Choosing a high school in Italy is about much more than selecting the institution with the most prestigious name. Students must first decide which type of education suits their abilities and ambitions: a classical or scientific liceo, a linguistic or human-sciences program, a technical institute, or a vocational school.
For families comparing these options, Eduscopio is one of the most useful resources available. Created by the Fondazione Agnelli, the free platform evaluates Italian secondary schools according to what their students accomplish after graduation.
The latest available results come from Eduscopio 2025, published on December 3, 2025. No newer Eduscopio edition had been released when this article was updated.
What Is Eduscopio?
Eduscopio is not a conventional ranking based on school reputation, buildings, extracurricular activities, or examination scores alone. Instead, it follows former students after graduation and examines two different kinds of outcomes:
-
University results, particularly the grades and university credits earned during the first year.
-
Employment results, including the percentage of graduates who find work, how quickly they obtain a significant contract, and whether their job corresponds to what they studied.
The 2025 edition analyzed approximately 1.355 million graduates from 8,150 Italian schools, covering the 2019–20, 2020–21 and 2021–22 school years.
For university preparation, Eduscopio uses the FGA Index, which gives equal weight to the average grades earned in university examinations and the percentage of available university credits completed.
For employment outcomes, technical and vocational schools can be compared through indicators such as employment rate, waiting time before the first significant contract, and consistency between the graduate’s education and subsequent occupation.
Why There Is No Single “Best School in Italy”
It is tempting to turn the Eduscopio results into one national league table, but that is not how the system was designed.
A liceo classico should be compared with other classical licei, while a technical-economic institute should be compared with other schools offering the same type of education. Rankings also change according to the student’s address and the selected search radius.
This matters because a school that appears first in a city-only search may not remain first when nearby municipalities are included.
Eduscopio itself emphasizes that the platform is an orientation tool, not a substitute for examining the student’s interests, academic strengths, preferred subjects, commute, school environment and long-term plans.
Leading Schools in Major Italian Cities
The following overview highlights some of the schools that stood out in the Eduscopio 2025 results. It is a practical summary rather than a complete national ranking.
Milan
Milan offers one of Italy’s broadest selections of public and private secondary schools.
Leading schools
-
Liceo Classico Giovanni Berchet – first among classical licei in Milan, returning to the top ahead of the Sacro Cuore.
-
Liceo Scientifico Alessandro Volta – again the city’s leading traditional scientific liceo.
-
Liceo Scientifico Leonardo da Vinci – another strong choice for students planning university studies.
-
Civico Liceo Linguistico Alessandro Manzoni – one of the leading options for languages.
-
Istituto Manzoni – prominent among technical-economic schools.
-
Istituto Carlo Cattaneo – one of Milan’s principal names in technological technical education.
Families living outside the municipal boundaries should also search the wider metropolitan area. Schools in places such as Meda, Vimercate, Bollate and Desio can perform extremely well when the search radius is expanded.
Rome
Rome performed particularly strongly in the 2025 edition, with its leading classical and scientific licei receiving better FGA scores than their Milanese counterparts.
Leading schools
-
Liceo Classico Ennio Quirino Visconti – the leading classical liceo in the capital.
-
Liceo Classico Terenzio Mamiani – second among Rome’s classical schools.
-
Liceo Classico Torquato Tasso – another consistently strong option.
-
Liceo Scientifico Augusto Righi – the city’s leading traditional scientific liceo.
-
Liceo Caetani – particularly notable for its economic-social program.
-
Liceo Renzo Levi – one of the strongest linguistic schools in the Rome area.
-
Liceo Eugenio Montale – another highly placed option for language studies.
Rome’s size makes travel time especially important. A slightly lower-ranked school that can be reached easily may be a more sensible choice than one requiring a long daily journey across the city.
Turin
Turin’s results included a change at the top of the classical-school table.
Leading schools
-
Liceo Classico Camillo Benso di Cavour – returned to first place among the city’s classical licei.
-
Liceo Classico Vincenzo Gioberti – remained close to the top.
-
Liceo Classico Vittorio Alfieri – another well-established high performer.
-
Istituto Edoardo Agnelli – the private school led Turin’s traditional scientific category.
-
Liceo Altiero Spinelli – maintained a strong position in language education.
-
Carlo Cattaneo – moved to the top of the city’s scientific applied-sciences category.
Turin also has a strong tradition of technical education connected with engineering, manufacturing, information technology and industrial production. When comparing its technical institutes, families should examine both university and employment indicators rather than relying on a single score.
Bologna
Bologna continues to offer excellent preparation for university, which is especially significant in a city closely connected with the historic University of Bologna.
Leading schools
-
Liceo Classico Luigi Galvani – Bologna’s leading classical liceo.
-
Liceo Scientifico Niccolò Copernico – the city’s leading traditional scientific liceo.
-
Liceo Enrico Fermi – a notable option for scientific and applied-sciences education.
-
Liceo Francesco Arcangeli – the leading artistic liceo in the city.
Bologna’s metropolitan area contains other competitive schools, so students living outside the center should repeat their Eduscopio search using a radius appropriate to their daily journey.
Florence
Florence is widely associated with art and the humanities, but its strongest schools also include scientific, linguistic and social-sciences programs.
Leading schools
-
Liceo Classico Galileo – once again the leading classical liceo in Florence.
-
Liceo Statale Niccolò Machiavelli – a particularly strong performer among the city’s other academic programs.
-
Liceo Artistico di Porta Romana and Liceo Artistico Leon Battista Alberti – important names for students interested in visual and applied arts.
For artistic education, Eduscopio results require additional caution because many graduates enter art academies rather than conventional universities. Those academic records are not fully represented in the university database used by the platform.
Readers interested in specialist creative education may also consult our guide to the best schools in Italy for learning art and sculpture.
Naples
Naples produced one of the clearest results in the 2025 edition: the same institution led both the classical and traditional scientific categories within the city.
Leading schools
-
Convitto Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele II – first among both classical and scientific licei in Naples.
-
Liceo Jacopo Sannazaro – one of the city’s strongest classical schools.
-
Liceo Umberto I – another prominent classical liceo.
-
Liceo Giuseppe Mercalli – a notable presence among the city’s academic schools.
-
Liceo Eleonora Pimentel Fonseca – recognized for programs including human sciences.
-
Istituto Sannino-De Cillis and Istituto Ferdinando Galiani – among the Naples institutions highlighted for technical or employment-oriented education.
Outside the city, the Pitagora of Pozzuoli performed particularly well among classical licei, while the Matilde Serao of Pomigliano d’Arco stood out in human sciences.
Italy’s Highest Overall FGA Score
Although city comparisons attract considerable attention, the highest FGA score in the 2025 edition did not belong to a famous school in Rome, Milan or Florence.
The top result was achieved by the Giovanni Battista Ferrari in Este, in the province of Padua. Its scientific applied-sciences program recorded an FGA Index of approximately 94.5 out of 100.
Other highly rated provincial schools included the Giovenale Ancina in Fossano, in the province of Cuneo, and the Giorgio Dal Piaz in Feltre, in the province of Belluno.
This is a valuable reminder that excellent schools are found throughout Italy, including in smaller cities where students may benefit from shorter commutes and a less dispersive environment.
Liceo or Technical Institute?
Neither option is automatically better. The right choice depends on what the student enjoys, how they learn and what they hope to do after graduation.
A liceo may be appropriate for students who:
-
expect to continue to university;
-
enjoy theoretical and academic subjects;
-
want a broad cultural or scientific education;
-
are considering professions that require a university degree.
A technical institute may be appropriate for students who:
-
prefer combining theory with practical applications;
-
are interested in economics, tourism, computing, electronics, mechanics, construction or other specialist fields;
-
want the option of entering employment directly after graduation;
-
want to preserve the possibility of attending university.
Technical education should not be treated as a second-class alternative. A good technical institute can provide both employable skills and sufficient preparation for higher education. In fact, a considerable proportion of technical-school graduates continue to university.
How to Use Eduscopio Correctly
I recommend treating the ranking as the beginning of the selection process, not the final answer.
1. Choose the educational path first
Compare classical schools with classical schools, scientific schools with scientific schools and technical-economic institutions with others in the same sector. A higher score does not make one type of curriculum more suitable for every student.
2. Enter the student’s actual address
Eduscopio is designed around realistic commuting distances. Entering the home location and selecting an appropriate radius produces a more useful list than searching for a famous school in another part of the city.
3. Check more than the headline score
For university-oriented programs, examine:
-
the FGA Index;
-
average university grades;
-
university credits completed;
-
the percentage of graduates who enroll at university;
-
the percentage of students who complete secondary school without repeating a year.
For technical and vocational institutions, examine:
-
the employment rate;
-
the waiting time before obtaining significant employment;
-
the consistency between the course studied and the job obtained;
-
the types of contracts secured by graduates.
4. Attend open days
A statistical result cannot reveal the atmosphere inside a school. Families should visit shortlisted institutions, meet teachers, examine laboratories and facilities, and ask about student support, language programs, extracurricular activities and inclusion.
5. Consider the daily commute
A difficult journey can affect attendance, study time and overall well-being. The highest-ranked school is not necessarily the best choice if reaching it requires several hours of travel each day.
6. Look beyond a single edition
Small movements from one year to another do not always indicate a meaningful change in quality. Consistent results over several editions may be more informative than a sudden rise or fall.
Special Considerations for International Families
Parents moving to Italy should remember that most public secondary-school instruction is in Italian. A child entering the system with limited language skills may need additional support, even when they have performed well academically in another country.
It is also important to understand the differences among licei, technical institutes, vocational institutes and international schools before comparing individual institutions.
Our guides to education in Italy for international students and moving to Italy as an expat provide additional information for families planning a move.
A Ranking Is Useful, but the Student Comes First
Eduscopio offers something that school reputations alone cannot provide: evidence about what former students achieved at university and in the labor market.
Nevertheless, numbers tell only part of the story. The best school for an individual student is one that offers the right curriculum, provides an environment in which that student can flourish and is realistically accessible from home.
Families should therefore use Eduscopio alongside school visits, conversations with teachers, official school reports and—most importantly—the interests and abilities of the student.