← Back to the rankingLiceo Scientifico «Guglielmo Marconi»
Parma, Italy · est. 1923 · State
Illustration · Parma
Liceo Scientifico Guglielmo Marconi is the oldest science liceo in Parma, founded in May 1923 under the Gentile reform and for a long time the only one in the city. In 1977 it opened the city's first language liceo, followed by a computer science track that became the applied sciences liceo. It is now one of the largest schools in the city: 1865 students in 82 classes. Lessons are in Italian under the state curriculum, over five years, ending with the esame di Stato. Tracks: science liceo (including bilingual sections with German or Spanish and ESABAC), applied sciences, language liceo with a choice of French, German, Spanish, Chinese and Russian (including ESABAC), and Cambridge IGCSE courses in all three tracks; for upper years there are biomedical and international courses with the Università di Parma. The Cambridge course has run since the 2017-2018 school year, and students sat their first exams in 2019; some geography, biology and English lessons are taught in English with native speakers, and exams are held at the liceo.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE · National programme
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
Languages taught
French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Latin
Class size
on average 22 students per class (1865 students in 82 classes)
About the fees Tuition at the state liceo is free. In all tracks with the Cambridge course families pay a contribution for native speakers; the school mentions the extra charge for the course without an amount.
Admissions Enrolment in the first year is through the state online procedure on the UNICA platform in January-February (for 2025-2026, from 21 January to 10 February 2025); the track, including the Cambridge course, is chosen in the application. A bilingual science section opens with 28 applicants, language combinations in the language liceo depend on demand. The website describes no selection for the Cambridge course; Cambridge exams are not compulsory. The protocol for foreign students notes that the school must accept a foreign student at any time of the year; for children without Italian there is the Italiano amico committee and a procedure for joining a class. The share of students without Italian citizenship is higher than in other licei of the province.
Stages and year groups Italian state curriculum, 5 years, ending with the esame di Stato. Tracks: liceo scientifico (including English-German and English-Spanish bilingual sections and ESABAC), liceo scientifico opzione scienze applicate, liceo linguistico (English plus two of French, German, Spanish, Chinese and Russian; ESABAC with a double esame di Stato and baccalauréat diploma). Cambridge International in all three tracks, in separate Cambridge classes: in the science and language licei IGCSE Geography (history and geography with a native speaker in years 1-2, exam in year 2), in all tracks IGCSE Biology and IGCSE English as a Second Language at B2 level (exams in year 3), and in year 4 Cambridge Advanced (C1). In the science liceo English is 3 hours plus 2 hours with a native speaker in years 1-2, 29-31 hours a week; monthly extra afternoon sessions prepare for the exams. The exams are not compulsory and are held at the liceo. In year 5 one non-language subject is taught in a foreign language. Families pay a contribution for the native speakers.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge IGCSE. Separate Cambridge classes in all three tracks study IGCSE Geography (science and languages), Biology and English with native speakers; optional exams in years 2-3.
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: Makerspace
Clubs and activities: School Sports Club · Snow Project with Giocampus (ski programme) · Club dell'Arte-fatto (art club) · Bocconi Mathematical Games · Italian Language Olympiad · Romanae Disputationes (philosophy competition) · Extreme Energy Events · Erasmus+ (international exchanges)
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
Cambridge courses are taught by liceo teachers together with native speakers, some of whom have worked there since the first year of the course, 2017-2018. There is a Cambridge exams officer, a teacher support coordinator and a communications lead. Each foreign language in the language liceo includes an hour of conversation with a native speaker.
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 to students. The liceo runs programmes against cyberbullying and for safe online behaviour, health programmes and the Mente, corpo e spiritualità programme on emotions. There is a protocol for welcoming foreign students without Italian with the Italiano amico committee, an inclusion plan and procedures for supporting students with special educational needs and dyslexia.
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 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