With 87% of its students attending the world’s top 5% of universities, the International British School of Bucharest stands out as one of the bright lights of primary and secondary education in Romania, with a graduate record that reads like the who’s who of universities.

View the list of universities their students have been accepted into in recent years, readily available on their school website, and you will find familiar names, such as Oxford, Cambridge, Yale and UCL, to name just a few. 

This is no surprise, as 45% of their students this year have already received offers to universities currently ranked in the top 1% of universities worldwide, with almost 90% of their students (87% to be precise) being offered places in the world’s top 5% of universities. This is an impressive statistic for any school.

What is surprising, however, is the fact that the school admits students of all ability levels. In fact, a number of students offered a place are those who have struggled in other schools, but gone on to achieve success at IBSB.

“My son was badly bullied in the Romanian system, and making little progress academically as a result, so we made the decision to move him at the start of Year 8. At IBSB he was accepted by the other students and given the additional support needed to restore his self-confidence and sense of self-worth. My only regret is that we didn’t move him to IBSB earlier.” Mihaela Constantinescu.

When we asked the Head of School, Kendall Peet, what the key to their success is, he told us that individual student support is absolutely essential:

“The old system of education essentially adopted a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Most schools still apply this approach, which is no longer tenable. Schools need to recognise fundamentally that each student is different, learns in different ways, arrives ready to learn with different skills and levels of knowledge, and as such needs a personalised learning programme. Our success is very much a reflection of the partnership formed between our teachers, students, and parents, all working together toward a common goal.”

On closer examination, much of their success can be attributed to laying the right foundation early on. Head of Primary, Alan Cornish, explained to us the importance of schools adopting a Growth Mindset, which he says does not limit the potential of students:

“There’s a lot of research now readily available indicating that all students can exceed expectations with the right support in place to challenge and extend. We believe in this approach, we do not limit a child’s growth, we provide opportunities and support for all pupils with the result being above average achievement across the curriculum.”

One of the things the school does differently is to focus on language learning from an early age to ensure each student becomes polylingual, which research also shows builds additional learning capacity. All students are taught in English, with language lessons offered in Romanian, both for native speakers and non-native learners, and either German, French, or Spanish as a modern foreign language. Other languages, such as Mandarin and Hebrew are made available through their extensive club programme.

One of the many polylingual students graduating this year is Head Girl, Andreea Stanescu, fluent in English, Romanian, and German. Andreea joined IBSB in Year 1, and has just received an offer from UCL, Kings College London, and Warwick University, all top level universities.

“Everyone who joins IBSB in the primary school speaks at least three languages when they graduate, some speak four or five. Speaking multiple languages is just a normal part of life here at IBSB”. 

Another normal part of life for the students at IBSB is work experience. Every student who graduates completes at least two work placements with one of their many partners, including PwC, Deloitte, Blue Air, Catena, and St Mary’s Hospital, to name just a few.

Head of Secondary, Matthew Tansley: “We aim to ensure that every student can complete work experience in their job of preference. This is absolutely essential. If we don’t have a partner in a particular field, we’ll contact the leading companies to establish a new relationship, as most companies have been very happy to join our programme.”

Bogdan Iorgulescu, offered a place at Imperial College London, one of the world’s leading scientific universities, shared his thoughts on the IBSB Work Experience Programme:

“The programme is brilliant. One of my placements was a two week internship at the Nuclear Physics (ELINP) facility studying ion radiation simulations. It was an incredible experience, which combined with my school trip to the CERN reactor in Austria, gave me the confidence to apply to study physics at a top university.”

In this increasingly competitive world, it is essential to give our children the right start to life, which means choosing a school that will support their future success. As a school with proven exam results and a graduate record that places 87% of its students in the top 5% of universities worldwide, the International British School of Bucharest is a school that should be at the top of everyone’s list. To find out more information please contact admissions@ibsb.ro.

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