← Back to the rankingDeutsche Schule Mailand - Scuola Germanica di Milano
Milan, Italy · est. 1886 · Private
Illustration · Milan
Deutsche Schule Mailand (Scuola Germanica di Milano, DSM) is an Italian-German school in central Milan founded in 1886; since 1957 it has occupied its building on Via Legnano. Germany recognises it as a German school abroad, and since 2011 as an excellent German school abroad following inspection by the German school authorities. The path from kindergarten to the final diploma takes twelve school years: kindergarten from age 3, a four-year primary school (Grundschule) and an eight-year Gymnasium from grade 5 to grade 12. The final exam is the Deutsches Internationales Abitur (DIA); under an agreement with Italy the diploma is equivalent to that of an Italian liceo scientifico and gives access to universities in Germany, Italy and elsewhere. Lessons are in German and Italian: Italian is taught by native speakers, other subjects by native German teachers; in the Gymnasium the programme is almost entirely in German. Children without Italian take compulsory Italian as a foreign language. About 900 children from more than 35 countries attend.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $8 778 a year
7 770 EUR
Programmes
German programme · National programme
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
German, Italian
Languages taught
English, French, Latin
Registration fee
≈ $1 130
1 000 EUR
About the fees The annual membership fee (quota associativa) for the 2026/2027 school year is the same for all levels from kindergarten to Gymnasium - 7770 EUR, paid in three instalments: by 18.09.2026, 07.01.2027 and 26.03.2027. On enrolment a one-off registration fee of 1000 EUR is paid, and on 26.03.2027 an advance of 900 EUR towards the 2027/2028 fee.
Admissions The school admits children of any nationality resident in Italy; non-EU citizens need a residence permit. A detailed interview with the management is required on first enrolment. The kindergarten accepts children from families where nobody speaks German, though the school advises support at home. Admission to primary and secondary requires German at the level needed for lessons, assessed by a detailed interview and/or written tests depending on the grade. Moving from the school's kindergarten to primary is not automatic: throughout the last year primary teachers assess the child's skills and German. Documents: reports from the previous school, birth certificate, family status certificate, vaccination certificate, residence permit for non-EU citizens, the child's Italian tax code. Non-native Italian speakers joining in grade 11 take a compulsory CELI exam preparation course.
Stages and year groups Grades kindergarten (age 3), grades 1-4, grades 5-12. Kindergarten for children aged 3-5, with school preparation in the last year; a four-year primary school (Grundschule, grades 1-4); an eight-year Gymnasium (grades 5-12): Mittelstufe from grade 5 to 10 following German state curricula, the Mittlerer Schulabschluss after grade 10, then a two-year qualification phase (grades 11-12, four semesters). The final exam is the Deutsche Internationale Abiturprüfung (DIA), recognised in Germany and Italy and equivalent to the liceo scientifico diploma. In grade 7 students take the German language diploma DSD I. There is no separate Italian state curriculum track; the school does not mention IB or Cambridge programmes.
Address Via Legnano 24, 20121 Milano
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
PASCH · takes part in the programmeZfA · accreditationWDA · part of the allianceThe school is part of the PASCH network. ZfA lists the school among German schools abroad (Deutsche Auslandsschule). The school is a member of WDA.
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
PASCHSchools: Partners for the Future, an initiative of the German foreign ministry
More than two thousand schools in about 120 countries. A school cannot apply for itself: participants are chosen by German agencies in agreement with the embassy. Very different schools sit under one mark - full German schools abroad, and ordinary national schools that simply teach German well.
What the badge means for this school. The school belongs to a German support programme. By itself the mark means neither a German curriculum nor the right to award a German certificate: of the two thousand PASCH schools, about seventeen hundred hold no such right. Look for a ZfA status next to it - that is the one that is about this. The entry is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →ZfACentral Agency for German Schools Abroad
A German federal agency. It recognises a school as a German school abroad, funds it and grants the right to award the German leaving certificate. Quality is examined by a state inspection about once every six years, and schools that pass receive the mark of an excellent German school abroad.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →WDAWorld Association of German Schools Abroad
An association of the owners of German schools abroad: in essence an industry lobby and a service organisation. It runs no inspections. The condition of admission is a recognised German certificate, but that recognition is granted by the German state, not by WDA.
What the badge means for this school. The school belongs to an association of school owners. There is no inspection of its own behind it: the badge rests on a decision of the German state and adds nothing to it. The entry is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →German programme
The German school programme. Recognised German schools abroad award the Deutsches Internationales Abitur, the German leaving certificate used for entry to universities in Germany. Behind the recognition stands the federal agency ZfA.
What this means for this school. ZfA recognition comes at levels: a school that takes pupils through to the German leaving certificate is one thing, a school with the DSD language diploma, where German is taught as a subject, is another. Which level this school holds is not stated here.
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
Exam results In September 2026, 25 grade 7 students received the German language diploma DSD I, passing all four parts of the exam with the top grade; the school notes that in many German schools abroad this exam is taken only in grade 8. The school does not publish DIA final exam results.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Art studio
Campus: A single building on Via Legnano 24, where the school has been since 1957; it was extended in 2007 with the kindergarten, a second gym, two biology labs and the library. Since 2021 the kindergarten can host up to 200 children aged 3 to 5 in eight groups. Two libraries: the Lesestube for kindergarten, primary and grades 5-6, and the main library for grades 7-12 with books by German authors and major works of Italian, English, American and French literature. Lunch is prepared by Camst, with vegetarian and vegan menus on request; grades 5-12 also have a snack bar. Primary and grades 5-6 have after-school care until 14:00, 15:30 or 16:30. It is a day school with no boarding.
Clubs and activities: Peer Mediation Club · GIN - Global Issues Network · Model United Nations · Business@school · Jugend forscht / Schüler experimentieren (science competition) · Choir · Theatre · ProPatria 1883 (gymnastics, hip-hop, fencing, mini-basketball) · Real Tkd Milano (taekwondo) · Chess Academy · Kunterbunt Association (instrument lessons)
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 primary, Italian (4-5 lessons a week) is taught by native Italian teachers and other subjects by native German teachers. English in the Gymnasium is taught by teachers of various nationalities with experience in German- and English-speaking countries. In secondary each subject has its own teacher, and a class's teaching team usually changes every two years. Some teachers have completed internal mentor training (Mentoring programme).
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
On Wednesdays a psycho-pedagogical counselling desk is open for students from grade 8, parents and teachers, run by a psychopedagogist from Milan's Istituto Minotauro. Since the 2019/2020 school year a mentoring programme lets Gymnasium students turn to a trained teacher-mentor. Secondary students can join a conflict mediation course (Streitschlichter-AG) and help resolve conflicts among younger pupils. All students are insured, including on the way to and from school. Parents' access to the building is restricted.
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 data80 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 data80 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.
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