The Liceo Scientifico Statale Plinio Seniore is a state scientific liceo in central Roma near Porta Pia, opened in the late 1950s and counted among the city's historic licei. In the 2024-2025 school year it had 1502 students in 62 classes, 24 per class on average, on two sites. Besides the traditional liceo scientifico there is the Liceo Matematico with extra mathematics hours (since 2016-2017) and an international Cambridge section (since 2017-2018): English as a Second Language, geography, mathematics, biology and Global Perspectives are taught to both the Italian curriculum and the Cambridge IGCSE syllabus, with native English-speaking teachers. Lessons are taught in Italian; in the Cambridge section English and part of the geography, mathematics, biology and philosophy lessons are taught in English. The liceo takes part in Erasmus+ and eTwinning, runs English courses for language certificates, supports students spending grade 4 abroad, and has a choir.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE · National programme
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
About the fees The liceo is a state school and charges no tuition. The school mentions an extra fee for the Cambridge course without an amount: the section requires a family contribution towards project costs.
Admissions Enrolment in grade 1 follows the state Iscrizioni on-line procedure, with help from the school office if needed; the track (traditional, Liceo Matematico, Cambridge section) is chosen on the form. The website does not publish selection criteria for the Cambridge section; families pay a separate contribution for the Cambridge course. Foreign students attend the liceo; there is induction and, if needed, Italian as a second language courses, although most already speak good Italian.
Stages and year groups Grades 1-5 scuola secondaria di secondo grado (liceo scientifico). Five-year liceo scientifico on the Italian curriculum with the esame di Stato. Tracks: traditional liceo scientifico, Liceo Matematico (since 2016-2017, extra mathematics hours), international Cambridge section (since 2017-2018). Cambridge section: IGCSE English as a Second Language (3+2 hours of English in grades 1-3), Geography (grades 1-2), Mathematics (4+1 hours in grades 1-2, 3+1 in grade 3), Biology (from grade 2, in grades 2-3), Global Perspectives (with philosophy in grades 3-4); the extra hour in each subject other than English is co-taught with a native-speaker teacher; 29 hours a week in grade 1. Cambridge textbooks are included in the English textbook list.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge IGCSE. The international Cambridge section of the science lyceum teaches English, Geography, Mathematics, Biology and Global Perspectives to IGCSE with native speakers in years 1-4.
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 hall
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Clubs and activities: Liceo Plinio Choir · Erasmus+ (international exchanges) · eTwinning · Mathematics Games · Greek Theatre in Syracuse · English Language Certification Courses · German Course · School Sports Games
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 sizenot stated
Most teachers have worked at the liceo for more than 5 years, mainly on permanent contracts, which ensures continuity; some hold language or IT certificates, and some come from business or universities. In the Cambridge section subjects are taught by Italian teachers together with native English-speaking subject specialists. The website does not give the number of teachers.
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 room
✓Counsellor
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
Both buildings have a counselling and anti-violence service: appointments with psychologists can be booked anonymously, by first name or nickname, with the consent of both parents. The main building has a medical room. The curriculum covers prevention of violence, bullying and cyberbullying, including through sport.
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 data80 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
Rome, Italy · State