← Back to the rankingLiceo Classico Internazionale Statale Giovanni Meli
Palermo, Italy · est. 1887 · State
Illustration · Palermo
Liceo Classico Internazionale Statale Giovanni Meli is a state classical liceo in Palermo, founded in 1887 as a royal ginnasio and given its upper liceo classes in 1929; its alumni include the judge Paolo Borsellino. It has 1244 students in 61 classes. In April 2016 the liceo became a Cambridge International School (centre IT167) and since the 2016/17 school year has run the Cambridge classical liceo: students receive the classical liceo diploma plus IGCSE and International AS Level certificates. The programme includes IGCSE English as a Second Language, IGCSE Mathematics, IGCSE Biology and International AS Level English General Paper; IGCSE Latin is no longer offered to first-year students from 2026/27. Cambridge subjects are taught by liceo teachers together with native speakers, in hours added to the regular plan. The main language of instruction is Italian.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE, A-Level · National programme
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
About the fees Tuition at the state liceo is free. The school council has set an annual contribution of 300 EUR for the Cambridge course.
Admissions Students enrol through the ministry's online system after lower secondary school, usually from November under an annual circular. The Cambridge course requires an international A2 English certificate covering all four skills from a ministry-recognised body. If applications exceed places, the school council ranks applicants by: attendance at an English-language school, certificate level and score, a native English-speaking parent, then a draw.
Stages and year groups Grades 1-5 (scuola secondaria di secondo grado), 61 classes. Classical liceo with a Cambridge course (Liceo Classico Cambridge). According to the 2026/27 timetable: IGCSE English as a Second Language in years 1-2 (1 hour with the teacher and a native speaker and 1 extra hour with the native speaker, exam at the start of year 3); International AS Level English General Paper in years 3-4 (1 shared hour and 2 extra hours with the native speaker); IGCSE Mathematics (1 extra hour in years 1-2 and 1 shared hour in year 3, exam at the end of year 3); IGCSE Biology (1 extra hour in years 1-2 and 1 shared hour in years 3-4, exam at the end of year 4). In total 30 hours a week in years 1-2, 33 hours in years 3-4 and 31 hours in year 5. Latin is also taught in English with the Ørberg method; IGCSE Latin is not offered to new first-year classes from 2026/27. IGCSE and AS exams are spread between years 3 and 5. The course has run since the 2016/17 school year.
Address Via Salvatore Aldisio 2, 90146 Palermo (PA)
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE, A-Level · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge IGCSE, AS and A Level.
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), A-Level (ages 16-18). IGCSE means exams at around Year 10 or 11, the British counterpart of a lower secondary leaving certificate. A-Level is the senior years, and their results are what British and many other universities admit on.
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
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Makerspace
Campus: The building was designed as a school and, the school says, is spacious and bright. The school presentation shows a library, the Paolo Borsellino auditorium, gyms, the TechLab - RoboLab, a debate space, a podcast studio, flexible learning spaces, the ExpoAgorà 3.0 exhibition space and an open-air green classroom. It is a day school.
Clubs and activities: Debate · Podcasts · TechLab - RoboLab
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
On average 20 students per class. Cambridge subjects are taught by liceo teachers together with native speakers with subject expertise; the course has coordinators and a Cambridge school support coordinator.
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%)85 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 data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data75 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data67 "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