Secondary education in Italy
Secondary education in Italy lasts eight years and is divided in two stages: scuola secondaria di primo grado, also known as the scuola media, corresponding to the ISCED 2011 Level 2, middle school and scuola secondaria di secondo grado, which corresponds to the ISCED 2011 Level 3, high school. The middle school lasts three years from the age of 11 to age 14, and the upper secondary from 14 to 19.
Scuola secondaria di primo grado (middle school)
The scuola secondaria di primo grado, commonly known as scuola media inferiore or scuola media, it follows the definition of an ISCED 2011 Level 2 school. It is compulsory for all pupils. It lasts for three years, roughly from age 11 to 14. It is the first stage of secondary education building on primary education, with a more subject-oriented curriculum where students are taught by subject specialists. It consolidates the subjects taught at the scuola primaria, adding technology and a language other than English.The middle school has a common program of study for all pupils; it covers all the classic subjects that would be recognised in an comprehensive school: Italian language and literature, history, geography, mathematics, natural sciences, English and a second foreign Language, technology, art, music, and physical education.
Lower secondary school exam
At the end of the third year, students take an examination which includes:- Five written tests, four prepared by each examining board:
- *Prima prova, an Italian language written test
- *Seconda prova, a mathematics written test
- *Terza prova, an English language written test
- *Quarta prova, a second foreign language test
- *prova INVALSI, assessed by the :it:istituto INVALSI|INVALSI institute, a test used for tracking progress in reading comprehension, knowledge of language, reasoning and basic mathematical skills. This was introduced in the 2010 Gelmini reforms.
- An oral exam:
- *colloquio orale, an overall oral examination where the exam committee assess a presentation made by the pupil and ask related questions.
Scuola secondaria di secondo grado (high school)
The scuola secondaria di secondo grado – commonly known as scuola media superiore or scuola superiore – lasts five years. It follows closely the pattern of typical ISCED 2011 Level 3 school. The first two years when the student will be under 16 years old, are compulsory, the other three years are voluntary. There is an exam at the end of the final year, called esame di stato or, previously, the esame di maturità; this exam takes place every year between June and July. The course is designed to give students the skills and qualifications needed to progress to university or higher education college.Students may choose what level of school to attend, there are three types of scuola secondaria di secondo grado that range from the academic to the vocational. The vast majority of students attend the istituto. All students follow a common course of core subjects during the first two years augmented by subjects from their elected specialism.
- Liceo which is very academic.
- Istituto tecnico which is the normal route, and will still lead to a university entrance qualification
- Istituto professionale which includes a lot of practical work relating to a dominant local industry
In 2013, the Programme for International Student Assessment, coordinated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, ranked the Italian secondary education as the 21st in the world, higher than the United States, around the OECD average, and observes a gap between results in Northern Italian schools, which performed significantly better than the national average, and Southern Italian schools, that had, on average, somewhat poorer results. Moreover, students in state-owned schools perform better than students in private schools. A typical Italian student is age 19 when they enter university, while in other countries 18 is the more common age.
Liceo
The education offered by a liceo is mostly academic. Individual lyceums will cover the core subjects and specialise in specific fields of study; this may be the humanities, science, or art. The principal focus is to prepare students for university and higher education.Types of liceo include:
- Liceo classico – dedicated to humanities, with Latin, Ancient Greek, Italian, history and philosophy as the principal subjects.
- Liceo scientifico – dedicated to scientific studies, shares a part of its program with liceo classico in teaching Italian, Latin, history and philosophy, but is more oriented towards mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, earth science and computer science.
- Liceo linguistico – puts emphasis on modern foreign languages learning; the languages usually taught are English, French, Spanish and German – although recently Russian, Arabic and Chinese have been introduced as well. As in liceo classico, also mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, earth science and philosophy are taught.
- Liceo delle scienze umane. This became classed as a lyceum in 1998. Previously this had been called – scuola normale,, then – istituto magistrale, – here the emphasis is more on relational, behavioural and educational, such as pedagogy, anthropology, psychology, sociology, and social research. It replaces the previous normal school which once trained primary school teachers.
- Liceo artistico – which is oriented toward arts teaching – both in a theoretical and practical way. Its subjects are painting, sculpture, decoration, graphics, design, audiovisual, multimedia, scenography and architecture.
- Liceo musicale e coreutico – often linked with a conservatory, which comprises two sectors:
- *musicale – which specializes in music and teaches students to play an instrument.
- *coreutico – which specializes in dance and choreography.
- Liceo moderno – dedicated to foreign languages, featuring Latin, Italian, French, one other foreign language, History and Geography.
Istituto tecnico
Types of istituto tecnico include:
- Istituto tecnico economico – dedicated to economics and management, offers a broad theoretical education oriented toward specific subjects, such as law, economy, politics, and accountancy; it comprises two sub-types:
- *Amministrazione, finanza e marketing – which specialises in economy, law, accounting, political sciences, management and marketing
- *Sistemi Informativi Aziendali – which specialises in IT and Information Systems
- *Turismo – which specialises in tourism and related topics
- Istituto tecnico tecnologico – specialized in: technology, informatics, electronics, chemical industry, biotechnology, construction management, geotechnics, fashion; it comprises nine sub-types:
- *Meccanica, meccatronica ed energia
- *Trasporti e logistica
- *Elettronica ed elettrotecnica
- *Informatica e telecomunicazioni
- *Grafica e comunicazioni
- *Chimica, materiali e biotecnologie
- *Sistema moda
- *Agraria, agroalimentare e agroindustria
- *Costruzioni
Istituto professionale
This type of school offers a form of vocational education oriented towards practical subjects and enabling the students to start to start work as soon as they have completed their studies. Some schools offer a vocational diploma after three years instead of the normal five but it is strictly limited in its scope.
Adult education
The Italian school system also features the scuola serale, aimed at adults and working students.The istituto d'arte was once a specific type of istituto professionale which offered an education focused on art history and drawing. Today it forms part of the liceo artistico.
Terminal examination
Every kind of Italian secondary high school ends with an examination whose final score is on a 100-point scale:- up to 40 points for the general marks obtained through the last three years.
- up to 40 points on three different written tests:
- * Prima prova, an Italian language written test, decided at national level and the same for all examinees: either textual comprehension and critique, or the writing of an essay. In those parts of Italy where Italian is not the only official language, the first test can be alternatively held in the local co-official language
- * seconda prova, a written test on a subject dependent on the kind of school attended, decided at national level for each different path
- colloquio orale, an overall oral test regarding all the subjects of the last year. During the oral test, the exam committee grades a presentation made by the examinee related to the final year's arguments and poses questions related to the presentation or to the previous tests
- up to five points in cases the examining board judges appropriate to meriting students whom, at the end of the third written test, had at least 70 points in total.
The total score is the sum of the pre-exam score, the written tests' scores and the oral test score.
If the total points exceed 100, the final score is reduced to 100. If the total points exceed 101, the final score becomes 100 con lode.
The secondary high school exam is passed with a score of 60 or more, and any secondary high school diploma is valid for access to any university course of any university faculty.
The secondary high school exam is officially called esame di Stato, although the old name esame di maturità is still in common use.