← Back to the rankingLiceo Scientifico Statale Leonardo da Vinci
Genoa, Italy · est. 1970 · State
Illustration · Genoa
Liceo Leonardo da Vinci is a state scientific liceo in central Genova, founded in 1970 as the IV Liceo Scientifico. Since 2004-2005 its main building has been a former Jesuit college on Via Arecco behind Piazza Manin; there are two more branches, on Largo Giardino and in Molassana. It has 998 students in 51 classes and 72 teachers. Besides the traditional scientific liceo, the school runs a Cambridge section, two-year experimental STEM and Leo's Lab courses, a course with extra physics and, in Molassana, a course with an extra hour of Italian. Lessons are in Italian. Since 2016-2017 the school has been a Cambridge International School: in the Cambridge section geography and mathematics are also taught in English on IGCSE syllabuses, with Cambridge exams, and physics is added in years 3-4. The school is strong in mathematics and chess: its team came fourth out of one hundred at the 2026 national mathematics olympiad final and achieved its best-ever place at the national school chess tournament.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE · National programme
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
Students per teacher
about 14 students per teacher
About the fees The school is state-run and tuition is free. The Cambridge course costs families about 200 EUR a year: this covers the school's annual Cambridge registration, IGCSE exams and their administration, as well as about 70 EUR of school fees and insurance also paid in regular classes; English textbooks are paid separately. No year is given for the amount.
Admissions Enrolment in year 1 is through the national online procedure; applicants to the Cambridge section list it as first choice and the regular scientific liceo as second. The Cambridge section admits students only into year 1 and only through a written test in April: B1 English and basic mathematics; those who do not pass join regular classes of the liceo. The school accepts foreign students: according to the PTOF, extra hours of Italian as a second language are organised for recently arrived students when resources allow.
Stages and year groups Grades 1-5 scuola secondaria di secondo grado. Five-year liceo scientifico on the Italian curriculum ending with the esame di Stato. Courses: the traditional scientific liceo (main building and Largo Giardino), Italiano Più in Molassana (5 hours of Italian and 2 hours of Latin a week), the Sperimentazione Cambridge section, the two-year experimental Biennio STEM and Biennio Leo's Lab, and Fisica +. Cambridge section (since 2016-2017, one class per year group): IGCSE Geography in years 1-2 with the exam at the end of year 2, IGCSE Mathematics from year 1 with the exam in year 3, physics in English in years 3-4 with an internal school certificate, and in some classes experimental IGCSE Latin modules. Subjects in English keep the standard hours; there is more English - 4 hours in year 1 and 5 hours in year 2, a week of 28 and 29 hours, and 30 hours in years 3-5. The course includes preparation for B2 and C1 language exams and an exchange with Solna Gymnasium in Stockholm, Sweden.
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 Cambridge section of the science lyceum (one class per year) Geography and Mathematics are also taught in English to IGCSE, with exams in years 2-3, and Physics in English 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). 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 hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Makerspace
Clubs and activities: Mathematics Team Competition · School Chess Trophy · Swimming Competitions · Racket Sports · La Voce del Leo (school newspaper) · Erasmus+ (international exchanges) · Cultural Exchange with Sweden · PET and FIRST Certifications
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
According to the PTOF the school has 72 teachers and 26 technical and administrative staff. All teachers of the Cambridge section are permanent staff of the school, qualified to teach IGCSE syllabuses.
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
A psychological support desk operates during and outside school hours, run by a qualified specialist for students, families and staff; the school also uses an external psychologist. Prevention of bullying and cyberbullying is part of the civic education programme; there is an inclusion plan.
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 data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data65 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