The word "scuola" covers a long chain of decisions: which stage, which enrolment platform, which date. The system is logical once you see it laid out, and the official line is welcoming: foreign children are enrolled on the same terms as Italian ones. If your plan includes schools in Italy, here is the map.
How are schools in Italy organised?
Italy has these stages, according to the Ministry of Education and Merit (MIM):
- Nido (nursery, from 3 to 36 months) and scuola dell'infanzia (preschool, 3 to 6): optional.
- Scuola primaria (primary, five years, 6 to 11) and scuola secondaria di primo grado (lower secondary, three years, 11 to 14): the compulsory first cycle.
- Scuola secondaria di secondo grado (upper secondary, five years, from 14): general, technical or vocational. Compulsory for the first two years.
Compulsory schooling runs ten years, from 6 to 16, and training continues until 18 or a vocational qualification. For the 2026-2027 year, preschool takes children who turn three by 31 December 2026 (or by 30 April 2027, subject to places), and primary school is compulsory for children who turn six by 31 December 2026.
How do you enrol in one of the schools in Italy?
For a first year (primary, lower secondary or upper secondary) for the September start, parents enrol online on the Unica platform, using SPID, CIE, CNS or the national digital identity of another EU country (eIDAS). For 2026-2027, the window ran from 13 January to 14 February 2026, extended to 21 February. Expect similar dates next year. Preschool, the Aosta Valley, the provinces of Trento and Bolzano and a few upper-secondary courses use paper enrolment at the school.
Crowded schools fill up during that window, so missing it means taking what remains. If you arrive mid-year, contact the school in your area: it must consider your request, and the local education office helps find a place if it has none. Without a codice fiscale, online enrolment creates a provisional code, or you take identity documents to the school.
Arriving in the middle of the year, with a child coming from another system, is where the questions pile up: which year they join, whether a report card needs translating, what the school will ask for. If you want to prepare the file and a list of questions for the school office, Moovy, Hello Expat's AI assistant, can help you draw it up from the official guidance.
What documents will the school ask for?
- ID for the child and parents, and the codice fiscale (guide), or the provisional code.
- Vaccination certificate. For nursery and preschool, mandatory vaccinations condition admission under decree-law 73/2017, and schools pass lists of pupils up to age 16 to the ASL.
- Previous reports and school certificates, ideally translated. For a foreign diploma, Italy may ask for a dichiarazione di valore (statement of value, issued by the Italian consulate of the country where the diploma was obtained) or an assessment by CIMEA.
- Proof of residence at the Comune, needed for canteen and municipal rates (residence in Italy).
What does school cost?
State school is free. The ministry stresses that "contributions" some schools request are voluntary and distinct from school taxes; a school cannot make them a condition of enrolment. State school taxes apply only to the last two years of upper secondary school, after age 16: enrolment €6.04 (once for the cycle), attendance €15.13 a year, exam €12.09 and diploma €15.13. Families with an ISEE (economic situation indicator) of €20,000 or less are fully exempt, as are students with high marks.
Canteen, nursery and school transport are managed by the Comune and the tariff depends on the town, often on your ISEE. Look for the servizi scolastici section of the Comune's website.
The calendar is set region by region. For 2026-2027, the school year starts between 10 and 17 September depending on the region (for example Veneto on 10 September, Lombardy and Lazio on 14 September, Tuscany on 15 September, Sicily on 16 September, Sardinia on 17 September) and ends in early or mid-June 2027.
Which international or bilingual options exist?
French-language families have the best-developed network: AEFE-approved schools in Rome, Milan, Turin, Florence and Naples. Fees are set by each school, and French families may be eligible for AEFE scholarships.
In the Aosta Valley, French has equal status with Italian: the region's statute requires as many hours of French as Italian each week. In the province of Bolzano, German-language (and Ladin) public schools run outside the national Unica platform, with enrolment through the province's myCIVIS system. For other languages, look at what private and international schools in your city offer.
What are the traps?
- Missing the January window for a first-year enrolment in a popular school.
- Assuming a foreign school frees you from all checks. Pupils from foreign schools usually sit an admission exam (esame di idoneità) to enter a public or paritaria (state-recognised private) school, unless a bilateral deal says otherwise.
- Not declaring anything. Parents are responsible for compulsory schooling, and penalties have been tightened. Home education must be declared each year to the local school.
- Skipping vaccination papers for preschool.
Choosing where to live? Our best places to live in Italy shows where French-language and German-language schools are. Planning for work? See working in Italy.
What happens at 16, and can you educate children at home?
Compulsory schooling ends at 16, but training continues until 18 or a vocational qualification. State school taxes appear at this stage: in the fourth and fifth years of upper secondary school, enrolment is €6.04 once for the cycle, attendance €15.13 a year, the exam €12.09 and the diploma €15.13, with full exemption for families with an ISEE of €20,000 or less and for pupils with an average of at least 8/10.
Parents can also educate their children at home (istruzione parentale), but it must be declared every year to the school of your area, and parents remain responsible for the obligation under the Comune's supervision. Since 2023 the sanctions for failing to ensure schooling have been tightened and can go as far as prison, so treat the declaration as a legal duty and not as a formality.
Which questions should you ask the school before enrolling?
A short list that saves a lot of back-and-forth:
- Which class will my child join, and on what basis (age, previous reports, an assessment)?
- What do you need translated, and do you accept documents in English, French or Spanish? Some universities do; the school that receives the file decides.
- Is the canteen included, and how do I register with the Comune for canteen and transport?
- Are vaccinations on record? (This matters for preschool and nursery.)
- What are the school hours and the holiday calendar for the region?
Keep an eye on policy too. The education minister has announced, in a press interview, a circular on a cap on the share of foreign pupils per class; we have not seen an official text, and it could affect assignment in some schools. Ask the local education office if you are told your child cannot be placed.
Choosing a town with good schools is half the battle, and our best places to live in Italy covers how to factor schools into the choice of region. If the move is for work, working in Italy covers the contract side.
One last practical point about the schools in Italy that expat families notice: the administration works through the Comune and the school office, not through a single national counter. Keep copies of everything you submit, note the name of the person you spoke to, and ask for confirmation by e-mail, particularly if you enrol outside the January window.
If your child has special educational needs, ask the school and the ASL early about the support available; the sources we reviewed do not detail it, and the answer depends on the region and the school.