← Back to the rankingIstituto Magistrale Statale Adelaide Cairoli
Pavia, Italy · est. 1862 · State
Illustration · Pavia
Istituto Magistrale Statale Adelaide Cairoli is a large state lyceum in Pavia's historic centre with about 1760 students in 77 classes. In 2012-2013 the school celebrated 150 years since its foundation; its main building is the eighteenth-century Palazzo Olevano. Today it is a lyceum with five tracks: liceo delle scienze umane, its economic-social option, liceo linguistico with three languages of choice (English plus two of French, German, Spanish, Chinese) and an ESABAC section with a double Italian-French diploma, liceo musicale run with the Franco Vittadini music institute, and the Cambridge IGCSE section of the linguistic lyceum. Lessons are in Italian; in the Cambridge section English is reinforced, history prepares for the IGCSE History exam, and in years 4-5 part of the sciences and history is taught in English. The school takes part in European projects and exchanges and in the Global Teaching Labs programme with MIT.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE · National programme
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
Languages taught
French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Latin
Class size
on average 22 students per class
About the fees This is a state school and tuition is free. The open pages of the website do not describe a contribution for the Cambridge section or IGCSE exam fees.
Admissions Enrolment in year 1 follows the state online procedure (Iscrizioni online) after middle school, within the dates of the annual ministry circular, usually in November. The liceo musicale admits students only after a three-part music aptitude exam: musical aptitude, sung and spoken solfège and instrumental performance; a music middle school is not required. The open pages of the website do not mention selection for the Cambridge section or the admission of foreign students. The school holds open days for 2026-2027.
Stages and year groups Grades 1-5 scuola secondaria di secondo grado, 77 classes. Five-year lyceum following the Italian curriculum ending in the esame di Stato. Tracks: liceo delle scienze umane (Latin for all five years, CLIL in year 5), economic-social option, liceo linguistico (three languages, a native speaker in each language, CLIL from year 3 and a second subject in another language from year 4, ESABAC section), liceo musicale (two instruments, theory and composition, music history) and the Cambridge IGCSE section of the linguistic lyceum. Cambridge: IGCSE Global Perspectives in years 1-2 (exam in year 3), English as a Second Language (exam in year 4), History Option A in years 3-5 (exam in year 5); English 5 hours a week in years 1-2, an hour with a native speaker for all five years; CLIL modules in English in sciences and history in years 4-5.
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 section of the liceo linguistico takes IGCSE Global Perspectives in years 1-2, English as a Second Language and History in years 3-5, with exams in years 3, 4 and 5.
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 hallnot stated on the website
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
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
The website names the head of school. In each foreign language of the linguistic lyceum a native-speaker conversation teacher works alongside the teacher; in the Cambridge section an hour with a native English speaker runs for all five years; English and philosophy teachers support the IGCSE History course. Average class size is 22 students.
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
A psychologist's office operates in all buildings during school hours; the school periodically surveys parents and students on satisfaction.
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 data60 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data60 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data55 "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