In brief
- The competition for vacant headteacher and deputy headteacher posts in state schools, August-December 2026 session, is announced on 17 August, and application files are submitted between 14 September and 2 October.
- There are three tests: the competence assessment on 13 October, the written test on 20 October and the interviews between 12 and 27 November. The final results are posted on 9 December.
- The appointment decisions are issued by 16 December, but take effect from 1 January 2027. The bibliography for the written test contains four normative acts and two academic works.
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) No 664 of 11 August 2026
In force from: 11 August 2026
Anyone who wants to run a state school from January 2027 has six days to make up their mind: the competition is announced on 17 August, and from there follows a route of almost four months, with three tests and 24-hour appeal deadlines. Order No 4,622/2026 of the Minister of Education and Research, published in Official Gazette of Romania No 664 of 11 August 2026, approves both the calendar of the August-December 2026 session and the bibliography for the written test. It is the second piece of the calendar published by the ministry this summer, after the calendar for the reorganisation of school units for the 2026-2027 school year.
The competition is organised for the posts left vacant in the school network for the 2026-2027 school year, at units with legal personality. The procedure follows the Methodology approved earlier by Order No 4,155/2026 of the Minister of Education and Research, and the legal basis is provided by Articles 115, 194, 196 and 198 of Pre-University Education Law No 198/2023. The order was signed in Bucharest on 6 August 2026 by the Minister of Education and Research, Mihai Dimian.
The calendar, in the natural order of the dates, looks like this: on 17 August the competition is announced and the list of vacant posts is published. Between 1 and 4 September the national monitoring commission is set up, together with the organising commission at the level of each school inspectorate. Between 7 and 9 September the inspectorates ask teaching councils, local authorities and companies or universities to nominate members and alternates for the interview commissions and for the appeals commissions.
Then comes the part that concerns the candidate directly: 14 September – 2 October for submitting the application files, 15 September – 7 October for checking them, and on 7 October both the list of those who meet the conditions and the list of incomplete files are posted. Anyone with an incomplete file has 24 hours from the posting to register a request, and checking errors are put right between 7 and 9 October. The final list of accepted and rejected candidates after the file check appears on 9 October.
The tests then follow in quick succession. On 12 October the competition centres and the allocation of candidates are settled. On 13 October the competence assessment test takes place, testing personal abilities and aptitudes, with the results posted the same day, appeals within 24 hours and final results on 15 October. On 20 October the written test is held, at the same pace: results the same day, appeals within 24 hours, final results on 22 October.
What it changes in practice
The management project is assessed separately, before the interview. Between 21 and 23 October, the draft management plans and action plans are sent to the chairs of the interview commissions, and their administrative assessment runs between 21 October and 4 November. Appeals are lodged between 23 October and 5 November, are settled by 9 November, and the final results of this stage are posted on 10 November.
The interviews stretch over two weeks. Scheduling takes place on 10 and 11 November, and the interviews themselves are held between 12 and 27 November. Appeals against the interview are lodged between 12 November and 2 December, within a maximum of 24 hours from the posting of the results, and are settled by 7 December.
The final results arrive on 9 December, but the appointment begins in 2027. Candidates declared successful for several posts or units state their preference on 10 December, the board of directors of the school inspectorate validates the results on 11 December, and the appointment decisions are issued and communicated by 16 December, taking effect from 1 January 2027.
The appeal deadline is uniform and very short. At every stage, from the file check through to the interview, the appeal must be lodged within a maximum of 24 hours from the communication or posting of the results. Anyone who misses that window loses the stage, whatever the reason.
The bibliography is fixed and limited. The written test is prepared from four normative acts and two academic works, with the chapters specified exactly, which removes any uncertainty about the material to be studied.
What has changed compared with the previous situation
The most visible new element is the bibliography, which combines legislation with specialist literature. From the legislation come Pre-University Education Law No 198/2023, with Title I in full and, from Title III, Chapters IX, X, XI, XIII, XIV and XVI, then the Framework Regulation on the organisation and operation of pre-university education units, approved by Order No 5,726/2024 of the Minister of Education, in its entirety.
Two recent acts are added, both from 2026: the Reference Framework of the National Curriculum for pre-university education, approved by Order No 4,137/2026, of which only Chapter 10, “Curriculum management at school level”, pages 30-34, is required, and the Professional Profile of the School Manager, approved by Order No 3,934/2026, in full. The latter act matters because it defines the very standard against which candidates are assessed.
The academic reading requires Chapters 1, 2 and 3 of Bush, T. (2015), Educational Leadership and Management. Current Theories and Practice, Polirom, and Chapter 9 of Hattie, J. (2024), Visible Learning, from the same publisher. It is a requirement that shifts the emphasis away from memorising rules and towards understanding models of school leadership.
The second element worth noting is the gap between the close of the competition and the effect of the appointment. The decisions are communicated by 16 December 2026 but take effect only from 1 January 2027, which leaves a transition period of roughly two weeks in which the leadership already in post stays in place.
Advantages and disadvantages
What it improves
- The calendar is public almost a month before the files are submitted, so candidates have real time to prepare.
- The bibliography indicates not only the titles but also the exact chapters and pages, which removes any ambiguity about what the written test asks for.
- Including the Professional Profile of the School Manager aligns the competition material with the standard by which the headteacher will later be assessed.
- The results of each test are posted on the same day it is held, which shortens the wait and speeds up the procedure.
- Appointment from 1 January 2027 allows the post to be taken up at the start of a term rather than in the middle of one.
What remains a problem
- The 24-hour appeal deadline, applied at every stage, is very tight and penalises candidates who cannot follow the postings every day.
- The submission and checking periods for the files overlap, and the list of incomplete files appears only on 7 October, five days after submissions close.
- The administrative assessment of the management projects stretches over two weeks, and the appeals against it overlap with the scheduling of the interviews.
- The session runs in the middle of the school year, which means that serving headteachers who are candidates prepare for the competition alongside their day-to-day work.
- The two academic works in the bibliography have to be obtained, and their availability in school libraries is not guaranteed.
Practical advice
- Put 17 August in your diary as the first date that matters. That is when the list of vacant posts is published, so only then will you know whether the post you are interested in is being put up for competition.
- Do not leave your application file to the last few days. The window is 14 September – 2 October, and the list of incomplete files appears on 7 October, when you have only 24 hours left to react.
- Check the postings every day between 7 October and 2 December. All appeal deadlines run for 24 hours from the communication of the results, without exception.
- Start the draft management plan early. It goes to the commission between 21 and 23 October and is assessed administratively on its own, before the interview itself.
- Prepare for the written test strictly on the chapters indicated: Title I in full and Chapters IX, X, XI, XIII, XIV and XVI of Title III of Law No 198/2023, the framework regulation in full, Chapter 10 of the Reference Framework of the Curriculum and the Professional Profile of the School Manager.
- If you apply for several posts or several schools, work out the order of your preferences in advance. The choice is stated on a single day, 10 December.
Frequently asked questions
When are the application files for the competition submitted?
How many tests does the competition have and when are they held?
How long do I have to lodge an appeal?
What does the bibliography for the written test include?
From when do the appointment decisions take effect?
When are the final results of the competition posted?
Original text of the legal act
The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official form of publication.
The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania
Official Gazette of Romania no. 664 of 11 August 2026 16 pages PDF, 109 KB the act starts on page 14
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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.