← Back to the rankingInternational School of Trieste
Trieste, Italy · est. 1964 · Private
Illustration · Trieste
The International School of Trieste is a not-for-profit English-language international day school in Opicina above Trieste, founded in 1964 on the initiative of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and the Italian American Association; the Trieste Area Science Park joined in 2005. The school takes children from 2 to 19: a nursery, early childhood classes Kinder 2-5, elementary grades 1-5, middle school grades 6-8 and a high school for grades 9-13, opened in 2006; the first class graduated in 2011. The curriculum is the school's own, of an American type, developed by its faculty; all subjects except Italian, Latin and world languages are taught in English. The school states that it is the only international school in Italy whose diploma is recognised by an Italian law designed specifically for it: it allows transfer to any Italian school, application to Italian and foreign universities and access to Italian state competitive examinations. About 360 students of 31 nationalities attend, with 7 students per teacher; 97% of students study a third language. Since 2010 the school has been a College Board test centre, where students take the SAT and AP exams on campus.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $9 433–13 252 a year
8 350–11 730 EUR
Admits from
2 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Italian, French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Latin
Students per teacher
1 to 7
About the fees Annual fees for 2026-2027: full-time Kinder 2, Kinder 3 and Kinder 4 8350 EUR, Kinder 5 9390 EUR, elementary 10600 EUR, middle school 11060 EUR, high school 11730 EUR; part-time Kinder 2 5010 EUR; high school with supervised distance learning 16430 EUR. Fees include daily meals and use of textbooks. Payment in full by 30 September or in ten equal instalments by the 15th of each month from September. For the third child and subsequent children fees and the re-enrolment fee are reduced by 50%.
Admissions The school is open to qualified students of all nationalities and cultures. Families arrange an appointment through the Front Office by phone or email and are welcomed by a member of the admissions team, who shows them the school and answers questions. Applicants to elementary, middle and high school take an admission test and/or an interview with the Director or Section Head, and a teacher if relevant; English is also assessed to decide whether it is sufficient for the grade or whether EAL support is needed. All past report cards are required. The Director decides the grade on the faculty's recommendation based on prior education, current ability and age. Enrolment is possible throughout the school year if places are available.
Stages and year groups Grades Nursery, Kinder 2-5, 1-13. Nursery (ages 2-3), Early Childhood: Kinder 2 to Kinder 5 (ages 3-6), Elementary: grades 1-5 (ages 6-11), Middle School: grades 6-8 (ages 11-14), High School: grades 9-13 (ages 14-19). The curriculum is the school's own: in elementary, literacy, mathematics, science and social studies in English, and Italian to Italian Ministry specifications taught by native speakers; middle school adds a second foreign language of choice and Latin or an English communications course; high school requires English and Italian language and literature, mathematics, science, social studies and a world language, with electives in art, Chinese, Latin, mathematics and physics, and in grades 12-13 a research design course and an 8000-word senior thesis. The school diploma is recognised by Italian law (Legge 29 gennaio 1986, n. 26, art. 10). There are no IB or Cambridge courses; the curriculum pages do not describe AP courses - the school says students may take AP and SAT exams at the school as a College Board test centre.
Address Via di Conconello 16, 34151 Opicina (Trieste)
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
MSA · accreditationThe school is an AP exam centre but does not teach AP courses itself. The school is accredited by MSA (Middle States Association); its directory status is Active.
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
MSAMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools
One of the oldest American accreditations, working since 1887 in more than a hundred countries and linked to the Office of Overseas Schools of the US State Department. It judges the school as an institution across twelve areas, including finances, governance, premises and student support.
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 →Own programme
A programme written by the school or its operator, with no independent organisation behind it: the rules are written by the same people who teach to them. There is no outside register to check such a programme against.
What this means for this school. This does not mean the teaching is poor: it means the content can be judged only from the school's own account of it. What to look at here is something else - the accreditation of the school as a whole, and the outside exams its leavers sit.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Where leavers go: University of St Andrews · Dartmouth College · Bocconi University · Florida Institute of Technology · Northeastern University · University of Trieste · Sciences Po · University of Surrey · University College London (UCL) · King's College London · University of Cambridge · Sorbonne University
and others, 15 universities in the school's list in allSince the first graduating class in 2011, more than 120 graduates have gone on to universities in Italy and abroad, most often in the UK, the Netherlands, the US and Italy, mostly choosing English-taught programmes; alumni study in 18 countries. The school's university preparation centre helps with choices and applications and gives a university handbook in grade 11.
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 transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The school stands on the Carso hills above Trieste, in Opicina. There are science laboratories and a gym, which also hosts after-school sports. Lunch is cooked daily in the school kitchen by a chef and five assistants, with vegetarian, vegan and special diet options; lunch and snacks for early years are included in fees. Textbooks are provided on loan. A daily school bus runs from central Trieste (Piazza Oberdan) with a teacher on board, and there are buses from Udine and from Ronchi dei Legionari via Monfalcone, Duino and Sistiana. Morning supervision from 7:30 for early years and elementary, and afternoon supervision until 15:45 for early years. It is a day school.
Clubs and activities: Mini Basketball · Volleyball · Modern Dance · Student Council
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
All teachers are native speakers of the language they teach and are recruited worldwide; teachers come from 15 countries. There are 7 students per teacher.
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
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The Student-Parent Handbook sets out behaviour rules and disciplinary procedures, a section on bullying and cyberbullying referring to Italian law 71 of 29 May 2017, and a character education programme from early childhood. Medication is given only by parents or medical staff, except life-saving medicine with medical documentation. A teacher is always on the school bus. Middle and high school students have advisory groups and a system of four houses.
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%)60 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data70 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 data70 "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