EU citizens and citizens treated as such wishing to enrol at an Italian university must:
- hold a qualification with the minimum necessary requirements
- present all requested documentation to the Foreign Students Secretariat of the chosen University.
Below are general provisions regarding all three study cycles of Italy’s university system. One should always check with the Foreign Students Secretariat of the chosen university the documents and requirements for enrolment.
Academic qualification: minimum requirements
Cycle I/Single Cycle: EU citizens and citizens treated as such may access without restrictions Italy’s university system if they hold a final secondary school qualification that:
- has been issued by official schools of the school system of origin
- is valid in the country of origin for enrolment at university or to access a study course similar to that which the student wishes to follow in Italy
- has been issued after at least 12 years of pre-university schooling (primary and secondary education).
Cycle II/III: each university decides independently on the suitability and equivalence of the qualification awarded overseas. The following is generally requested:
- academic qualification or title, cycle I or II, issued by an official institution of the country of origin enabling access in that schooling system to cycle II or III courses
or - foreign qualification awarded by a non-university Higher Education institution together with a pre-university (primary and secondary school) certificate issued after at least 12 years of overall schooling.
To be admitted to cycle I and II courses, some qualifications are subject to restrictions:
- final secondary school qualifications awarded after 10/11 years of overall schooling
- academic qualifications of Pontifical Universities in Italy
- US High School qualifications (HSD)
- UK secondary school qualifications
- Greek secondary school qualifications –”Apolityrion”
- secondary school certificates awarded by border schools
- qualifications awarded by European schools pursuant to Law 102 of 3/10/1960 and Law 577 of 19/05/1965
- secondary qualifications of foreign schools operating in Italy
- final qualifications of secondary education institutes of the Republic of San Marino
- International Baccalaureate (BI) diploma
- qualifications of “Italian sections” of foreign schools
Help with recognition of academic qualifications:
- “Transcript”: serves to assess the basic knowledge of the student, and is issued by the competent academic authority. It consists of a list of examinations taken by the student, the marks for each exam and educational credits (CFU=ECTS) associated with each subject
- Diploma “Supplement”: this document is drafted in two or more languages, and gives information on the student and his studies, using models in keeping with those adopted by European nations.
Documentation
It is necessary to present to the Foreign Students Secretariat the following documents:
- academic qualification according to the above requirements
- enrolment form
- official translation in Italian of all foreign language documents done by sworn or non-professional translators. In the second case the translation should be legalised at the relevant Italian diplomatic-consular Representation
- legalisation of document or with a procedure guaranteeing the authenticity of official documents, including the qualification. The competent authority should be asked whether the relative law provision is in force in the country in which the qualification was awarded, before requesting the Declaration of equivalence of the qualification from the Italian diplomatic-consular Representation
- declaration of equivalence or document providing information on the legal status of the institution issuing the qualification, duration of the study course and equivalence of the qualification awarded overseas. It must be requested to the relevant Italian diplomatic-consular Representation
- two passport size photographs, one of which authenticated by the Italian diplomatic-consular Representation.
Also to be presented are the following general national documents:
– EU citizens and citizens treated as such:
- Passport or valid ID document
- Registration with registry office, to be requested from the municipality where one intends to reside (D.L. 30 of 6 February 2007)
- TEAM card to be entitled to medical care
– Non-EU citizens residing in Italy require the same documentation, plus
- a legal and valid residence permit.