← Back to the rankingTransylvania College
Cluj Napoca, Romania · est. 1993 · Private
Illustration · Cluj Napoca
Transylvania College (full name The Cambridge International School in Cluj) is a private non-profit day school in Cluj-Napoca running from nursery to the end of high school. It was founded in 1993 by Simona Baciu and Dan Baciu as the Happy Kids kindergarten, with one group of 12 children; the Romanian-line primary school opened in 2000, the middle school in 2004 and the high school with Cambridge programmes in 2010. Since 2013 it has been led by the founders' daughter Ruxandra Mercea. Parents choose one of two parallel lines: the Romanian line (national curriculum with enhanced English) or the British line (National Curriculum of England, then IGCSE and A Level). Since September 2024 the high school also has a Romanian bilingual humanities line ending with the bacalaureat. The school reports more than 700 students, 125 staff and 35 nationalities. It reports British School Overseas status (confirmed by inspections, the latest in November 2024), COBIS accredited membership, Cambridge school and Pearson Edexcel centre status, and ARACIP accreditation of the Romanian line with the top grade. The school runs the Leader in Me programme and focuses strongly on wellbeing and restorative approaches.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $6 302–15 872 a year
29 500–74 300 RON
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE, A-Level · National programme
Admits from
20 months · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English, Romanian
Languages taught
German, Spanish, French
Class size
up to 15 children per nursery group, up to 20 in kindergarten, up to 15 students in common subjects in grades 8-9 pupils
Registration fee
≈ $678
600 EUR
About the fees Annual tuition for 2026-2027: kindergarten (ages 2-6) 29500 lei, Romanian-line primary (grades 0-5) 38900 lei, British-line primary (Year 1-6) 62600 lei, Romanian-line middle school (grades 6-8) 39800 lei, British-line middle school (Year 7-9) 63600 lei, Cambridge International High School 74300 lei, Romanian bilingual high school 45900 lei. If paid in full in advance by 30 April 2026 the fee is lower: from 28200 to 71400 lei. Payment in 10 equal instalments from September 2026 to June 2027 is possible. Sibling discounts: 10% for the second child, 15% from the third. Exams, books and uniform, meals, transport, camps, language and learning support and university admissions counselling are charged separately.
Admissions Enquiries are welcome throughout the year; the first step is a meeting with Admissions, followed by entrance tests and an interview appropriate to the level and line, the enrolment form, the agreement and payment. If a class is full the child goes on a waiting list, and siblings of current students have priority. International candidates provide a complete transcript for all years of study and the latest reports; the year group is set by age and years completed. The first three months are a trial period. The school says it is chosen by families from around the world. Children who need to build their English for the British curriculum receive paid language support under a separate plan. For the Romanian bilingual high school the Evaluarea Națională results are considered (at least 8 in Romanian and 7 in Maths), otherwise there are written tests in Maths, Romanian and English. Scholarships of 30% to 100% of tuition are offered for high school: English and Maths tests, the CAT4 test and an interview in English.
Stages and year groups Grades Nursery, Kindergarten, 0-11, Year 1-13. Nursery (Cherry Trees, from age 2) and kindergarten (Apple Trees, Chestnut Trees, Oak Trees up to age 6) are bilingual and follow Early Years principles. Romanian line: the ARACIP national curriculum with enhanced English through Cambridge Global English, grades 0-5 in primary, 6-7 in middle school, grade 8 as a foundation year for high school with the Evaluarea Națională; since 2024 a bilingual humanities high school (currently grades 9-11) ending with the bacalaureat. British line: National Curriculum of England with Reception under EYFS and Year 1-6 in primary, Year 7-8 in middle school, Year 9 with Cambridge Checkpoint, IGCSE in Year 10-11 (Cambridge and Pearson Edexcel), AS and A Level in Year 12-13. There is a hybrid high school option with Spark Generation, up to 50% of time in person.
Address Aleea Băișoara 2A, 400445 Cluj-Napoca
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE, A-Level · authorised programmeBSO · accreditationCOBIS · membershipThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre. It is inspected under the British Schools Overseas scheme and is a member of COBIS. Parents choose between the British line (the National Curriculum in England, then IGCSE and A Level) and the Romanian national line.
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: IGCSE (ages 14-16), A-Level (ages 16-18). 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 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 →National programme
The state school programme of the country the school stands in: it is set by that country's ministry of education, which also licenses the school and awards the leaving certificate. That certificate is used for entry to local universities, and abroad it is matched to the local one.
What this means for this school. This entry does not count towards the score, and that is deliberate. Every lawful school in a country works to the national programme, so on its own it tells one school apart from no other - unlike the French, German or Russian programmes, which are carried abroad and confirmed by the register of their organisation. We show it because a parent needs to know what programme their child is taught and what certificate the child will get. Counting it would lift the whole ranking at once and still tell nobody apart.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results IGCSE: the share of A*-C grades rose from 70% in 2022 to 89% in 2024, and A*-A from 27% to 51%. A Level: in 2022-2024 at least 70% of grades were A*-D, and 2024 results were 9.5% higher than in 2023. Cambridge Checkpoint results in the ninth year of the British line are above the international average in English, Maths and Science.
Where leavers go: University of Cambridge · Imperial College London · London School of Economics (LSE) · King's College London · University of the Arts London · University of Bath · University of Reading · University of Southampton · City, University of London · University of Melbourne · Waseda University · Minerva Schools
and others, 15 universities in the school's list in allThe school says its graduates have also gone to universities in China, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Scotland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Hungary and Romania; according to the brochure it has more than 250 high school alumni living and working in more than 20 countries.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The nursery, kindergarten and school share one campus on Aleea Băișoara in Cluj-Napoca. Young children have a Sensory Garden and an outdoor Mud Kitchen; once a month every kindergarten group spends half a day in the forest, and outdoor lessons take place at least once a week. Lunches are provided by the external caterer Stradale Carnivale and paid separately. Students learn with iPads. There is no boarding.
Clubs and activities: Robotics - Alphatronic · Money FEST · Eco Team · TC Insights · Debate · Duke of Edinburgh's International Award · Tășuleasa & Via Transilvanica (hiking and volunteering) · Service learning · Young Enterprise
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: Romanian teachers alongside teachers from the UK, the USA and other countries; an internal professional development programme
According to the history page the school has 125 staff; the brochure is signed on behalf of 154 adults. Romanian teachers work alongside teachers from the UK, the USA and other countries; teachers receive internal training and attend conferences. The high school has a university admissions counsellor, and students do work experience placements with school partners.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
✓CCTV
·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
The school publishes a Safeguarding and child protection policy and related policies: visitors, volunteers, student collection, first aid. The premises are under video surveillance. A wellbeing counsellor offers individual sessions for children from age 10, sessions for parents and support groups; conflicts are handled with restorative approaches and students are trained as peer mediators. In bullying cases the school involves parents in an action plan; the school medical team monitors students' health.
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 data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data85 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)90 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data65 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