The Italian educational system is strongly centralized. It consists of nursery school from ages 3 to 5, primary school from ages 6 to 11, lower secondary school (middle school) from ages 11 to 14, and upper secondary school from ages 14 to 19. Compulsory education ends at age 15 after middle school. Upper secondary school includes both academic high schools focusing on subjects like humanities, sciences, languages, and arts as well as vocational and technical schools. High schools last 5 years and conclude with a national exam. Italian schools group students into class cohorts that stay together for lessons taught by rotating teachers for several years.

2. STRUCTURE
The Italian educational system is strongly
centralized

3. From 3 to 5 the NURSERY SCHOOL
From 6 to 11 the PRIMARY SCHOOL
From 11 to 14 the LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL (Scuola Media)
From 14 to 19 the UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL

4. Compulsory education begins at age six
and ends at age fifteen, after the Middle
School Diploma and the first year of
upper secondary school

5. After the LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL, i.e. after 8 school years
students can choose among several options:
«Liceo Classico» focusing on humanities
«Liceo Scientifico» focusing on sciences
«Liceo Linguistico» focusing on foreign languages
«Liceo Artistico» focusing on arts
«Liceo Tecnologico» focusing on technical education
All these High Schools provide the students the possibilities to face
any Faculty.
«Technical High Schools» split into several tracks (Agricultural,
Commercial, Industrial, Chemical, etc.)
«Vocational High Schools» (for Hairdressers….)

6. High schools last FIVE years and
conclude at the end of grade 13
with a national final exam (“State
Exam”)

8. Pecularities of the Italian School System
At the beginning of the first year of each school level (elementary,
middle, high
school), the students are split up into Class groups which will be
the same for several years.
The students of the same age do not mix to form different class
groups; they have lessons always in the same classroom, where the
different teachers turn over.

9. That’s because once students have chosen their track, syllabi are fixed, there is
no (or very limited) options. (i.e. different languages, or religion vs. individual
study or optional subject);
• Classes last 60 minutes and take place (on average) only in the morning;
• One teacher for each subject accompanies the same group of students for
several years (three in middle school, between two and five in high school);
The number of teaching hours per subject and the curricula are defined by
ministerial decree in the whole country.
• While the subjects and hours must be the same for every school, the curricula
are only a sort of concise guide-line in order to reach the educational objectives
required by the system, through the didactic planning, which is mainly the
teachers‘ task.