← Back to the rankingCollegio San Giuseppe - Istituto De Merode
Rome, Italy · est. 1850 · Private
Illustration · Rome
Collegio San Giuseppe - Istituto De Merode is a Catholic scuola paritaria run by the Brothers of the Christian Schools (Lasallians); the school traces its history to 1850 and stands by the Spanish Steps in central Rome. One complex houses a primary school, a middle school and two licei, the liceo classico and the liceo scientifico, each with a traditional track and an international Cambridge track. The school states it has about 600 students; the PTOF gives about 700. The liceo became a Cambridge school in 2013. In the Cambridge liceo scientifico the first two years take IGCSE English as a Second Language, Mathematics, Physics, Biology and Chemistry, and years three and four take Mathematics and Physics at AS level; the Cambridge liceo classico takes IGCSE English as a Second Language, English Literature, Geography, Biology and AS Level English Literature. IGCSE lessons are in the morning timetable and are taught by native English speakers, alone or with Italian teachers. Cambridge exams are taken at the school in May-June or October-November; the school says more than 80 students sat exams in spring 2025. Graduates receive the Italian diploma (esame di Stato) and Cambridge certificates. The language of instruction is Italian, with part of the subjects taught in English in the international track.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $7 748–8 510 a year
6 858–7 533 EUR
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE, A-Level · National programme
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
Registration fee
≈ $339
300 EUR
About the fees Fees for 2026-2027 are paid in three instalments: 30 September 2026, 31 January 2027 and 31 March 2027. Tuition: primary 5193 EUR, middle school 5457 EUR, licei 5790 EUR, Cambridge licei 6072 EUR. With the mandatory contributions for heating, labs, internet, library, insurance and publications the year costs: primary 7044 EUR (grades 4-5 with iPad 7188 EUR), middle school 6858 EUR, licei 7158 EUR, Cambridge licei 7533 EUR. In primary this includes stationery and daily lunch, in middle school lunch on the long day and an iPad on loan. From the second child there is a 10% discount on tuition.
Admissions Each school level has its own enrolment form, available from the office (Monday - Friday, 8:30-15:30). The international track of the licei requires B1 English (PET certificate); applicants without it take a language test set by the school. Enrolment carries a non-refundable 300 EUR fee; current students are re-enrolled only with no outstanding debts. Under the PTOF, students with non-Italian citizenship of compulsory school age are placed in the class matching their age unless the committee decides otherwise, and older students in the class for which they are prepared; a reception protocol applies, and English, French or Spanish can be used at first. About 10% of students are of foreign origin.
Stages and year groups Grades primaria 1-5, scuola media 1-3, liceo 1-5. Scuola primaria (two sections, 8:30 to 15:30), scuola secondaria di primo grado (three sections) and two licei: the liceo classico with a traditional and an international Cambridge track, and the liceo scientifico with two or three sections, one or two of them international Cambridge. The Cambridge course has run in the licei since 2013 and is part of the morning timetable. Cambridge liceo scientifico: in years 1 and 2 IGCSE English as a Second Language (0510, two hours with a native speaker), Physics (0625), Biology (0610), Mathematics (0580), with exams at the end of each year; in years 3 and 4 AS Level Mathematics (9709) and Physics (9702) with the exam at the end of year 4, and IGCSE Chemistry (0620) with an afternoon lab. Cambridge liceo classico: IGCSE English as a Second Language (0510), English Literature (0486), Geography (0460) within science lessons, Biology (0610), then AS Level English Literature (9695) with the exam at the end of year 4. The school states that AS Level is required of all students of the international course, and strong students can also sit the full A Level. Brochure: 'The lessons of the IGCSE subjects are in the morning curricular timetable and are taught by native-speaker teachers, alone or together with Italian teachers'.
Address Via San Sebastianello 1, 00187 Roma
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE, A-Level · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge IGCSE, AS and A Level.
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: IGCSE (ages 14-16), A-Level (ages 16-18). IGCSE means exams at around Year 10 or 11, the British counterpart of a lower secondary leaving certificate. A-Level is the senior years, and their results are what British and many other universities admit on.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →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
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 hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The school occupies a historic complex by the Spanish Steps in central Rome. According to the PTOF 2025-2028 it has an internal car park, a canteen with its own kitchen, large and small gyms, laboratories, a theatre, a conference centre, physics and natural science museums, a historic church, a library of 40000 volumes and a separate children's library for the primary school, a multimedia room, interactive boards and computers in every classroom, a mindfulness room and an outdoor learning area. There is an after-school programme and a paid self-service canteen. It is a day school with no boarding.
Clubs and activities: Il Quadriportico Theatre Workshop · Piano Course · Choir · Language Centre · ICDL (computer skills certification) · SAT Preparation · Lasallian Youth Movement · Five-a-side Football and Volleyball Tournaments
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: native English speakers and teachers with certified language level in the Cambridge course
IGCSE subjects are taught by native English speakers, alone or paired with Italian teachers, and by Italian teachers with certified English; in AS Level mathematics and physics part of the hours are co-taught with a Cambridge-certified teacher. The school runs a psycho-pedagogical support service.
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 policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The PTOF provides for a bullying and cyberbullying prevention plan and a psycho-pedagogical support service for students; there is a psychologist's counselling desk (sportello di ascolto) and a mindfulness project.
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%)85 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 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