Acorn International School is a private bilingual school in north Rome, on a campus inside the Vejo nature reserve, for children aged 2 to 18: nursery, early years, primary, middle and high school. It was founded in 1999 and from the start has combined the English curriculum with the Italian one, with lessons in English and Italian. Between 400 and 450 students of more than 30 nationalities attend, 18 per class on average. In grades 10-11 (Year 10-11) the core of the programme is IGCSE courses, and in the final two years the IB Diploma Programme; the first IB cohort averaged 33.5 points. The school states that it is recognised by the Italian Ministry of Education and that graduates obtain the Italian maturità or the IB Diploma. A psychotherapist works at the school once a week. The school is a preparation centre for Cambridge English language exams.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $9 829–16 833 a year
8 700–14 900 EUR
Programmes
IB · DP · Cambridge · IGCSE · National programme
Admits from
2 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English, Italian
Languages taught
Spanish, Latin
Class size
18 students per class on average
About the fees Annual tuition for 2026-2027, paid in five instalments from March 2026 to February 2027: Nursery 8700 EUR, Preschool 9000 EUR, Reception 9200 EUR, Year 1 10000 EUR, Year 2 10300 EUR, Year 3 10600 EUR, Year 4 10900 EUR, Year 5 11100 EUR, Year 6 11400 EUR, Year 7 11700 EUR, Year 8 11900 EUR, Year 9 12200 EUR, Year 10 14100 EUR, Year 11-13 14900 EUR.
Admissions Admission is rigorous, with an entry test. The school considers space, English ability, the balance of languages, genders and academic strengths in a class, the maturity of younger children and previous school reports. Steps: an enquiry with two years of school reports and a motivational letter from the parents, a parents' visit with the principal, a child's visit with an interview and a language and math test, a trial day in class, a meeting with the head; a decision comes about 10 days after testing. According to the school, about 30% of applicants are deemed eligible from first contact to enrolment. Parents confirm their commitment to the dual curriculum; the first term is probationary. Grade placement is by year of birth (cut-off 31 December). The school cannot accept children with severe special educational needs but accepts those with mild needs. For 2026-2027 most classes have waiting lists; enrolled students have priority until 31 January. The school has agreements with international organisations, embassies and companies for families relocating to Rome.
Stages and year groups Grades Nursery, Preschool, Reception, Year 1-13. Nursery from 24 months and early years following the English Early Years Foundation Stage with a Reggio-inspired approach; primary (Year 1-6) and middle school (Year 7-9) follow the English and Italian curricula in parallel (the Italian one to ministry guidelines, with Spanish in middle school). High school since 2022: Year 10-11 IGCSE courses (English language and literature, humanities, coordinated sciences double award, mathematics) plus Italian language and literature on the liceo syllabus, with Latin and philosophy as electives; Year 12-13 the IB Diploma Programme. Graduates obtain the Italian maturità or the IB Diploma.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Diploma Programme. Years 10-11 take IGCSE courses in English, history and geography, coordinated sciences and maths, followed by the IB Diploma or the Italian maturità.
school is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
IBInternational Baccalaureate
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: DP (ages 16-19). DP is the final stage, ages 16 to 19: six subjects plus a compulsory core of theory of knowledge, an extended essay and CAS. The diploma is accepted by universities all over the world, and in a number of countries it counts for admission on the same footing as the local leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →CambridgeIGCSE
Programmes of the University of Cambridge: the school teaches to Cambridge syllabuses and enters its pupils for exams that Cambridge marks itself. IGCSE means exams at around Year 10 or 11, the British counterpart of a lower secondary leaving certificate.
What this means for this school. The papers are marked by Cambridge, not by the school, so a leaver's grade does not depend on how strict their own teachers are with them. To enter pupils for these exams a school has to be registered as a Cambridge exam centre; registration as a centre is permission to run exams rather than accreditation of the school, and it says nothing about the quality of teaching. IGCSE is taken at around Year 10 or 11 and A-Level in the final years, and it is the A-Level results that carry a pupil into British and many other universities.
National programme
The state school programme of the country the school stands in: it is set by that country's ministry of education, which also licenses the school and awards the leaving certificate. That certificate is used for entry to local universities, and abroad it is matched to the local one.
What this means for this school. This entry does not count towards the score, and that is deliberate. Every lawful school in a country works to the national programme, so on its own it tells one school apart from no other - unlike the French, German or Russian programmes, which are carried abroad and confirmed by the register of their organisation. We show it because a parent needs to know what programme their child is taught and what certificate the child will get. Counting it would lift the whole ranking at once and still tell nobody apart.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Average IB score
33.5 (world average 30.88)
Exam results The first IB Diploma Programme cohort averaged 33.5 points, above the global average; graduates went on to engineering, mathematics, biology, design, drama and music programmes at universities in Europe.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Clubs and activities: Robotics · Coding · 3D Design · Maker Workshops · Theater (theatre) · Acorn Music School · DJ Production · Acorn Language School · Journalism Project · Acorn Standard
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
The school states that its teachers are highly qualified native speakers and that empathy and the ability to engage students matter most in hiring. The average class size is 18 students. The number of teachers is not given.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
·Nurse or medical roomnot stated on the website
✓Counsellor
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
Since 2003 a psychotherapist has worked at the school once a week: workshops for parents and middle school students, individual meetings, observations at teachers' request, screening in Year 1 and work with the special educational needs coordinator. A whistleblowing procedure is in place.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)84 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 8 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country
Rome, Italy · est. 1999 · Private