← Back to the rankingIS Ascanio Sobrero
Casale Monferrato, Italy · est. 1945 · State
Illustration · Casale Monferrato
IS Ascanio Sobrero in Casale Monferrato (province of Alessandria) is a state upper secondary school with a technical focus, named after the 19th-century chemist who discovered nitroglycerin. It grew out of the "Contardo Ferrini" industrial school opened in 1945 with a boarding house, and became a technical institute in 1958. Today one management runs an istituto tecnico tecnologico (mechanics and mechatronics, energy, electronics, computing, chemistry and materials, logistics, evening courses for adults), a liceo scientifico with the scienze applicate option (standard, four-year, with a biomedical track, and international with a Cambridge IGCSE course) and a liceo scientifico sportivo. In the international liceo some science subjects are taught in English together with a native speaker, the rest in Italian; the school is an accredited Cambridge exam centre. About 1300 students attend and 125 teachers work there.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE · National programme
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
Languages taught
Spanish, French
About the fees Tuition at this state school is free. The family school contribution for the 2026-2027 school year on enrolment in year 1: 300 euros in the international Cambridge liceo (in one payment or two instalments of 150 euros; it also covers the extended curriculum and has no exemption) and 105 euros in the liceo scientifico, liceo sportivo and technical institute. All amounts include insurance and the electronic register; with high marks in the scuola media final exam or low family income (ISEE up to 20000 euros), outside the international liceo only this part is paid. The liceo sportivo will charge an additional fee in March 2027 for sessions with external coaches.
Admissions Admission follows the state iscrizioni online procedure. The international liceo scientifico with the Cambridge course holds an English entry test; if applications exceed places, a ranking is drawn up from the test (up to 100 points), A2-B2 language certificates, the average mark of the second year of scuola media and of the first term of the third year, with a draw in case of a tie. Other tracks have their own priority criteria, and the liceo sportivo has separate admission criteria. Students include children with a migrant background of various nationalities; for foreign students and adults the school runs Italian courses together with the CPIA centre.
Stages and year groups Italian curriculum with the esame di Stato (maturità): istituto tecnico tecnologico - meccanica, meccatronica ed energia, elettronica, informatica e telecomunicazioni, chimica e materiali, trasporti e logistica, evening courses; liceo scientifico opzione scienze applicate - standard five-year, four-year, with a biomedical track (from year 3, 150 hours over three years with doctors) and the international Cambridge International option; liceo scientifico sportivo. Cambridge: in the international liceo, from year 1 English (reinforced, plus 2 hours in years 1-2 and 1 hour in year 3), natural sciences, computer science and mathematics are taught in English together with a native speaker, and chemistry from year 2; students prepare for Cambridge IGCSE exams in Biology, Mathematics, English as a Second Language, Chemistry and Computer Science, taken at the school; in years 2-4 there is a one-week study trip to Cambridge schools in the UK. The week is 29 hours in years 1-2 and 31 hours in years 3-5; Spanish and French are optional. All tracks offer preparation for the Cambridge English PET, First, Advanced and IELTS exams.
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 applied-science liceo teaches science, computing, maths and English in English, preparing for IGCSE Biology, Mathematics, ESL, Chemistry and Computer Science.
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: Makerspace
Clubs and activities: Archimedes Games · Chemistry Olympiad · Physics Olympiad · RM@Schools · Biotechnology Lab · PET, First, Advanced and IELTS Certifications · Spanish and French Courses · Work Placement in the UK
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
✓Number of teachers125
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
According to the PTOF the school has 125 teachers. Cambridge course subjects are taught by school teachers trained by Cambridge with certified English, supported by a staff native-speaker teacher. Cambridge teacher training is compulsory and paid for by the school.
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 policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
A school psychologist runs a wellbeing programme for all first- and third-year classes and student counselling. The school has regulations on preventing bullying and cyberbullying; teachers were trained with a neurology and medical psychology centre.
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 data70 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data70 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data70 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