Kodra e Diellit with two outdoor play areas. The primary school is in a two-storey building in Kodra e Diellit 2: library, gym, art room, computer lab and a separate Key Stage 1 playground. Secondary and Sixth Form are in a three-storey building in the same area: gym, art atelier and science lab. Almost all food is cooked on site every day from fresh ingredients. There is a school bus.
Clubs and activities: Football · Basketball · Hiking · Yoga · Model United Nations · School media club · Art · Cookery · Puzzle club
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
The school has 60 teachers and 30 administrative staff. In the nursery every group has an English-speaking teacher or teaching assistant and Albanian educators. The governing board is chaired by Peter Maunder, with 35 years of teaching and 29 years as a head of schools in the UK; the vice-chair Deborah Jackson taught primary for 28 years in the UK.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
✓Nurse or medical room
✓Counsellor
✓Child protection policy
✓Staff training
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school publishes a safeguarding and child protection policy with a designated safeguarding lead, a deputy and a governor responsible for safeguarding. All staff receive regular training, new staff within the first half term; before appointment the school checks identity, health, right to work, qualifications and suitability to work with children, including in previous countries of residence. There is an anti-bullying policy with an anonymous concerns box, an on-call nurse and a medical room, and a school psychologist works across all stages.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)85 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data70 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data80 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 8 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country