← Back to the rankingLiceo Scientifico «Guido Castelnuovo»
Florence, Italy · est. 1967 · State
Illustration · Florence
Liceo Scientifico Guido Castelnuovo is a state science liceo in central Florence, opened in 1967 as the city's second science liceo and named after the mathematician Guido Castelnuovo. It operates on two historic sites, on Via La Marmora and Via della Colonna, with about 1157 students in 52 classes. Lessons are in Italian under the state curriculum, over five years, ending with the esame di Stato. Tracks: science liceo, applied sciences liceo, science liceo with the Cambridge International course and a biomedical biology course. Since the 2017-2018 school year the liceo has been a Cambridge International school: in Cambridge classes English as a second language, mathematics and biology are partly taught in English with a native-speaker teacher, students take IGCSE exams, and in years 3-4 they may optionally study Art & Design or AS/A Level mathematics. Third-year Cambridge classes go on a study trip to the UK.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE, A-Level · National programme
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
Class size
on average 22 students per class (1157 students in 52 classes)
About the fees Tuition at the state liceo is free. For the Cambridge course families pay an annual contribution based on ISEE income, up to 250 euros a year; exams in each subject are paid separately.
Admissions Enrolment in the first year is through the state online procedure; the Cambridge course is chosen at enrolment. The website describes no separate selection for the Cambridge course; open days for future students are held on both sites. The school reports a sharp rise in the number of students whose first language is not Italian: afternoon classes in Italian as a second language are offered for them, at the start of their studies or during the year.
Stages and year groups Italian state liceo scientifico curriculum, 5 years, ending with the esame di Stato. Tracks: science liceo, applied sciences, science liceo with the Cambridge International course, biomedical biology. Cambridge International, compulsory subjects in Cambridge classes: IGCSE English as a Second Language, IGCSE Mathematics and IGCSE Biology; in each subject the teacher works one hour a week together with a native-speaker subject specialist, plus extra hours with the native speaker alone; exams at the end of each subject course, in June and November sessions, marked by Cambridge. From 2024-2025, optional in years 3-4: IGCSE Art & Design or AS/A Level Mathematics (afternoon course of 25 hours a year, exam at the end of year 4 or in the autumn session of year 5), or neither. The liceo is an accredited IGCSE and AS/A Level exam centre.
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. Cambridge classes in the science lyceum take compulsory IGCSE English, Mathematics and Biology with native speakers, then optional IGCSE Art and Design or AS/A Level Mathematics in years 3-4.
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
✓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: Makerspace
Clubs and activities: Theatre Workshop · Photography Workshop · School Sports Centre · Ski Course · Archimedes Games and Mathematics Olympiad · Physics Olympiad · Italian Language Olympiad · Latin Competitions · Chemistry Games · Arduino Project · Advanced AutoCAD Courses
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
In Cambridge classes each subject is taught by an Italian teacher and a native or bilingual subject specialist. The liceo runs an Italian as a second language course with a dedicated teacher and study clinics for students who fall behind.
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 training
✓Anti-bullying policy
Two psychologists run a counselling service for students, parents and teachers; at teachers' request they also work with classes. The liceo runs programmes against cyberbullying and on health and addictions, and the health and safety service trains students in lab safety rules.
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 data70 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