Qualifications obtained after 11 or 10 years of global schooling do not allow access to Italian universities, unless you satisfy one of the following additional conditions:

• you attended one (in case of 11 years) or two (in case of 10 years) years of university studies and took all the exams foreseen by the study programme;
• you obtained a post-secondary title to compensate for any missing years of secondary education;
• you attended a preparatory programme (foundation) at an Italian or foreign institution, to compensate the missing years of schooling and to acquire the competences and skills necessary to be accepted to the degree programme you wish to access at University.
• certificates awarded in-house relating to the passing of foundation courses, including those of less than one academic year, which impart adequate knowledge, competences and skills to attend the chosen course of study within the same institution

Secondary school qualifications will be considered valid if achieved after at least 2 years of attendance of the same education system.

EXAMPLE: An Italian Student, Maria, completed three years in an Italian Secondary School, then moved to Canada with her family. In Canada, she attended two years in a local Secondary School, achieving a Canadian High School diploma. Maria’s diploma will allow her to be admitted to a Laurea (equivalent to bachelor degree) programme (in relation to the outcome of the entrance test).

Applicants that fall in these categories will apply to the test as EU citizens:

• Citizens of the following countries: Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and San Marino
• Non-EU citizens who live in Italy and have a residence permit for the following reasons: work, family reunion, political asylum, religion, long term/unlimited permit
• Non-Eu citizens holding a long-term residence permit in another European country
• Non-EU citizens who have obtained an Italian High School diploma (maturità)

EXAMPLE: A Turkish student is studying in a Secondary School in Turkey: the school offers the opportunity to its students to obtain either the Turkish secondary school qualification or the Italian secondary school qualification. If the student chooses to obtain the Italian high school qualification, he/she can take the test following the rules reserved to Italian and equivalent citizens.
WARNING: the decision to use one or the other diploma is binding and cannot be modified after having taken the test. 

• Non-EU citizens holding a study permit, who are enrolled in a Laurea (equivalent to Bachelor of Science) programme or in Sigle Courses (related to the Laurea programme of interest) at an Italian university and want transfer to Politecnico di Milano
• Non-EU citizens holding a secondary school diploma issued by a foreign or international schools that operates in Italy or abroad, object of bilateral agreements or special legislations: the list of these institutions is report in Allegato 2 (English Version will be upload as soon).
• Political refugees and staff in service for foreign Diplomatic Representations and international organisms with offices in Italy (accredited by the Italian state or the Holy See) and relative family members under their care, limited to spouses and children
• Non-EU citizens with a C1 or C2 certificate of Italian language knowledge, issued within the framework of the CLIQ (Certificazione di lingua Italiana di Qualità)

Applicants that fall in these categories will apply to the test as Non-EU citizens:

• Non-EU citizens who do not live in Italy and have achieved a foreign qualification in a country other than Italy
• Non-EU citizens who have studied in Italy with a study permit and have lost their students status or withdrawn from their studies: these applicants must obtain a new visa for study purposes if they wish to access University
• Non-EU citizens with a study permit, who are attending a language course: these applicants must obtain a new visa for study purposes if they wish to access University
• Non Eu students with a study permit, who are taking single courses in an Italian University: these applicants must obtain a new visa for study purposes if they wish to access University

The Marco Polo programme is designed for Chinese students residing in their home country who wish to attend a Laurea (equivalent to a bachelor degree) programme at an Italian University. Students are required to complete an Italian language course of 10 or 11 months in Italy before entering the University of their choice. Application to the Marco Polo programme takes place between April and August, at the Italian embassy in China, where students fill out a pre-application, deciding both the University programme they wish to enroll in and the school or University where to study Italian. For detailed information about the application process and deadlines please consult the Italian Ministry of University and Research website (or directly contact the Italian embassy):
https://www.studiare-in-italia.it/studentistranieri/moduli/2021/MarcoPolo22.pdf (Document reffered to AY 2021/2022)

Every year Politecnico di Milano reserves a number of places especially to Marco Polo students. The number of places reserved to Marco Polo students is published here. If the number of Marco Polo students passing the test is lower than the places available, the remaining seats will be assigned to other non-EU students. Marco Polo students can also occupy a number of places higher than the number reserved to them in case they perform better than other non-EU students at the entrance test.

Admission to Politecnico di Milano: Bachelor of Science programmes

1. Are you a Marco Polo student who has filled out a pre-application to Politecnico di Milano?
   You have to follow the admission procedures for international non-EU students.
   Moreover you must obtain a certificate of Italian language of B1 level (minimum) in order to benefit of the places especially reserved to Marco Polo candidates. If you cannot get your certificate on time, ask the school issuing the certificate to directly contact the International Students Office. Politecnico di Milano accepts any certificate of Italian issued by the school where you are studying.
2. You arrived in Italy as a Marco Polo student, you are currently attending a Bachelor programme in Italy but you are planning to transfer to Politecnico di Milano?
   You have to follow the admission procedures for EU students. If admitted you must ask for a transfer from your current university to Politecnico di Milano. Do not withdraw from your studies as your residence permit will lose its validity and you won’t be allowed to enroll here.
3. Are you a Turandot programme student who is currently studying Italian and you wish to enter Politecnico di Milano?
   Given consensus of the AFAM institution you have pre-applied to, you can be admitted to Politecnico di Milano under the same conditions as non-EU students, but you won’t benefit from the places reserved to Marco Polo students.

Students holding an American High School Diploma must have passed at least three "Advanced Placements" (APs) with a score of 3 to 5 in order to access a Laurea (equivalent to Bachelor of Science) programme.

An AP in Italian It will be compulsorily required to students with foreign citizenship who apply to a programme held in Italian language. The AP in Italian cannot be counted among the 3 Aps in case of students with Italian citizenship or in the case of enrollment in courses delivered entirely in English.

In the absence of the required APs, you can access a Laurea programme if:

• You have completed two full years of college (Associate Degree) after obtaining the High School Diploma. The college of choice can be in a country other than the one of your Diploma.

If you obtained the diploma after less than two years of attendance of the American High School, please contact the International Students Office.

Students, holding a General Certificate of Education (GCE) and International Certificate of Education (IGCE), issued by certification authorities in United Kingdom, must have passed at least three A levels in order to access a Laurea (Equivalent to Bachelor of Science) programme.

An A level in Italian It will be compulsorily required to students with foreign citizenship who apply to a programme held in Italian language. The A level in Italian cannot be counted among the 3 A levels in case of students with Italian citizenship or in the case of enrollment in courses delivered entirely in English.

An alternative to A levels are 3 Cambridge Pre U principal subjects; an Italian Cambridge Pre U principal subject will be compulsorily required to students with foreign citizenship who apply to a programme held in Italian language. However, it is possible to combine Pre U Principal Subjects and A levels.
The Pre U principal subjects in Italian cannot be counted among the 3 A levels in case of students with Italian citizenship or in the case of enrollment in courses delivered entirely in English.

Students holding a Scottish diploma must have passed three Advanced Highers in order to access a Laurea (equivalent to Bachelor of Science) programme.

In the absence of the required Advanced Highers, you can access a Laurea programme if:

• You have completed two Advamced Highers and at least 4 Highers

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma will be accepted for enrolment (in case you pass the entrance test) without any additional documentation only if issued by one of the schools present in this list. In case the diploma was issued by a school not present in the list, you will have to provide the usual set of documents required for enrolment, prepared by the Italian Embassy in Geneva.

If you hold and IB and are a Non EU citizens, you can be admitted to the test outside of the specific places reserved for non-EU candidates residing abroad, only if you have passed an Italian language course in your curriculum.

The IB diploma obtained only after 11 years of total schooling could be not accepted by university, in this case it will be necessary to catch up the missed year as reported in the section "Students with less than 12 years of schooling".
The diplomas issued by these educational institutions are valid for enrolment in Italian universities provided that the students in possession of the diploma in question have been admitted to the International Baccalaureate course after having obtained the promotion or the eligibility for the penultimate year of the upper secondary school in accordance with the school system of origin (i.e. the 11th class or 12th class of overall schooling depending on whether, respectively, the school system of origin is organised over 12 years or 13 years of total schooling). In the event that the International Baccalaureate Diploma has been awarded after 11 years of overall schooling, higher education institutions must request a compensation for the missing year as indicated in Annex 1.

The International Baccalaureate Diploma will have to meet the following general requirements:

• at least 24 points in six elective subjects, 12 of which must be obtained at “Higher Level”;
• positive overcoming of the three main subjects: Theory of Knowledge (TOK), Creativity, Action, Service (CAS) and Extended Essay (EE).