← Back to the rankingCastelli International School
Grottaferrata, Italy · est. 1977 · Private
Illustration · Grottaferrata
Castelli International School is a private international day school in Grottaferrata, in the Castelli Romani area south-east of Rome, for children aged 5 to 14. It opened in September 1977 with 5 teachers and 7 students in a converted farmhouse on a winery estate; from the start the founder combined the Italian state curriculum with an English-language one. All lessons are taught in English except foreign language lessons, which are taught by native speakers. There is a Kindergarten year (age 5), primary school (grades 1-5) and middle school (grades 6-8); from grade 6 students follow the Cambridge Lower and Upper Secondary programmes with optional internal Cambridge Checkpoint and IGCSE exams. The school does not issue Italian qualifications: students who want to continue in the Italian system study Italian for one hour a day from grade 3 and take annual proficiency exams at a state school. Teachers come from the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada, Belgium and Italy; students are of various nationalities from every continent. Graduates go on to international schools in Rome and to Italian licei.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $9 716–15 251 a year
8 600–13 500 EUR
Programmes
Cambridge · Lower Secondary, IGCSE
Admits from
5 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Italian, French
Registration fee
≈ $904
800 EUR
About the fees The published fee schedule is for the 2027-2028 school year (revised July 2026): Kindergarten (age 5) 8600 EUR per year, grades 1-2 11000 EUR, grades 3-5 12500 EUR, grades 6-8 13500 EUR. Lunch is included. Fees are paid in two instalments, by 1 September 2027 and by 11 January 2028; paying the full year in advance gives a 1% discount, and each extra instalment beyond two costs 40 EUR. Siblings receive a 10% discount. No 2026-2027 fee schedule is on the site.
Admissions Admissions are rolling, but places are limited, so the school advises applying by December before the school year. The school considers how well the child will fit in academically and socially, critical thinking and problem solving. Primary applicants have an informal interview at school; middle school applicants have an interview and a written test in person. If attending in person is not possible, applicants send a signed application form, a reference from a teacher at their current school and copies of the last two report cards. Applications are usually reviewed within two weeks. Grade placement is by year of birth (cut-off 31 December of the year the school year starts), taking previous schooling and maturity into account; early entry requires the school's written approval. Students are of various nationalities from every continent; Italian as a foreign language is offered for those who do not speak Italian.
Stages and year groups Kindergarten (primina, age 5); scuola primaria, grades 1-5 (ages 6-11), with Units of Inquiry; scuola secondaria di primo grado, grades 6-8 (ages 11-14). From grade 6 students follow the Cambridge Lower and Upper Secondary programmes; Cambridge Checkpoint and IGCSE exams are taken at school on an optional basis and charged separately, as the school is an approved Cambridge International examinations centre. Subjects: English, Italian (two tracks: Italian as a foreign language and the Ministry programme for proficiency exams), French (compulsory in grades 5-8), mathematics, science and technology, ICT from grade 1, history and geography, current affairs, wellbeing, music, art history, physical education, drama, gardening. The school does not issue an Italian diploma: students who wish take annual proficiency exams (esame di idoneità) at a state school and the middle school exam to enter an Italian liceo.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · Lower Secondary, IGCSE · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge Lower Secondary, Cambridge IGCSE. From Grade 6 lessons follow Cambridge Lower and Upper Secondary; Checkpoint and IGCSE exams are optional, taken at school for an extra fee.
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
CambridgeCambridge International Education
Part of the University of Cambridge. It allows a school to teach the Cambridge programmes and to enter pupils for the exams. There are four stages and they are authorised separately: primary, lower secondary, IGCSE and A Level. If the stages are known they are named in the line below; if that line is missing, the school does not publish them, and the Cambridge registry does not show stages either - it gives only the name of the centre, the country and whether private candidates are accepted. Cambridge calls what it does registration rather than accreditation, and the network holds about ten thousand schools.
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: Lower Secondary (ages 11-14), IGCSE (ages 14-16). Lower Secondary is the middle stage, ages 11 to 14, with the same optional Checkpoint test at the end. IGCSE means exams at around Year 10 or 11, the British counterpart of a lower secondary leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
The school publishes nothing about where its leavers go: no share going on to university, no exam results, no list of universities.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Clubs and activities: Chess · Music · Sport · Foreign Languages · Homework Help · Model United Nations
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
What the listings show: All teachers are graduates qualified to teach, with international certifications or a postgraduate teaching diploma (PGCE); French, Italian and optional languages are taught by qualified native speakers.
Teachers come from England, Ireland, the US, Canada, Belgium and Italy; the school stresses its stable staff. The site introduces primary and middle school teachers by name and the specific learning disorders coordinator.
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
·Counsellornot stated on the website
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
A specific learning disorders coordinator supports children with special educational needs together with teachers and families. The wellbeing course covers healthy lifestyles, drug and medicine abuse, screen addiction and conflict resolution. Behaviour rules are set out in the school handbook; misconduct is usually addressed with community service tasks. The school gate is open from 8:00 to 17:00; for early care parents bring children to the classroom and hand them to the teacher.
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%)72 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data70 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data76 "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