Cluj nursery results: how they are posted, what to do next

At Cluj-Napoca’s state nurseries, “the results” means one document: the list of admitted children, posted at each nursery, with their first and last names, plus the number of places still free. There is no published score ranking, no public waiting list, and once the results go up no appeals can be filed. If your child’s name isn’t on the list, the route continues through the August adjustment stage.

Here is exactly how the posting works, what each outcome means, and what to do in the days that follow.

How and where are nursery results posted in Cluj?

The framework methodology (Order of the Minister of Education no. 4018/2024, published in Monitorul Oficial no. 251 of 25 March 2024, amended by MEC Order no. 3,706/2026, M. Of. no. 343 of 28 April 2026) sets out two concrete things:

• Art. 19 (6): “The list of admitted children is posted at each institution […] and contains their first and last names.” The same rule is repeated in art. 23, at the end of all stages.
• Art. 19 (4) and art. 20: the places left free after each stage are posted at every institution and on the school inspectorate’s website, together with the occupancy situation and the number of unenrolled children.

So there are two channels, with different jobs:

What is not published: individual scores, list positions, or a named list of rejected applicants. The list of applications rejected for lack of places is established in the plenary of the enrolment commission and recorded in minutes that stay in the commission’s file (art. 19 (5)) — it is not displayed.

When results go up at Creșa pentru Educație Timpurie Cluj-Napoca

The official calendar no. 3190/29.04.2026, issued by Creșa pentru Educație Timpurie Cluj-Napoca for the 2026–2027 school year, sets every posting at 2:00 p.m.:

These dates change every year. The ones above are those published for 2026–2027. Always check the current year’s calendar at creseclujnapoca.ro/inscrieri and on isjcj.ro. See also our enrolment calendar guide.

What does it mean if your child’s name isn’t on the list?

The official term is “rejected” (respins) — it is the word used in the nursery administration’s own statistics. It does not mean your file was wrong. In the vast majority of cases it means one thing: there were more applications than places.

The institution’s official statistics show the real scale of the competition:

Source: Statistică locuri la înscrierea în creșe (2015–2026), Creșa pentru Educație Timpurie Cluj-Napoca.

One thing is crucial to understand: the posted result is already the outcome after all three of your options. The methodology (art. 19 (1) a) provides for three phases inside the same stage, and the national calendar annexed to MEC Order no. 3,707/2026 — reproduced in the Cluj nursery calendar — dates them:

1. Phase I (2–8 June 2026) — applications naming an institution as first option are assessed; those that don’t fit generate the list of rejected applications.
2. Phase II (9–12 June 2026) — the rejected files are sent, in copy, to the second-option institution and reassessed there.
3. Phase III (15–17 June 2026) — the same mechanism at the third-option institution.

Only after Phase III is the result posted. So a “rejected” on 18 June means there was no place at any of your three chosen nurseries — not just the first.

Is there a waiting list at Cluj state nurseries?

No — not in the form most parents imagine. There is no public, numbered queue you climb as other families drop out. Neither the framework methodology nor the documents published by Creșa pentru Educație Timpurie Cluj-Napoca provide for a posted waiting list.

What exists instead:

• The automatic cascade through your three options — described above. This is effectively the system’s “waiting list”, except that it runs in a few days, automatically, without you doing anything.
• The adjustment stage — for which you file a new application; the old file is not reactivated.
• The quarterly review of freed places. Art. 22 of the methodology obliges the inspectorate to draw up a specific procedure covering “the dynamics of the school population — places freed through non-attendance, withdrawal, transfer”, within a quarterly analysis of attendance and withdrawal requests, precisely in order to identify places that open up. This is the legal mechanism by which an empty place can reach an unenrolled child — but it operates at inspectorate level and on a quarterly rhythm, not as a phone call the next day.

For the full plan-B strategy while you wait, see the dedicated guide: the Cluj nursery waiting list.

Can you appeal a nursery result?

No. The document “Informații utile pentru părinți” no. 3189/29.04.2026, issued by Creșa pentru Educație Timpurie Cluj-Napoca, says so unambiguously (in red capitals in the original):

“After the enrolment applications are validated, no further documents may be added to the file, and after the results are posted no appeals may be filed!”

The framework methodology likewise provides no appeal procedure at nursery level. What you do have are two concrete rights:

• Errors are corrected during validation, not after. Art. 17 (5): if the commission spots errors or unclear items in the application form or the documents, parents are contacted so they can be remedied, and validation restarts within the calendar deadlines. This is why validation happens in your presence and that of at least one commission member, immediately after the data is entered into SIIIR.
• You may collect your rejected file within 5 working days of the date the stage’s final results are posted (art. 19 (1)). Useful if you want to re-submit it elsewhere.

For the kindergarten side of the same question, see our guide to appeals.

What to do in the days after the results

If your child is on the admitted list

1. Don’t miss the pre-term parents’ meeting. In Cluj-Napoca the educational contract is signed at the meeting held before the school year starts, and attendance is mandatory. The meeting schedule is published on creseclujnapoca.ro at the end of August.
2. Get the entry-into-collectivity medical documents ready: the family doctor’s certificate stating the child is clinically healthy (needed on the first day the child is presented) and the epidemiological clearance / proof of vaccination, issued before attendance begins. See what the epidemiological clearance involves.
3. Watch the 30-day deadline. Parents who submitted only the certificate of return to work must file a REVISAL extract within 30 days of the child entering collectivity. Otherwise the educational contract is terminated.
4. Don’t “improve” anything in the file. Submitting documents that do not match reality means losing the place you obtained — the official information note states this explicitly.

If your child was rejected

1. Note the adjustment-stage window. For 2026–2027, ISJ Cluj set it out in operational procedure PO-218 (2nd edition, approved by the board on 21.07.2026): 17–21 August 2026 for collecting applications, 24–27 August for processing them, 28 August for posting the final results.
2. You file a new application form, with three new options, at the office of the institution you name as first option, together with the birth certificate, the parents’ ID cards, the employment certificates and the documents supporting the criteria.
3. You can only choose from institutions that still have places. The list of unoccupied places is published on the ISJ Cluj website before the stage (a SIIIR export, per institution and per group). See also where free places remain.
4. Remember what is specific to municipal nurseries. The methodology (art. 35 (2)) provides that enrolment of nursery-age children at institutions for which the local public authority is the founding legal entity takes place in the first enrolment stage. That is why the Cluj-Napoca nursery calendar jumps straight from Stage I to the adjustment stage — don’t wait for a “Stage II” at municipal nurseries.
5. Build the plan B in parallel, not after 28 August. See what to do if you don’t get a state nursery place and compare the private nurseries in your neighbourhood on the interactive map.

Why was a child with a “weaker file” admitted?

Because the tiebreak is not a score, it is a count of criteria met — and the order in which you submitted counts for nothing.

The general criteria listed in art. 11 (2) of the methodology for the nursery level are:

• the child turns 2 by the end of the current calendar year;
• the child’s home or one parent’s workplace is near the institution;
• both parents / the sole parent work, or present a certificate of return to work (PFA and SRL activity counts as working);
• at least one parent is enrolled in full-time education;
• the child is under guardianship or a special protection measure (Law no. 272/2004);
• single-parent family, or large family (3 or more children);
• at least one parent is retired, holds a disability certificate, or is a registered jobseeker with AJOFM;
• the parent supports another minor child (up to fourth grade) or has another child enrolled at the same institution.

In Cluj-Napoca, the official information note adds two important local clarifications:

• the children selected are those who turn 2 by 31 December of the current year and whose both parents are working from 1 October at the latest (municipal nurseries only run extended-programme groups);
• where an equal number of criteria are met, the tiebreak is by descending age.

The same note clarifies that a parent cannot claim employee status and full-time student status at the same time. Full details in our guide to the tiebreak criteria.

Frequently asked questions

Are nursery results published online or only on the noticeboard? The list of admitted children’s names is posted at each institution, under art. 19 (6) of the methodology. Online, on the inspectorate’s website, you get the occupancy situation and the number of available places — not the named list.

At what time are the results posted? The Creșa pentru Educație Timpurie Cluj-Napoca calendar for 2026–2027 sets the posting at 2:00 p.m. on the day fixed for each stage. Check the exact hour in the current year’s calendar.

Can I find out what score my child got? Individual scores are not published. The tiebreak is based on the number of criteria met, and the list of rejected applications stays in minutes held in the enrolment commission’s file rather than being posted.

I was rejected at all three options. Do I have to re-submit the file? Yes. For the adjustment stage you file a new application form, with three new options, at the institution named as first option. You can collect the rejected file from the institution within 5 working days of the results being posted.

If an admitted child withdraws in October, will someone call me? Not automatically. Places freed through non-attendance, withdrawal or transfer are handled through the inspectorate’s specific procedure, within the quarterly analysis of attendance and withdrawal requests (art. 22 of the methodology). Stay in contact with the institution and watch ISJ Cluj announcements.

What happens if I miss the meeting before the school year starts? Attendance at the meetings preceding entry into collectivity is mandatory, and the educational contract is signed there. Tell the institution in advance if you cannot make it.

Sources

• Creșa pentru Educație Timpurie Cluj-Napoca — Enrolment — calendar no. 3190/29.04.2026, information note no. 3189/29.04.2026 and the 2026–2027 enrolment schedule
• Nursery enrolment place statistics 2015–2026 — Creșa pentru Educație Timpurie Cluj-Napoca
• MEC Order no. 3,706/2026 and MEC Order no. 3,707/2026 — Monitorul Oficial no. 343 of 28 April 2026
• Framework methodology approved by Order of the Minister of Education no. 4018/2024 — Monitorul Oficial no. 251 of 25 March 2024 (art. 11, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 35)
• ISJ Cluj — Preschool and nursery enrolment — operational procedure PO-218 for the adjustment stage and the lists of unoccupied places
• How we verify our data — our methodology
• Our data sources — the full list

Conclusion

A Cluj state nursery result is a short list on a noticeboard naming the admitted children — that is all. There are no public scores, no appeal, and no waiting list to climb. If your child’s name isn’t there, only three moves matter: collecting the file within 5 working days, preparing a fresh application for the August adjustment stage, and starting a plan B early. To compare every nursery and kindergarten in the city quickly — address, type and programme — use the piticluj.ro interactive map: browse Cluj nurseries or open the map directly. Our verification methodology is set out in our data sources.