The Liceo Classico Statale Socrate is a state classical liceo in Bari that celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2025-2026. Its five-year liceo classico curriculum covers Italian, Latin, Ancient Greek, history, philosophy, mathematics and science, with one subject taught through CLIL in a foreign language in the final year; from grade 3 an optional three-year biology course with a biomedical focus is available. Besides the standard track there is an international classical liceo with German: German language, plus history and geography taught in German by Italian and native-speaker teachers; graduates receive a German diploma in addition to the Italian one, accepted by German universities without a language exam. Since 1 October 2025 the liceo has been a Cambridge International School: from 2026-2027 it admits one Cambridge section in which IGCSE courses in English as a Second Language and Mathematics in English are added to the Italian curriculum. Lessons are taught in Italian; in the Cambridge section English and part of mathematics are taught in English, and in the German section some subjects are taught in German. There are 801 students in 36 classes and 66 teachers. The school is a Cambridge English exam preparation centre and an ECDL test centre.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE · National programme
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
Languages taught
German, Latin
Class size
22 students per class on average
About the fees The liceo is a state school and charges no tuition. For the Cambridge section families pay a compulsory additional contribution of 200 euros.
Admissions Enrolment in grade 1 follows the state online procedure on the UNICA platform (for 2026-2027, from 13 January to 14 February 2026). If applications exceed places, priority criteria apply: pupils from the designated lower secondary schools of the area, residents of Bari, siblings of current students, parents working in the district, then residents of the metropolitan area, and a draw. To join the Cambridge section, families choose this option on the enrolment form; there is one section, and if oversubscribed a ranking is drawn up: first pupils from Cambridge sections of lower secondary schools (of the area, then Bari, then the metropolitan area), then by level and score of a Cambridge English certificate, by the English grade in the last year of lower secondary school, and by a draw. For the German section priority goes to pupils who studied German in lower secondary school and to children with a German-speaking parent. The website does not say anything about admitting foreign students or children without Italian.
Stages and year groups Grades 1-5 scuola secondaria di secondo grado (IV-V ginnasio, I-III liceo). Five-year liceo classico on the Italian curriculum (DPR 89/2010) with the esame di Stato; 29 hours a week in grades 1-2, 33 hours in grades 3-4 and 31 hours in grade 5. Tracks: Liceo Classico di ordinamento; Liceo Classico Internazionale ad opzione tedesca (German 4-5 hours a week, history and geography in German; German and history exams are part of the esame di Stato, and graduates also receive a German diploma); Liceo Classico con percorso Cambridge. Cambridge: IGCSE English as a Second Language (exam at the end of grade 2) and IGCSE Mathematics (exam at the end of grade 4) in one Cambridge section, admitting from 2026-2027; two extra hours of English with a native-speaker teacher in grades 1-2 and two extra hours of mathematics in English in grades 3-4; teachers are native speakers or hold at least a C1 certificate. From grade 3 an optional three-year biology course with a biomedical focus (Biologia con curvatura biomedica) is offered.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge IGCSE. The Cambridge section, open since 2026, adds IGCSE English in years 1-2 and maths taught in English in years 3-4, on top of the Italian state curriculum.
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 hall
✓Library
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Clubs and activities: Classical Theatre · Sound Workshop · Kairos (photography studio) · History on Trial · Journalism School · Mathematics Games · Philosophy Championships · First Aid Olympiad · Debate · Twinning with a German School
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
✓Number of teachers66
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
The liceo has 66 teachers and 25 technical and administrative staff; most teachers are on permanent contracts and the staff is stable. In the Cambridge section English is taught by an Italian teacher who is a native English speaker and mathematics by a teacher holding a Cambridge C1 certificate; the German section is taught by Italian and native German-speaking teachers.
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 permanent anti-bullying and cyberbullying monitoring group under Law 70/2024 includes the head, coordinators, an anti-bullying team and an emergency team, and representatives of parents, students and staff; there is an internal anti-bullying code and a reporting form, and the reporter's confidentiality is guaranteed. Students can consult a psychologist under an agreement with the city family services 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 data75 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
Bari, Italy · State