Liceo Vittoria Colonna is a state upper secondary school in Rome's historic centre with four tracks: liceo linguistico, liceo scientifico opzione scienze applicate, liceo delle scienze umane and its opzione economico sociale. The school dates back to 1872, when Rome's first women's Scuola Normale opened in this building, and took the name Vittoria Colonna in 1883. It has 892 students in 37 classes. Teaching is in Italian under the national curriculum, ending with the esame di Stato; the linguistico track teaches three foreign languages: English, French and Spanish. In addition, the school runs a paid Cambridge IGCSE project: lessons in English on subjects of each track after regular classes, three hours a week in years 1-4 and two hours in year 5, with IGCSE exams held at the school. The liceo also runs a hospital section at the Bambino Gesù children's hospital.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE · National programme
Languages of instruction
Italian, English
Languages taught
French, Spanish, Latin
Class size
24 students per class on average
About the fees Tuition at this state liceo is free. The Cambridge IGCSE project is paid: «for each year of the course the cost is 390 euros»; IGCSE exams are paid separately, about 100 euros per exam. The PTOF states that the school relies on family contributions to broaden its educational offer; the school mentions this contribution without an amount.
Admissions The liceo is a state school: enrolment in year 1 is through the national Iscrizioni On Line procedure after lower secondary school; for enrolment in 2026-2027 the school held open days with prior registration. Families and students opt into the Cambridge IGCSE project and decide when to sit exams on the teachers' advice; the project pages mention no selection or test, but the school warns that the English as a Second Language exam requires a level of English between B2 and C1. The school accepts foreign students: the PTOF explicitly aims to help foreign students overcome integration difficulties.
Stages and year groups Grades Years 1-5 of the liceo (upper secondary school), 37 classes. Italian liceo curriculum ending with the esame di Stato; tracks: linguistico (standard and opzione Cambridge), scienze applicate (with a Liceo Matematico variant run with Sapienza University), scienze umane, scienze umane opzione economico sociale. Cambridge IGCSE project according to the project page: years 1-2 - English (2 hours) plus one hour of Geography (linguistico), Maths (scienze applicate) or Sociology (scienze umane); year 3 - Geography, Maths or Sociology for 2 hours plus one hour of English Literature, Biology or History; year 4 - English Literature, Biology or History for 2 hours plus one hour of Global Perspectives or Physics; year 5 - Global Perspectives or Physics, 2 hours. Year 4 courses have run since 2024/2025 and year 5 courses since 2025/2026; in the linguistico track Global Perspectives may be replaced by a C1 certificate course. The linguistico Cambridge track page describes an earlier scheme: 2 hours of English as a Second Language and one hour of Latin in years 1-2; it also mentions a pilot Advanced Level course for some students in years 3-5.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge IGCSE. A paid after-school Cambridge course in every track: 3 hours a week in years 1-4 and 2 hours in year 5 in subjects of the chosen track, with IGCSE exams at school.
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
✓Library
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The liceo occupies a historic palazzo in central Rome near Campo de' Fiori, the former «Casa grande» of the Barberini family and later the Monte di Pietà building. According to the PTOF it has chemistry, science and computer laboratories, a classical library, an assembly hall, an anatomy room, two gyms and a fitness room; classrooms have interactive whiteboards. Because of the historic building, the school itself notes difficulties in removing architectural barriers. The liceo also runs a hospital section at the Bambino Gesù children's hospital in Palidoro.
Clubs and activities: Il Capitello (school newspaper) · Theatre Course · Theatre in French · Chess Club · We debate · Italian Model United Nations · Global Action Model United Nations · Film Club · Subject Olympiads · Erasmus+ (international exchanges)
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
What the listings show: Cambridge courses are taught by in-house and external teachers with C2 English and appropriate qualifications for non-language subjects; according to the PTOF the additional English hours are taught by a native-speaker teacher.
The school states an average class size of 24 students (892 students in 37 classes). The site gives no number of teachers or student-teacher ratio.
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
According to the PTOF the school runs a psychological support service for adolescents (sportello d'ascolto) with registered psychologists; its programme includes prevention of discrimination, bullying and cyberbullying and an inclusion plan for students with special educational needs and foreign students.
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 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
Rome, Italy · est. 1872 · State