← Back to the rankingIstituto Statale di Istruzione Superiore Michelangelo Buonarroti
Monfalcone, Italy · est. 1943 · State
Illustration · Monfalcone
Istituto Statale di Istruzione Superiore "Michelangelo Buonarroti" is a state liceo in Monfalcone (province of Gorizia). The scientific liceo opened in October 1943 as a branch of the "Oberdan" liceo in Trieste and became independent in 1952; in 2023 the school celebrated 80 years. Today it offers a liceo scientifico (standard and PLUS with law and debate in years 1-2), a liceo scientifico opzione scienze applicate, its data science and artificial intelligence option, a sports liceo and a liceo linguistico with English, German and Spanish. From 2026-2027 the school, by its own account the first in Friuli Venezia Giulia, opened a Cambridge IGCSE language liceo: some subjects are taught in English following Cambridge syllabuses, the rest in Italian. The scientific licei offer three-year biomedical (with the Ordine dei Medici) and law and economics (with Gorizia lawyers and accountants) options. In 2024-2025 there were 902 students in 42 classes.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE · National programme
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
Languages taught
German, Spanish
About the fees State school: tuition is free, as in all scuole statali. For the Cambridge section families pay an annual contribution of 200 euros, plus exam fees at the end of years 2 and 4.
Admissions The school is state-run: first-year enrolment is through the national Iscrizioni online system, where families choose the standard language liceo or the Cambridge IGCSE language liceo. The Cambridge first year admits no more than 24 students a year; if there are more applications, a committee ranks them: up to 60 points for the average mark in Italian, English, mathematics and science on the final year 3 scuola media report, 25 points for an English certificate at B2 or above, and up to 15 points for living nearby (Monfalcone and neighbouring towns, then the provinces of Gorizia, Udine and Trieste). Before enrolment the school holds open days and morning taster sessions for year 3 scuola media students.
Stages and year groups Grades 1-5 (scuola secondaria di secondo grado). Five-year licei ending with the esame di Stato: liceo scientifico (standard and PLUS), liceo scientifico opzione scienze applicate, the scienza dei dati e intelligenza artificiale option, liceo scientifico sportivo, liceo linguistico (English, German, Spanish; B2 in the first language and B1 in the other two), and the Cambridge IGCSE liceo linguistico (from 2026-2027, currently year 1 only). In the Cambridge section mathematics and history are taught in English following Cambridge syllabuses in years 1-2 (Cambridge IGCSE, exams at the end of year 2), and English and Spanish language and culture in years 3-4 (Cambridge AS Level, exams at the end of year 4); exams are set and marked by Cambridge; years 1-4 have 3 more hours a week than the standard language liceo. Three-year options from year 3: biomedicine (150 hours) and law and economics (150 hours).
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge IGCSE. A Cambridge languages liceo opened in 2026-2027: Mathematics and History in English to IGCSE in years 1-2, with AS Level English and Spanish planned for years 3-4.
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
✓Library
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Campus: Two buildings in Monfalcone. The historic main building on via Matteotti houses the offices, two computer rooms, a chemistry and biology lab, a modular classroom and a future web radio and web TV studio, plus a gym used by the school sports centre in the afternoons. The second building on viale Cosulich, opened in 2016-2017, has a computer room, a spin bike room and a fitness room. PE lessons also take place in the municipal sports hall on viale Cosulich and in the PalaPaliaga, and sports liceo disciplines use facilities near the second building. There is a school library with an online catalogue. It is a day school with no boarding.
Clubs and activities: School Sports Centre · Debate · Web Radio and Web TV · SDIAFest (data science and AI festival) · Biology with Biomedical Specialisation · Law and Economics Specialisation · Language Trips Abroad · Erasmus+ Languages in Motion · Cambridge Preparation Centre
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
✓Number of teachers88
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
In 2024-2025 the school had 88 teachers, almost all on permanent contracts. Cambridge section teachers receive training and Cambridge recognition to teach with its methods; teaching is externally inspected.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
The school says nothing on its website about security, medical care or pupil support.
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 data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data70 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