Istituto Santa Maria is a Catholic paritaria all-through school in central Rome, run by the Society of Mary (Marianists). It was opened in 1889 at the wish of Pope Leo XIII as a boys' boarding college, has stood on Viale Manzoni since 1891, and since 1970 has admitted girls and operated as a day school. Today it has about 1150 students: a nursery from 3 months, the Sezione Primavera and scuola dell'infanzia, primary and middle school, and three licei - classical, scientific and scientific with a sports track. The main language of instruction is Italian and the school follows the national curriculum; it is also accredited as a Cambridge International School. In primary, English as a Second Language, mathematics and science follow Cambridge programmes with native-speaker teachers (9-10 hours of English a week), in middle school 4 of 7 English hours are Cambridge (English, mathematics, science), and in the classical and scientific licei there are 5 hours of English plus biology and Global Perspectives in English with IGCSE exam preparation. In the sports liceo students practise at least 15 sports and earn sports certificates. The liceo ends with the Italian esame di Stato.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $4 643–6 101 a year
4 110–5 400 EUR
Programmes
Cambridge · Primary, Lower Secondary, IGCSE · National programme
Admits from
3 months · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
Languages taught
Spanish, Latin
Registration fee
≈ $452
400 EUR
About the fees Fees for the 2026-2027 school year are paid in three termly instalments (September, January, April); per year: Sezione Primavera and early years full day until 16:30 4110 EUR, part day until 13:00 3030 EUR; primary 4650 EUR; middle school full day with supervised study until 16:45 5310 EUR, part day until 14:10 4620 EUR; classical and scientific licei 5310 EUR; sports liceo 5400 EUR. Fees include insurance, administration, laboratories, heating, gyms and pool, and teaching materials. The nursery is charged separately: from 1850 to 2340 EUR depending on hours. The school reserves the right to raise fees during the year if the cost of living rises sharply.
Admissions The school states that as a paritaria school it does not discriminate in admissions and accepts families who share its educational project. Enrolment requires the parents' and child's documents, a vaccination certificate, school records and, for foreign citizens, a residence permit (permesso di soggiorno) and a family status certificate. The school welcomes children of other languages and cultures, notably many Chinese families from the nearby Esquilino district; it uses interpreters when needed, and primary has Italian classes for foreign pupils. For the licei: an open day or a personal meeting with the candidate, then the family sends the latest report card and the middle school's guidance opinion, the admissions committee reviews them and communicates its decision; enrolment follows. Admitted students have an optional induction course in mathematics, English and study skills in the first week of September and a weekend away to get to know each other.
Stages and year groups Grades asilo nido, Sezione Primavera, scuola dell'infanzia, primaria 1-5, secondaria di primo grado 1-3, liceo 1-5. Asilo nido (3 to 24 months), Sezione Primavera (ages 2-3), scuola dell'infanzia (ages 3-5), scuola primaria, scuola secondaria di primo grado, liceo classico, liceo scientifico and liceo scientifico ad indirizzo sportivo; the licei offer an optional biomedical strand (2 hours a week). The liceo ends with the esame di Stato. Cambridge: daily English with a native-speaker teacher in the nursery and early years; in primary Cambridge programmes in English as a Second Language, Mathematics and Science, 9-10 hours of English a week, and Starters, Movers and Flyers language exams in years 3-5; in middle school 7 hours of English, 4 of them Cambridge (English as a Second Language, Mathematics, Science); in the classical and scientific licei 5 hours of English, 1 hour of Biology and 1 hour of Global Perspectives with IGCSE exam preparation. The school does not mention Checkpoint exams. In the sports liceo some lessons are taught in English through CLIL, and 2 hours of Spanish are optional.
Address Viale Manzoni 5, 00185 Roma
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · Primary, Lower Secondary, IGCSE · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge Primary, Cambridge Lower Secondary, Cambridge IGCSE. Primary and middle school follow Cambridge ESL, Mathematics and Science; the classical and science licei add Biology and Global Perspectives in English towards IGCSE.
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: Primary (ages 5-11), Lower Secondary (ages 11-14), IGCSE (ages 14-16). Primary is the primary stage, ages 5 to 11: English, mathematics and science to Cambridge syllabuses. At the end of the stage a school may run the optional Checkpoint test, which is marked in Cambridge. Lower Secondary is the middle stage, ages 11 to 14, with the same optional Checkpoint test at the end. 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 pool
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio
Clubs and activities: Musica Viva Choir · Piano · Guitar · Violin · Drums · Singing and Vocal Technique · Acting Workshop · Everyone on Stage! · Chess Course · Robotics and 3D Printing · Theology for Everyone · Law in a Nutshell · Chemistry/Herbalism · Debate Workshop · IMUN (Model United Nations) · Mediterranean Mathematics Games · Ancient Languages Course · Swimming · Basketball · Football · Volley
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
What the listings show: English teachers are native speakers; tutors and guidance counsellors are certified by the Ministry.
English following Cambridge programmes in primary and middle school is taught by native-speaker teachers. In the nursery each group has qualified educators, a native English-speaking teacher, and specialists in music, movement and crafts. Liceo admissions involve liceo teachers certified by the Ministry as tutors and guidance counsellors; every liceo student has a tutor teacher for guidance.
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 psychological counselling service is available for middle school and liceo students and their parents; the school publishes an anti-bullying code and a risk assessment document. The licei have tutoring and a school chaplain.
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 data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 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
Rome, Italy · est. 1889 · Private