Introduction
As of academic year 2021/22, an Italian language proficiency is compulsory for all foreign students admitted to:
- Master degree programmes taught in English
- Bachelor degree programme in Architectural Design – EN
- Bachelor degrees programme in Engineering taught in english – EN
- Bachelor degree programme in Interaction Design – EN (Lecco campus)
Foreign students will therefore have to prove their knowledge of the Italian language before registering to the final degree examination (seduta di Laurea).
From the 2023/2024 academic year, proof of Italian language proficiency is mandatory for international students admitted to PhD programmes.
Foreign PhD students must therefore demonstrate proficiency in Italian before registering their final PhD examination and complete their studies.
PhD candidates
As indicated in the educational project of each doctoral course, from 39th cycle, PhD candidates enrolled with foreign citizenship are automatically assigned an Italian OFA (additional educational obligation) which must be removed before admission to the final exam to complete their PhD at Politecnico di Milano.
The OFA will be removed for those who already have an A1-level Italian certification recognised by the MUR (Italian Ministry of University) or who have obtained an academic qualification entirely in Italian. In this case, documentation can be sent to dottorato.ricerca@polimi.it
PhD candidates can take – remotely - the first assessment test (Cisia) without taking the Italian course (please note that this will count as one of the three total attempts you have to remove your OFA through the exit exam).
Candidates who fail to demonstrate at least an A1 level in this first Cisia assessment test will have to take the free Italian OFA course and attend at least 75% of classes to then access the CISIA exit test. You will receive an email with information on how to register to the course whilst the Call is open.
- The dates of the Cisia exams will be communicated via e-mail as soon as they are available by italian-courses@polimi.it
- You can check the scheduled OFA ITALIAN sessions online via www.polimi.it/servizionline by selecting ‘Admission Applications’ -> ‘Degree and five-year single-cycle programmes: entrance test or exemption and registration’. -> ‘OFA Remedial Registration’.
- You must register and take the test ONLINE. By passing the CISIA exit test with an A1 level, your OFA is removed.
Who is not required to prove knowledge of Italian language
Those who fall into the following cases are not required to prove knowledge of the Italian language:
- holders of Italian citizenship
- those who have obtained a baccalaureate or equivalent qualification awarded in the Italian language
- those who have obtained a degree or equivalent in Italian
- those who have attended a pontifical school in Italian
- residents of the Canton of Ticino (official language Italian)
Those who do not fall into any of these cases are enrolled with an additional educational obligations (OFA) in Italian.
What to do to remove the Additional Educational Obligation (OFA) in Italian
Holders of a B2 level certification (for students enrolled from a.y. 2026/2027 ; for students enrolled until a.y. 2025/2026 a B1 level certification is accepted) recognized by the Italian Ministry of University MUR on the basis of the document "foreign students", quality system CLIQ (Certificazione Lingua Italiana di Qualità), may submit their certificates to the Student Secretariats through the following link: www.polimi.it/contatti-studenti
For those who do not have one of the recognized certifications, Politecnico di Milano organizes a free Italian course (students will have to take a preliminary assessment test to be assigned to the most suitable class).
For this purpose, each student is required to:
- register and take the assessment test
- attend at least 75% of the assigned course
- register and take the exit CISIA test, which is considered passed if the student scores at least 12 points - which correspond to an A1 level
By passing the exit test, the student removes the educational obligation in Italian (Italian OFA). Those who do not reach the 75% of attendance at the end of the course will have:
- to retake the assessment test and follow the course again in the following semester
- or obtain independently one of the certifications recognized by th MUR, at level B2.
For further details about the Italian language course organized by Politecnico di Milano, please refer to: Language courses - polimi.
Target platform and registration procedure
Students wishing to attend the Italian OFA course, are asked to register via the Language Course Catalogue available in Online Services under ‘International Mobility’ section.
Registration phases are managed through the platform. In detail and in chronological sequence:
- adding the course to your “My courses” favourites
- registration and testing
- assessment test outcome and programme display
- selection of preferred attendance days for lectures and registration confirmation
- final course details displayed, i.e. classroom or link, textbook title
Students should check the dates of the time slots of the course they are interested in.
Course features
- When: every semester
- Registration opening: end of August (1st semester) - end of January (2nd semester)
- Method: online, live lectures
- Frequency: 2 lectures per week from 18:15 to 20:15 or a 4-hour lesson on Saturday morning for a total of 40 hours per course
- Days: a choice of two days: Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday or Saturday morning (4 hours)
- Levels offered:
- beginner A1
- elementary A2
- intermediate B1
- Lectures. Development of the following skills: listening, reading, speaking and comprehension, language structures and grammar. Regardless of the level, lectures aim to improve communication skills useful in working contexts
- Curriculum objectives:
- surviving: understanding and processing everyday sentences and expressions to satisfy basic needs (use of goods and services);
- socialisation: development of new skills for using the language in a social way (making new experiences);
- familiarity: gaining fluency in more elaborate communicative situations and being able to use the language flexibly and effectively for professional and academic purposes.
Assessment test
It is not a proficiency test, nor does it have official value; is aimed at identifying the starting level of each student with assignment of the relevant course. It is a grammatical test and consists of 50 multiple choice questions in ascending order of difficulty, organized into 5 sections.
For PhD candidates see the previous section.
Exit test
Those who have 75% attendance on the course will be able to access the exit test.
The available dates and registration methods will be communicated by email from the competent office.
The test consists of three sections that increase in difficulty: listening, reading and language structures.
A total of 72 questions to be answered in 120 minutes.
Each section must be completed within a set time limit: once the time is up, the student must proceed to the next section.
The test is considered passed by reaching at least an A1 level. Each student will have a maximum of 3 attempts to remove the OFA. After reaching the limit of attempts, it will no longer be possible to take the exit test and each student will have to independently demonstrate their knowledge of the Italian language.