THE ITALIAN SYSTEM OF EDUCATION: AN OVERVIEW “Right-duty” to education: up to 16 years of age Education lasts for 13 years (age: 6-19 yrs) Divided in Primary and Secondary education The State directly manages public schools and higher education institutes; private institutes need to be accredited by the Ministry of Education (MIUR). Regions manage vocational training and post-secondary technical education Pre-primary School (not compulsory) Primary school Lower secondary school Upper secondary school Higher education Vocational training Post-secondary technical and vocational education

UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL Scuola secondaria superiore Admission: state exam at the end of the first cycle of education (end of lower secondary school – scuole medie inferiori) gives access to all upper secondary schools Length: 5 years. School years start in September, end in June. Assessment: scale 0-10 (6/10 pass mark). Admission is suspended if a student obtains a mark lower than 6/10 in one or more subjects at the end of the school year. In this case, students should fill in their gaps within the beginning of the following school year to be allowed to proceed to the following class. Final examination: at the end of upper secondary school students take a compulsory State examination (esame di stato – esame di maturità) entailing 3 written tests and 1 oral test. Scale is (60/100 pass mark). Those who pass the exam receive an upper secondary school leaving diploma, allowing them to access higher education studies. A recent law (L.133/2008 – riforma Gelmini) has reformed the primary and secondary education. For upper secondary school it was applied starting from s.y. 2010/11: it reorganized and reduced the types of schools available, and established some changes in the subjects taught.

UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOLS (since s.y. 2010/11) General upper secondary school – Liceo Liceo artistico (specializing in art) Liceo classico (specializing in classical studies) Liceo linguistico (specializing in foreign languages) Liceo scientifico e opzione scienze applicate (specializing in scientific studies and applied sciences) Liceo delle scienze umane e opzione economico-sociale (specializing in human sciences) Liceo musicale e coreutico (specializing in music) Technical upper secondary school – Istituto tecnico Istituto tecnico settore Economico (specializing in economics, finance, management and tourism) Istituti tecnico settore Tecnologico (specializing in mechanics, electronics, logistics, IT, graphic..) Vocational upper secondary school – Istituto professionale Istituto professionale settore Servizi (specializing in services) Istituto professionale settore Industria e artigianato (specializing in handicraft, industrial outputs)

HIGHER EDUCATION Istruzione superiore Types of institutions: University High level Arts and Music Education system – AFAM (Alta formazione artistica e musicale) Other non-university institutions (not leading to 1°, 2°, 3° cycle degrees or assimilates) Qualifications awarded in Universities: - Laurea (1° cycle degree/Bachelor, 3 years, 180 ECTS) - Laurea Magistrale (2°cycle degree/2 years Master, 120 ECTS) - Laurea Magistrale a ciclo unico (Single cycle degree/Combined Bachelor and Master, 5/6 years, 300/360 ECTS) - Phd (3° cycle, 3/4 years) - Specialisation school (3° cycle) - Professional Masters and other professional certificates

UNIVERSITY ENTRY REQUIREMENTS – 1 Laurea (Bachelor, 1° cycle Degree, 180 ECTS) Laurea Magistrale a ciclo unico (Single cycle degree/Combined Bachelor and Master, 5/6 years, 300/360 ECTS) Entry qualification required: Italian upper secondary school leaving certificate (Diploma di maturità) Foreign high school diploma obtained after 12 yrs of study (or 10/11 if integrated by college years) Admission requirements: Nationally restricted access: the number of seats, contents and date of the entry test is determined by the Ministry (i.e. Medicine, Dentistry, Architecture..) Locally restricted access: the number of seats, contents and date of the entry test is set by each University Open access with assessment of previous knowledge: there is no limit in available seats, no selection procedure; a test can be set to identify the level of previous knowledges and assign OFA (additional work-load to be carried out within the first year).

Laurea Magistrale (2°cycle degree/2 years Master, 120 ECTS) Entry qualification required: -Italian Laurea or Laurea Magistrale, or equivalent diploma issued by AFAM institutes -Foreign university or post-secondary qualification The qualification must comply with the curricular requirements laid down by each Degree Programme board. Admission requirements: Locally restricted access: the number of seats, contents and date of the entry test is set by each University Open access with assessment of previous preparation: there is no limit in available seats; an entry test can be set to verify the preparation of students and their eligibility. UNIVERSITY ENTRY REQUIREMENTS – 2

UNIVERSITY ENTRY LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS Degree programmes taught in Italian: Non-EU students: compulsory language test set by the Ministry (MIUR) in September. Students can be exempted if they hold a valid Italian language certificate at B2 or higher level. EU students and non-EU assimilated students: Italian proficiency is not tested. Degree programmes taught in English: Universities autonomously set language requirements.

REFERENCES Cimea (NARIC centre): MIUR (Ministry of education, university and research: Eurypedia (European encyclopedia of national education systems): Italian Qualifications Framework: Database of accreditated private schools: