← Back to the rankingLiceo Ginnasio Statale Luigi Galvani
Bologna, Italy · est. 1860 · State
Illustration · Bologna
Liceo Ginnasio Statale Luigi Galvani is one of Bologna's oldest state high schools: the Regio Liceo was established by decree in 1860 and since 1882-1883 has occupied the former Jesuit college of Santa Lucia on Via Castiglione. Its teachers included Carducci and Pascoli, its students Pasolini. Today about 1500 students attend in 68 classes. The school offers the classical liceo (traditional, with enhanced English and with a biomedical focus), an international scientific liceo with English, and international French (EsaBac, a double Italian-French diploma, the oldest in Italy since 1991) and German sections in the classical, scientific and languages licei. Lessons are in Italian; in the international sections some subjects are taught in a foreign language together with native-speaker teachers. Since 1997 the Italian-English international scientific liceo has followed Cambridge IGCSE syllabuses, and students sit seven exams at school: English, Mathematics, Physics, Biology, French, Geography and Photography; subjects are taught by Italian teachers together with native speakers. The school was the first state school to become an accredited Cambridge exam centre. Graduates receive the Italian scientific liceo diploma and IGCSE certificates.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE · National programme
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
Languages taught
French, German, Spanish, Latin, Chinese
Class size
on average 22 students per class
About the fees The school is a state school and tuition is free. Families pay a contributo volontario for the school's educational activities through Pago in Rete; the school gives no figure. IGCSE exams are compulsory and paid for, and study trips abroad are also paid by families; the school helps families in documented financial difficulty within its budget.
Admissions Admission to year 1 follows the state online procedure through the Piattaforma Unica; the school states that the only requirement is passing the lower secondary exam, and place of residence does not matter. Several study tracks can be listed in order of preference. So far the school has accepted all applicants; if there are too many applications, the school council's criteria apply. English is not tested in advance for the IGCSE tracks, but textbooks start at B1 level; in September new students take a 10-12 hour English alignment course with a native speaker. The French section accepts students without a test and without prior French (about 20% are beginners); the German section has no test but three years of German in lower secondary school are preferable, and a preparatory course runs in spring. For students who do not speak Italian, the school applies the protocol for welcoming foreign students: personalised learning plans, Italian courses for newly arrived students and peer tutoring.
Stages and year groups Five-year liceo following the Italian curriculum with the esame di Stato. Liceo classico: traditional, with enhanced English (on the website, the liceo classico ad indirizzo inglese IGCSE since 2015-2016: Cambridge certificates in Mathematics, English and Latin, with part of Latin taught in English; in the PTOF 2025-2028, enhanced English with preparation for FCE, CAE and CPE), with a biomedical focus, and international French or German. Liceo scientifico internazionale ad opzione italo-inglese since 1997: IGCSE English as a Second Language, Mathematics, Physics, Biology, French, Geography and Art & Design: Photography, taught by Italian teachers together with native speakers for 1-2 hours a week following the Cambridge syllabus, with the remaining hours in Italian; seven IGCSE exams are taken at school from year 2 to year 4 and are compulsory; study trips to the UK in years 2 and 4 and to a French-speaking country in year 3. EsaBac in the classical, scientific and languages licei: history and geography in French, double diploma esame di Stato and Baccalauréat. German international section in the classical, scientific and languages licei: German language and literature, history and geography in German, Sprachbescheinigung for admission to German universities. Liceo linguistico with Spanish as the third language (DELE). The week has six school days; in the ginnasio some tracks have a five-day week.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge IGCSE. In the international Italian-English science liceo, seven subjects follow IGCSE syllabuses with native co-teachers, and the exams in years 2-4 are compulsory.
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
Where leavers go: University of Cambridge · Imperial College London · Bocconi University · LUISS
The school features graduates of the Italian-English scientific liceo who completed degrees at Cambridge (Homerton College) and Imperial College London, and states that many of its students attend prestigious foreign and Italian universities with English-taught programmes, such as Bocconi and LUISS. IGCSE certificates earn credits at the University of Bologna under an agreement with the school.
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: Art studio
Clubs and activities: Mathematics and Physics Olympiads · Shadow Theatre Workshop · Liceo Galvani Choir · Ultimate Frisbee · Self-Defence · Confucius Classroom · Deutschradio (German-language radio) · Galvani-Dozza Reading Circle · EEE - Extreme Energy Events · School Sports Group · ICDL
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 sizein the key facts above
What the listings show: native speakers with degrees in their subjects
IGCSE subjects are taught by Italian teachers together with native English speakers; the school states that all native speakers hold degrees in the subjects they teach. In the French section, French, history and geography are taught with teachers from France, and in the German section with native German teachers. In all classes one hour of English a week is taught with a native speaker. Tutor teachers and a guidance teacher work with years 3-5.
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 policy
There is a free school psychologist service and the CIC counselling desk for students, parents and staff, tutor teachers, an inclusion plan for students with disabilities and learning difficulties, a designated teacher and a programme against bullying and cyberbullying, and a prevention and protection service.
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 data70 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 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