← Back to the rankingInternational School of Bucharest
Bucharest, Romania · est. 1996 · Private
Illustration · Bucharest
The International School of Bucharest (ISB) is a private, not-for-profit British-style international day school in Pantelimon, eastern Bucharest, for children aged 2 to 18. It opened in 1996 in a rented building for the English-speaking community, with 17 students in the first year; since 2001 it has been a Cambridge exam centre, since 2008 it has occupied its own campus, since 2012 it has been CIS-accredited, and since September 2017 it has offered the IB Diploma. Early Years and Primary follow the English National Curriculum, Years 7-9 follow the English curriculum with Cambridge elements, students take Cambridge IGCSE in Years 10-11, and the final two years follow the IB Diploma Programme. English is the language of instruction, as the school states directly. The school reports about 650 students from 40 countries; the largest groups are Romanian (35%) and Turkish (15%), followed by Chinese, British, Hungarian and Greek families. It is run by the not-for-profit Lumina Foundation, which handles its finances; a Director appointed by the Board runs the school. The school day runs from 8:30 to 15:00.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $12 241–21 951 a year
10 835–19 430 EUR
Programmes
IB · DP · Cambridge · Lower Secondary, IGCSE
Admits from
2 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Romanian, Chinese, French, Spanish, Turkish
Students per teacher
7 students per teacher
Class size
at most 12 children in the two-year-olds group, 14 in the three-year-olds group, 18 in the four-year-olds group and at most 20 students per class from the first year of primary
About the fees Fees for 2026/2027: Early Years (ages 2-5) 10835 euro, Primary (Years 1-6) 17470 euro, Years 7-9 18355 euro, Years 10-13 19430 euro per year. The school stresses that there are no separate campus or development fees and many clubs are free; the Board reviews fees every January, and payment plans can be agreed with the finance department. Sibling discount: 5% for two children, 10% for three or more.
Admissions The school accepts applications throughout the academic year if places are available and says it welcomes boys and girls of all races, religions and cultures; it describes itself as serving both the international community in Bucharest and Romanian families seeking an international education in English. Steps: a tour or online meeting, an application form, documents (school reports, birth certificate, passports or ID cards for the whole family, employment or dependent passes, health records), then a trial day for children up to Year 6 and an assessment for Years 7-12; under the 2025-2026 overview the test lasts one hour and costs 50 euro. The Heads of School decide, and a contract is then signed. Primary admits children with any level of English; in Years 7-9 English must be sufficient to access the curriculum, with paid language support if needed; Years 10-13 require a fairly high level of English and no EAL support is offered there. Students must live with a parent or guardian within commuting distance, at least one parent must communicate comfortably with the school in English or Romanian, and children in the youngest Early Years groups must be toilet-trained. Year placement is by age on 1 September.
Stages and year groups Grades Foundation Stage 0-2, Year 1-13. Early Years Foundation Stage (ages 2-5): Pre-Nursery, Nursery and Reception on the English Early Years curriculum. Primary (Years 1-6): English National Curriculum. Years 7-9 (Key Stage 3): the English curriculum enhanced by Cambridge Lower Secondary in English, Maths and Science. Years 10-11 (Key Stage 4): a two-year Cambridge IGCSE course, with subject choices leading to the Cambridge International Certificate of Education; entry to the IB requires at least 5 grades from A* to C. Years 12-13: IB Diploma Programme. The school does not offer the Romanian national curriculum or the bacalaureat; under its own table Year 1 corresponds to clasa 0 and Year 13 to grade XII. International accreditation: CIS, BSO, COBIS membership; authorisation from the Romanian Ministry of Education (ARACIP) to operate as a private school.
Address Șoseaua Gării Cățelu nr. 1R, Sector 3, 032991 București
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeCambridge · Lower Secondary, IGCSE · authorised programmeCIS · accreditationCOBIS · membershipLumina · school is part of the networkThe IB register lists the Diploma Programme at the school, and the Cambridge register names it as its centre. It is accredited by CIS (Council of International Schools) and is a member of COBIS. The school is run by the Lumina Foundation.
school 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
IBInternational Baccalaureate
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: DP (ages 16-19). DP is the final stage, ages 16 to 19: six subjects plus a compulsory core of theory of knowledge, an extended essay and CAS. The diploma is accepted by universities all over the world, and in a number of countries it counts for admission on the same footing as the local leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →CambridgeCambridge International Education
Part of the University of Cambridge. It allows a school to teach the Cambridge programmes and to enter pupils for the exams. There are four stages and they are authorised separately: primary, lower secondary, IGCSE and A Level. If the stages are known they are named in the line below; if that line is missing, the school does not publish them, and the Cambridge registry does not show stages either - it gives only the name of the centre, the country and whether private candidates are accepted. Cambridge calls what it does registration rather than accreditation, and the network holds about ten thousand schools.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: Lower Secondary (ages 11-14), IGCSE (ages 14-16). Lower Secondary is the middle stage, ages 11 to 14, with the same optional Checkpoint test at the end. IGCSE means exams at around Year 10 or 11, the British counterpart of a lower secondary leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →CISCouncil of International Schools
It accredits international schools and is a paying association at the same time. It examines governance and ownership, the curriculum, teaching, student wellbeing, staff and premises; a team of volunteers from other CIS accredited schools visits the school. Membership and accreditation are different things here, and schools confuse them more often than anything 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 →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 belongs to this organisation but has not been through its accreditation. The difference matters: membership is usually paid for and has no external inspection behind it. The entry is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Luminaschool network
Lumina is a Romanian not-for-profit group of educational institutions: the Lumina Foundation (Fundația Lumina Instituții de Învățământ) and the Lumina Educational Institutions linked to it. Skolbera lists two of its schools. The International School of Bucharest is registered as a subsidiary of the foundation, which manages its finances. The International School of Oradea was set up by the ISO Association, whose founders, according to the school, are the Lumina Foundation, Lumina Educational Institutions and Oradea City Hall.
What this means for this school. The network owns or operates the school. Its accreditation and programme authorisation the school obtains separately, in its own name.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Average IB score
33 (world average 30.88)
Exam results IB Diploma, May 2026: school average 33.0 against a global average of about 30.6, top score 44 out of 45, 4 students with 40 points or more, 18 with 35 or more, 29 with 30 or more. Over the past three years students have twice achieved the maximum 45 points, and 17 students scored 40 or higher.
Where leavers go: University of Oxford · Sorbonne University · Cornell University · Technical University of Denmark · University College London · King's College London
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio
Clubs and activities: Violin · Piano · Karate · Judo · Basketball · Tennis · Football · Gymnastics · Robotics · Swimming · Cooking · Art · Chess · Young Engineering · Debating · The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
What the listings show: qualified teachers experienced in the English National Curriculum, Cambridge IGCSE, A level and IB; teachers qualified outside the UK should recently have taught the UK curriculum in the UK for at least 2 academic years
The school says most of its teachers are native English speakers, with staff from more than 10 countries; the About page cites about 100 educators. Teachers are recruited with experience of the English curriculum, IGCSE, A level and IB; background checks are run on all employees. In Early Years and Primary, music, PE, computing and languages are taught by specialist teachers.
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 roomnot stated on the website
✓Counsellor
✓Child protection policy
✓Staff training
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The school has a Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and a staff Code of Conduct meeting CIS, BSO and COBIS requirements; all staff receive extended safeguarding training every year and background checks are run on all employees. Students have age-appropriate safety lessons. The Counselling and Learning Support Department works with students from Kindergarten to Year 13 and has three qualified counsellors.
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%)84 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data70 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)95 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data75 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