Educational institutions and study programmes

What types of educational institutions and study programmes are there in Italy? And how do we check if the quality is sufficient?

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Italian educational institutions and study programmes

Below, we explain what types of educational institutions and study programmes there are in Italy. We also explain how we check whether these are recognised. We check the recognition to make sure that the quality is sufficient. We provide the necessary information per educational sector.

Secondary education | educational institutions

Students follow upper secondary education at 1 of the following types of educational institutions:

  • istituto professionale (vocational lyceum)
  • istituto tecnico (technical institute)
  • liceo artisitco (arts lyceum)
  • liceo classico (classical lyceum)
  • liceo linguistico (linguistic lyceum)
  • liceo musicale e coreutico (music and dance lyceum)
  • liceo scientifico (scientific lyceum)
  • liceo scienze umane (humanities lyceum)

For a credential evaluation, it is important to check from which type of educational institution students got their diploma, as the content of the study programme (and consequently the level of the diploma) depends on it. For more information, see:

Higher education | educational institutions

In Italy, there are different types of higher education institutions:

  • universities (università);
  • technical universities (politecnici);
  • educational institutions for arts and music (Istituzioni dell'Alta Formazione Artistica e Musicale, AFAM);
  • institutes for technical education (Istituti Tecnici Superiori, ITS);
  • military academies (accademie militari);
  • educational institutions for interpreting and translation (scuole superiori per mediatori linguistici); en
  • educational institutions for psychotherapy (istituti di specializzazione in psicoterapia).

Universities

Universities offer research-oriented and research-oriented study programmes in various fields of study.

Checking the recognition of universities

You can check the recognition of a university (università) in the following way:

  • Open the Universitaly databse of recognised higher education institutions (in Italian).
  • Click on the region of the university.
  • Is the university listed in the search results? Then it is recognised.
  • If you click on 'Link to Website', you will be redirected to the website of the university.
  • Is the university not listed in the search results? Then it is probably not recognised.

Technical universities

Technical universities (politecnici) offer profession-oriented and research-oriented study programmes in technical fields of study (ingegneria).

You can check the recognition of a technical university in the following way:

  • Go to the website Universitaly databse of recognised higher education institutions (in Italian).
  • Click on the region of the technical university.
  • Is the technical university listed in the search results? Then it is recognised.
  • If you click on 'Link to Website', you will be redirected to the website of the technical university.
  • Is the technical university not listed in the search results? Then it is probably not recognised.

Educational institutions for arts and music

Educational institutions for arts and music (Istituzioni dell'Alta Formazione Artistica e Musicale, AFAM) offer profession-oriented study programmes in the field of arts and music. The educational institutions can have different names, such as academia di belle arti or conservatorio di musica.

Checking the recognition of educational institutions for arts and music

You can check the recognition of educational institutions for arts and music in the following way:

  • Go to the website of the Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca (MIUR), the Italian ministry of Education, University and Research.
  • Below ‘Elenco istituzioni AFAM’, you can find overviews of the various educational institutions for arts and music.
  • Search for the educational institution in the overviews.
    • Is it listed in the overviews? Then it is a recognised educational institution.
    • Is it not listed in the overviews? Then the educational institution is not recognised.

Institutes for technical education

Institutes for technical education (Istituti Tecnici Superiori, ITS) offer profession-oriented study programmes for a Diploma tecnico superiore.

Checking the recognition of institutes for technical education

On the website of the Istituto Nazionale Documentazione Innovazione Recerca Educativa (INDIRE), you can find an overview of recognised institutes for technical education. The INDIRE is part of the MIUR.

Military academies

Military academies (accademie militari) offer military study programmes. These educational institutions can have different names, such as academia (academy), centro (centre) or scuola (school).

Checking the recognition of military academies

This is how you can check if a military academy is recognised:

  • Go to the website of the Ministero della Difesa, the Italian ministry of Defence.
  • Under ‘Bodies for Education’ and ‘Bodies for Specialization’, you can find the recognised military academies.

Educational institutions for interpreting and translation

Educational institutions for interpreting and translation (scuole superiori per mediatori linguistici) offer study programmes in the field of interpreting and translation.

Checking the recognition of educational institutions for interpreting and translation

On the MIUR website, you can find an overview of recognised educational institutions for interpreting and translation.

Educational institutions for psychotherapy

Educational institutions for psychotherapy (istituti di specializzazione in psicoterapia) offer study programmes in the field of psychotherapy.

Checking the recognition of educational institutions for psychotherapy

You can check the recognition of educational institutions for psychotherapy in the following way:

  • Look up in which region the educational institution for psychotherapy is located. In some cases this is stated on the diploma or transcript; in other cases you have to look it up on the internet.
  • Open the search function for educational institutions for psychotherapy. Please note: this website is only available in Italian.
  • Click on the region of the educational institution.
    • Is the educational institution listed in the search results? Then it is recognised.
    • Is the educational institution not listed in the search results? Then it is not recognised.

Higher education | study programmes

In Italy, study programmes need to be recognised by the MIUR. Below, we explain how to check the recognition of study programmes by type of educational institution.

Checking the recognition of study programmes from (technical) universities

  • Open the Universitaly database of recognised study programmes.
  • Type (part of) the name of the study programme in the search bar under 'Search'.
  • Scroll down slightly and click on the blue block marked 'University'. The search results will appear underneath.
  • Under 'Filters' you can filter the search results, for example:
    • Under 'Search province' you can select the province in which the (technical) university is located.
    • Under 'Degree level' you can select the level of the study programmes: I level (bachelor's programmes), II level (master's programmes) or single cycle (integrated master's programmes).
  • Is the study programme listed in the search results? Then it is recognised.
  • Is the study programme not listed? Then it is probably not recognised.

Checking the recognition of study programmes of art and music institutes (AFAM)

  • Open the Universitaly database of recognised study programmes.
  • Type (part of) the name of the study programme in the search bar under 'Search'.
  • Scroll down slightly and click on the blue block marked 'AFAM'. The search results will appear underneath.
  • Under 'Filters' you can filter the search results, for example:
    • Under 'Search province' you can select the province in which the (technical) university is located.
    • Under 'Degree level' you can select the level of the study programmes: I level (bachelor's programmes), II level (master's programmes) or single cycle (integrated master's programmes).
  • Is the study programme listed in the search results? Then it is recognised.
  • Is the study programme not listed? Then it is probably not recognised.

Checking the recognition of study programmes from other institutions

Want to check the recognition of study programmes from other types of institutions, such as an ITS or a scuole superiori per mediatori linguistici? Currently, there are no more databases online to easily check recognition. Therefore, for diplomas from these study programmes, please contact us for a credential evaluation.