I.I.S.S. Marco Polo in Bari is a state upper secondary school (scuola statale) with two tracks: a liceo linguistico with three foreign languages and an istituto tecnico economico (administration, finance and marketing; business information systems; international relations for marketing with three languages). The school emphasises international education: an EsaBac section with history in French and a double Italian and French diploma, partnerships with lycées in Héricourt and Grenoble, Goethe-Institut PASCH school status, Erasmus+ programmes and internships abroad. It is a Cambridge School and an official Cambridge IGCSE exam centre: in the Cambridge classes of the liceo, English as a Second Language and Mathematics in English prepare for IGCSE exams at the end of the third year, and in section D of the technical institute English as a Second Language and Business Studies in English. A native English speaker teaches an extra hour in all liceo classes. Other lessons are in Italian. The school is one of the 22 founding schools of the INDIRE Avanguardie Educative movement and the lead school of the Apulia school library network.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE · National programme
Languages of instruction
Italian, English, French
Languages taught
Spanish, German
About the fees The school is state-run and charges no tuition. Families may pay a voluntary contribution (contributo volontario); according to the PTOF, this money is used only for general running costs and makes up just 2.8% of the school's budget. No surcharge for the Cambridge classes is named on the pages read.
Admissions A state school: enrolment in the first year follows the national Iscrizioni online procedure; beforehand the school holds open days (Orientamento in entrata - Open Day) and runs an orientation service, including for children with disabilities. The site does not describe a separate selection for the Cambridge classes. According to the PTOF, there are few foreign students, and they receive language support and help with integration.
Stages and year groups Liceo linguistico: three foreign languages in different combinations (English, French, Spanish, German), an hour with a native English speaker in all classes; an EsaBac section in years 3-5 (history in French, two extra hours a week, baccalauréat together with the esame di Stato). Istituto tecnico economico: a common two-year cycle, then AFM, SIA or RIM (three languages). All programmes end with the esame di Stato. Cambridge: in the liceo Cambridge classes - IGCSE English as a Second Language and IGCSE Mathematics, with an extra hour of Mathematics in English in years 1-2 (29 hours a week) and an extra hour of English and of Mathematics in English in year 3 (33 hours); the IGCSE exam is at the end of year 3. In section D of the AFM technical track - IGCSE English as a Second Language and Business Studies: 4 hours of English and 2 hours of Geography in years 1-2, an hour of Business in English in years 3-4; a Cambridge certificate in business English at the end of year 4.
Address Viale Bartolo 4/6, 70124 Bari
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge IGCSE. Cambridge classes in the languages liceo take IGCSE English as a Second Language and Mathematics in years 1-3; section D of the business institute takes IGCSE ESL and Business Studies.
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 hall
✓Library
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio · Makerspace
Campus: 68 classrooms with smart TVs and fast internet, including 15 language rooms with wireless headphones and 11 rooms with modular furniture; 6 computer labs, a lab with a 3D printer and coding and robotics kits, a virtual and augmented reality room, a podcast and video journalism studio, and the soundproofed Marco Polo Music Space, which has produced web radio since the 2019-2020 school year. A new library in the national school library network, a debate room, open spaces for group work, a conference room with an LED wall and an auditorium. An indoor gym, outdoor football and volleyball areas, an athletics straight, and a fitness and modern dance room.
Clubs and activities: School Sports Championships: Volleyball, Basketball, Football, Swimming, Tennis, Table Tennis, Badminton · Marco Polo Music Space · Music, Theatre and Dance Workshops · Del Leggere (reading club and author meetings) · Debate · Educational Robotics and Coding · Spanish for Tourism and Commerce · Proactive Training
Teaching staff
The school publishes neither the number of its teachers nor their qualifications.
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
A counselling service for students and families (sportello di ascolto) and an orientation service for students with disabilities and particular difficulties operate; the school has an inclusion working group. The school runs projects on legality, integration, online rights and against cyberbullying; there is a civil protection (Protezione civile) unit in the school.
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 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.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country
Bari, Italy · State