← Back to the rankingConvitto Nazionale "Domenico Cotugno"
L Aquila, Italy · est. 1816 · State
Illustration · L Aquila
The Convitto Nazionale "Domenico Cotugno" in L'Aquila is a state boarding institution with annexed licei. The Liceo Ginnasio "D. Cotugno" traces its history to a royal decree of 1816 transferring the Royal College of Sulmona to L'Aquila; since the 2014-2015 school year the whole institute with its licei has been part of the Convitto Nazionale. Today there are five tracks: liceo classico (including an international track in the EAW network with reinforced English and Cambridge IGCSE exams, and since 2024-2025 a track with reinforced mathematics and sciences), liceo linguistico, liceo delle scienze umane in two versions and liceo musicale. There are 1251 students in 57 classes. Out-of-town students can board with meals and supervision (boys) or attend half-board (boys and girls). The licei building was damaged by the 2009 earthquake and after years of relocation was returned renovated in 2022. Teaching is in Italian; in the international liceo classico track some subjects in the first four years prepare for exams in English.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE · National programme
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
Languages taught
French, German, Spanish, Latin
Class size
on average 21 students per class
About the fees Tuition at the state liceo is free. The PTOF mentions a voluntary family contribution (contributo volontario), without an amount. Boarding, half-board and IGCSE exam costs are absent from the pages reviewed.
Admissions Admission to the licei follows the state procedure: after finishing scuola secondaria di primo grado, families apply online (Iscrizioni online) within the period announced each year by circular, usually in November. Transfers from other schools are possible through esami di idoneità and esami integrativi, with requests due by 30 June. The site does not describe separate admission conditions for the international liceo classico track or the boarding admission procedure. The school does not write about foreign students or children without Italian on the pages reviewed.
Stages and year groups Five-year licei of the Italian curriculum ending with the esame di Stato (maturità): liceo classico, liceo classico in the EAW network (international track, classes "A Internazionale"), liceo classico with reinforced mathematics and sciences (since 2024-2025), liceo linguistico, liceo delle scienze umane and its economico-sociale option, liceo musicale. Cambridge: in the international liceo classico track the first four years prepare for Cambridge IGCSE exams in geostoria, mathematics, sciences, Latin and English, the fifth year is devoted only to preparation for the maturità classica; IGCSE exams appear in the plans of classes 3, 4 and 5 of the international section.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge IGCSE. The international track of the classical liceo prepares IGCSEs in geo-history, maths, science, Latin and English over years 1-4, leaving year 5 for the 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
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
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
✓Boarding
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Clubs and activities: Theatre Workshop · School Newspaper "I Portici" · Radiocotugnoweb (school web radio) · Novecento Project (20th-century culture) · An Afternoon with the Classics · Language Certification Preparation
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 reports 57 classes for 1251 students, on average 21 students per class. According to the PTOF, 29% of teachers hold certified language or IT qualifications. The boarding house has educators.
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 policynot stated on the website
The school reports the AscoltaMI service, online psychological support (5 sessions) for students in the first two years of the liceo; the boarding house has rules on evening rest and night quiet for the safety and wellbeing of residents. The PTOF lists staff training on cyberbullying and inclusion.
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 data60 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 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