Program Dates:

Application deadlines for the student exchange programs each year are:
September (5 or 10 month) – May 28, 2010
January – October 1, 2010

There are two stages of education in Italy: primary and secondary school. Primary school is five years of study for children beginning at age 6. The curriculum is standard for all schools, including privately-run instituitions.

Secondary school (Scuole medie) is divided into two stages: “medie inferiori” are the middle school grades and “medie superiori” are the high school level. Each of these lasts three to five years and requires a final exam (the Esame di Stato conclusivo del corso di studio di Istruzione Secondaria Superiore or Esame diMaurita) before a student is eligible to proceed to university.

There are several different streams of study in secondary school, specific to subjects and activities, called the Liceo concept. Different schools offer different programmes. “Liceo” refers to a class of secondary schools oriented towards the study of arts and sciences. Though they share a common curriculum, for Italian Literature, mathematics, etc., there are specific Liceo streams for specialized interests:

• Liceo Classico studies Latin, Ancient Greek, Italian, history and philosophy
• Liceo Scientifico studies science and math, such as geometry, calculus, biology, chemistry or physics.
• Liceo Linguistico studies languages, including French, English, Spanish and German, with both Russian and Chinese now available in some regions.
• Liceo Artistico studies arts teaching, both theoretical and practical
• Instituto Technico, known as the Italian ITIS is oriented toward practical subjects such as aeronautics, business administration, computer sciences and chemistry.
• Instituto Professional – is a vocational focus of education, for students looking to practical subject matter to enter directly into a career post-graduation.

Students typically graduate by the age of 19.

Italy is a beautiful region of Europe, rich in culture, history, art and architecture, a true global treasure. Study in this region allows students to explore their own interests in a new culture.

School System

Today, there are two stages of education in Italy: primary and secondary. Primary school is commonly preceded by three years of non-compulsory nursery school (or kindergarten).

Primary school lasts five years. Until middle school, the educational curriculum is uniform for all: although one can attend a private or state-funded school, the subjects studied are the same, except in special schools for the blind, the hearing-impaired, and so forth. Secondary education (Scuole medie) is further divided in two stages: "Medie Inferiori", which correspond to the Middle School grades, and "Medie Superiori", which correspond to the High School level.

The lower tier of "Scuole Medie" corresponds to Middle School, lasts three years, and involves an exam at the end of the third year; "Scuole Superiori" lasts from three to five years. Every tier involves an exam at the end of the final year, required to access the following tier.

The secondary school situation varies, since there are several types of schools differentiated by subjects and activities. The main division is between the "Liceo", the "Istituto Tecnico" and the "Istituto Professionale". Any kind of secondary school that lasts 5 years grants access to the final exam, called Esame di Stato conclusivo del corso di studio di Istruzione Secondaria Superiore or Esame di Maturità. This exam takes place every year in June and July and grants access to any faculty at any University.

The "Liceo" concept was created by Gentile, and in 1923 indicated a specific type of secondary school; today, it rather refers to a class of secondary schools oriented towards the study of the arts and sciences. All of the Licei have some subjects in common, such as Italian Literature, or Mathematics (although the effective number of hours spent on each subject varies), while other subjects are peculiar to a particular type of Liceo (ie. Ancient Greek in the Liceo Classico or Geometrical Drawing in the Liceo Artistico).

The different types of Liceo are:

• "Liceo Classico", which features Latin, Ancient Greek, Italian, History and Philosophy as its most important subjects.
• "Liceo Scientifico", where the emphasis is more on scientific and mathematical topics, such as geometry, calculus, biology, chemistry or physics - although Latin, Philosophy and Italian literature are also taught in depth. Together with the Liceo Classico it is the most prestigious in Italy.
• "Liceo Linguistico" puts emphasis on language learning and languages taught are usually English, French, Spanish and German - although recently Russian anc Chinese have been introduced as well.
• "Liceo Artistico", which is oriented toward arts teaching - in a theoretical (ie. History of the arts) and practical (ie. drawing sessions) sense.

The "Istituto Tecnico" (Technical Institute), called in Italian ITIS (Istituto Tecnico Industriale Statale, i.e. National Technical/Industrial Institute) and ITC (Istituto Tecnico Commerciale i.e. Technical/Commercial Institute) is more oriented toward practical subjects, such as aeronautics, business administration, computer science and chemistry.

The "Istituto Professionale" offers a form of secondary education oriented toward more practical subjects, enabling the students to start searching for a job as soon as they have completed their studies (sometimes sooner, as some schools offer a diploma after 3 years instead of 5) and is even more specific in terms of vocational course offerings than the "Istituto Tecnico."

"Liceo" education involves a broad, specifically academic curriculum and is generally considered necessary for University preparation. A typical Italian student is 19 when he or she enters university, while in the UK and other countries, 18 is the more common age.