Brandon Le Clerk
Living in Italy, from South Africa
"What I really love about InterNations? Making new business contacts and friends in real life. This is a unique plattform."
Li Wang
Living in Italy, from China
"At my first InterNations Rome Get-Together I met more expats then expected. InterNations made is so easy to settle in."
Rome at a Glance
Alas, living in Rome isn’t all about sipping your latte macchiato or shopping on the swanky Via dei Condotti. With the help of InterNations, however, you’ll begin your new life in Rome well-prepared! Read on for helpful tips on relocating to Rome, from housing and healthcare to schools and transportation.
The Italian School System: From Kindergarten to Lower Secondary
Expat families in Rome will be particularly interested in the schools available for their children. In Italy, it’s customary to send your kids to kindergarten (scuola dell’infanzia) for up to three years.
Pre-school is followed by five years of primary education (scuola primaria). In primary school, Italian children are taught reading, writing, math, English, arts, and music, as well as basic history, geography, natural sciences, and social studies.
The same curriculum as in primary education applies to lower secondary school (scuola secondaria di primo grado), except for the addition of a second foreign language. After three years, the students sit the licenzia media exam for upper secondary school.
Upper Secondary Education in Italy
Upper secondary education is divided into several types, depending on each student’s personal interests and academic achievements. Students who want to start a job sooner rather than later can attend an istituto tecnico or istituto professionale for three to five years. These institutes offer practical subjects with a commercial or technical focus as vocational training.
The liceo, on the other hand, is the fast track to a university education. There are various kinds of high school, of an artistic or academic nature. Students can specialize in music, the fine arts, or even dance, as well as the classics, natural sciences, humanities, or modern languages. The final exam (esame di maturità), in combination with an entrance test, paves the way to higher education.
International Schools in Rome
While the Italian school system has a good reputation and is free of charge, expat parents often worry about the language barrier. If your child is comparatively young, shows noticeable ease at picking up foreign languages, or has another European language (especially a Romanic one) as his or her mother tongue, this could be a great opportunity for your kid to acquire fluent Italian skills.
