← Back to the rankingLiceo Statale «Pietro Siciliani»
Lecce, Italy · est. 1866 · State
Illustration · Lecce
Liceo Statale «Pietro Siciliani» is one of the oldest state licei in Lecce. It opened in 1866 as a Scuola Normale training primary school teachers, became an Istituto Magistrale in 1923, has occupied its building on Via di Leuca since the 1944-1945 school year and bears the name of the educator Pietro Siciliani. Today it is a liceo linguistico, a liceo delle scienze umane and its economic and social option, and since the 2018-2019 school year also a four-year human sciences liceo. 1141 students attend in 55 classes. Teaching is in Italian, ending with the esame di Stato. In the language liceo students learn three of four foreign languages (English, French, German, Spanish); there is an EsaBac section with a double Italian-French diploma and one Cambridge International stream: a class of up to 24-25 students who study drama, English as a second language, mathematics, biology and Global Perspectives under Cambridge IGCSE syllabuses, with native-speaker teachers and visiting theatre specialists. The school has been Cambridge approved since 2015.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE · National programme
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
Languages taught
French, German, Spanish, Latin
About the fees The school is a state school and tuition is free. According to the project description in the 2025-2026 PTOF, the Cambridge International course is paid for by the students themselves (Cambridge fee, exams, theatre expert, theatre hire); the school gives no amount for this course fee.
Admissions Enrolment in the first year follows the state Iscrizioni online procedure. For the Cambridge class of the language liceo (English, French and Spanish or German) a separate application is made to the school; places are limited to 24 students. Selection is by points: the final scuola media grade, grades in English (at least 8), mathematics and science, and an English certificate at A2, B1 or B2 level from a ministry-recognised body; ties are broken by a public draw. Students move into EsaBac in the third year under separate criteria, with French at B1 level required. For foreign students recently arrived in Italy or not yet fluent in Italian, the school's protocol provides an individual learning plan; through an exchange programme the school hosts foreign students in its classes.
Stages and year groups Licei ending with the esame di Stato: liceo linguistico (three foreign languages; EsaBac option with a double esame di Stato and baccalauréat diploma - French literature 4 hours and history in French 2 hours a week in years 3-5 - and the Cambridge International option), liceo delle scienze umane, liceo delle scienze umane opzione economico-sociale, and a four-year liceo delle scienze umane. Cambridge: one class in each year of the language liceo (1AL-5AL), Cambridge IGCSE syllabuses in Drama, English as a Second Language, Mathematics, Biology and Global Perspectives, with IGCSE exams from the third year; Drama is taught by an external theatre specialist and there is an English conversation lesson with a native speaker. In addition the school prepares students for Cambridge English (PET, First, Advanced), DELF, DELE, Zertifikat Deutsch and IELTS exams.
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 languages lyceum one class per year group follows IGCSE Drama, English as a Second Language, Mathematics, Biology and Global Perspectives, with exams from year 3.
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: National Languages Championship · Juvenes Translatores · Italian Language Olympiad · School Sports Championships · Debate · ICDL Course · Towards the East - Chinese Course · Lusophone World - Portuguese Course · Asimov Prize · David Giovani and Leoncino d'Oro (student film juries) · Digital Human Rights Olympiad in English · Orienteering
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
✓Number of teachers105
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
The school has 105 teachers and 27 support staff. More than 90% of teachers hold permanent contracts and about half have been at the school for more than five years; all teachers are graduates except a few conversation teachers. The Cambridge class is taught by teachers with language certificates and native English speakers; for IGCSE Drama the school engages an external specialist with C1 English and a theatre qualification.
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
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school has a lead and a team for preventing bullying and cyberbullying, an inclusion working group, a health education lead and a tutor for exchange students. The protocol for students with special educational needs sets out individual plans, including for foreign students not yet fluent in Italian.
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 data65 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