Scuola superiore

Secondary education in Italy lasts eight years and is divided in two stages: scuola secondaria di primo grado (lower secondary school), also known as scuola media, which corresponds to the middle school grades, and scuola secondaria di secondo grado (upper secondary school), which corresponds to the high-school level.

The Scuola secondaria di primo grado (lower secondary school, previously scuola media, middle school, by which it is still called) it is mandatory, lasts three years (roughly from age 11 to 14) and is the first stage in which different specialized professors teach different subjects. It provides further education on the subjects studied at the scuola primaria, with the addition of technology and a language other than English (typically French or Spanish).

It has a common programme for all pupils, and covers all the classical subjects (Italian language and literature, history, geography, mathematics, natural sciences, English language, a second foreign Language, technology, arts, music, and physical education).

At the end of the third year, students take an examination which enables them to continue their education, which includes:

The final grade is a number from 6 to 10 cum laude (the best).

Before the Moratti reform it was called "scuola media di primo grado" or "scuola media inferiore".

The scuola secondaria di secondo grado – formerly known as "scuola media superiore" (high school) – lasts five years (even though some istituti professionali offered a professional certificate after three years, Gelmini's school reform deleted this possibility). Every tier involves an exam at the end of the final year, called esame di maturità or esame di stato; this exam takes place every year between June and July. It is designed to give students the skills to progress to any university or higher educational institution.

For historical reasons, there are three types of Scuola secondaria di secondo grado, subsequently divided into further specializations.

Programmes are generally decided at national level. Currently, most secondary schools provide some common structure and subjects (such as Italian language and literature, history, geography, philosophy, mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, one or more foreign language and physical education), while other topics are peculiar to a particular type of course (i.e. Ancient Greek and Latin in the Liceo Classico; economy and law in the istituto tecnico economico; scenography and music in the liceo artistico).

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