← Back to the rankingConvitto Nazionale Cristoforo Colombo
Genoa, Italy · est. 1554 · State
Illustration · Genoa
The Convitto Nazionale 'Cristoforo Colombo' is Genoa's oldest state educational institution: the school traces its history to a Jesuit college of 1554; under Napoleon it was the Collegio Imperiale, from 1861 the Regio Convitto Nazionale, and in 1892 it was named after Columbus; Giuseppe Mazzini studied here. Today it is the only state institution in Liguria that houses a primary school, three lower secondary schools and a liceo scientifico, plus a residential college and after-school care, 1203 students in total. Teaching is in Italian. Since 2017-2018 the liceo has had a Cambridge International section: in the first two years extra hours of English, physics and science with a native speaker are added, physics and science are partly taught in English, and year 3 has Global Perspectives; students sit Cambridge IGCSE exams. Since 2023-2024 there has also been a Cambridge course in the lower secondary school. In the residential college students live under round-the-clock supervision by state educators and may attend either the liceo or other schools in the city.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE · National programme
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
Languages taught
French, Spanish, Latin
About the fees The school is state-run and tuition is free. Only the residential college and the semiconvitto after-school care are paid.
Admissions Admission to primary, lower secondary and liceo follows the national iscrizioni procedure; the liceo invites third-year middle school pupils to open lessons. The school describes no separate selection for the Cambridge section. Admission to the residential college is separate, by form on dates announced each year; the family then has an interview with a committee, and if places run short a ranking is drawn up: points for no suitable school within 40 kilometres of home, grade average, distance from Genoa and family income (ISEE). Weekend residence is only from age 14 and with a guardian nearby. For foreign students the school runs initial Italian literacy classes.
Stages and year groups Italian state curriculum: scuola primaria, three scuole secondarie di primo grado (second language French or Spanish) with the first-cycle esame di Stato, liceo scientifico (traditional and Cambridge International) with the esame di Stato (maturità). The liceo Cambridge section (since 2017-2018): in years 1-2, 2 extra hours of English with a native speaker, physics and science with an extra native-speaker hour, partly in English, 30 hours a week; in year 3, 1 extra hour of English and Global Perspectives; Cambridge IGCSE exams at the end of each two-year cycle, in Physics, Biology and Global Perspectives (according to the 2021 certificate document). Since 2023-2024, a Cambridge course in the 'Convitto' lower secondary school: 2 extra hours of English and 2 extra hours of science with a native speaker, with a Cambridge exam at the end of year 3.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge IGCSE. In the Cambridge International section of the science lyceum Physics and science are partly taught in English in years 1-2, plus Global Perspectives in year 3, all to IGCSE.
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). 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 →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
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
✓Boarding
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Clubs and activities: School Sports Club · Basketball · Hit Ball · Trail Running · Swimming · Convittiadi (sports games between national boarding schools) · A tutto Convitto (school newspaper) · Mathematics Games · Olympiads · Science Festival · Film Club · Radio Colombo
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 sizenot stated
In the Cambridge section subjects are taught by school teachers together with native English speakers; the residential college and semiconvitto are staffed by state educators (personale educativo) who help with study and organise leisure.
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
In the residential college students are supervised round the clock, including at night, by state educators; a psychologist holds group and individual meetings in the college. The school runs a bullying and cyberbullying prevention project, and a psychological support service operates when funded.
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 data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data75 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