← Back to homeTownshend International School
Hluboká nad Vltavou, Czech Republic · est. 1992 · Private
Illustration · Hluboká nad Vltavou
Townshend International School is a private non-profit boarding school on a hill above Hluboká nad Vltavou, 10 km from České Budějovice. It was founded in 1992 by Austrian parents of the Bahá’í Faith; its philosophy is inspired by Bahá’í teachings, but the school stresses it is not affiliated with any religious body and does not proselytise, and prayer moments and Bahá’í Studies are optional. The language of instruction is English: "The language of instruction at Townshend is English"; an English Language Programme and three levels of English support non-native speakers. The curriculum is Cambridge: Cambridge Primary, Cambridge IGCSE at the end of Level II, and Cambridge AS and A Level leading to AICE in Levels III-IV. The school says it "serves 140 students, from pre-K through high school, with 70 boarding students ages 13 and up". Classrooms hold no more than 15 students. Dormitories are run by married dorm parents, with a psychologist, a nurse and a Residential Director.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $5 819–38 144 a year
126 000–826 000 CZK
Programmes
Cambridge · Primary, IGCSE, A-Level
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Czech, Russian
Students
140 students, of whom 70 are boarders
Class size
no more than 15 students per class
About the fees Fees for 2026-2027 in Czech koruna: Kindergarten 126000, Grades 1-2 169000, Grades 3-4 212000, Grades 5-6 257000; day students Grades 7-9 366000, Grades 10-11 398000, Grades 12-13 426000; residential 766000, 798000 and 826000 respectively. EU residential students get a 97000 discount. Secondary fees include CIE examinations, books, compulsory excursions and camps; residential fees also include room, board, laundry and counselling. 10% sibling discount for each additional child; a 40% company surcharge applies to primary contracts paid by a company.
Admissions The school admits students from around the world: it says students from 106 countries and territories have attended. Applications are accepted all year and reviewed by the Academic Director, the Residential Director and the School Director, after which an acceptance letter is sent. English level is set by placement examinations; non-native speakers aged 16 and above must take IELTS or another approved exam when applying. Boarding is for students aged 13 and up. First-year scholarships and financial aid are available on application.
Stages and year groups Grades Kindergarten - Grade 13. Kindergarten (ages 3-5); Lower, Middle and Upper Primary (Grades 1-6) on Cambridge Primary; Grades 7-9; Level I-II (Grades 10-11) with Cambridge IGCSE examinations; Level III-IV (Grades 12-13) with Cambridge AS and A Level examinations and the AICE award. The Czech basic school (Grades 1-9) operates under Czech law with an Educational Board.
Address Hradčany 1070, 373 41 Hluboká nad Vltavou
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · Primary, IGCSE, A-Level · authorised programmeBSO · accreditationCOBIS · accreditationThe Cambridge register names the school as a Cambridge centre. It holds a British Schools Overseas (BSO) inspection, the latest in November 2023, and is an accredited member of COBIS. It is a boarding school.
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
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: Primary (ages 5-11), IGCSE (ages 14-16), A-Level (ages 16-18). Primary is the primary stage, ages 5 to 11: English, mathematics and science to Cambridge syllabuses. At the end of the stage a school may run the optional Checkpoint test, which is marked in Cambridge. 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.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →BSOBritish government inspection of schools overseas
A scheme of the UK Department for Education: a school abroad is inspected against the standards for independent schools in England, including safeguarding and the standards for boarding. The inspections are done by independent inspectorates approved by the department, and the inspectorates themselves are monitored annually by Ofsted. The reports are published in full on the government website.
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 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 →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Where leavers go: University of Oxford · Harvard University · California Institute of Technology · Imperial College London · LSE · University of Edinburgh · McGill University · University of Melbourne · LMU Munich · Heidelberg University · Charles University · Maastricht University and others, 15 universities in the school's list in all
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
✓Boarding
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio · Playground
Clubs and activities: Choir · Drama Club · Photography · Model UN · Townshend News Team · Baking Club · Horse riding · Yearbook · Football · Basketball · Swimming · Yoga · Dance · International Youth Award (Duke of Edinburgh)
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: more than 80% of teachers hold masters or doctoral degrees and certifications
Teachers come from over 15 countries; the school says more than 80% hold advanced degrees and certifications, including masters and doctoral degrees. Classes are small and teachers act as mentors.
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 trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
Published policies include Safeguarding and Child Protection, Safer Recruitment, an Anti-bullying Strategy, First Aid, Health and Safety, Fire Safety and Risk Assessment. The school has a nurse, an infirmary, a school psychologist and a counsellor; a dorm parent or volunteer is available in the dormitories at all times.
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%)95 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 data75 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)95 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data80 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