Rome International School (RIS) is a private international day school in north-west Rome, inside the Monte Mario Natural Reserve, operating since 1988. It takes children aged 2 to 18: early years and elementary follow the IB Primary Years Programme with Italian language and culture, middle school (Years 7-9) follows an international curriculum based on Cambridge materials with Cambridge Checkpoint exams, and high school has two years of Cambridge IGCSE followed by the IB Diploma Programme, which all students take. The school says it is the only school in Rome offering both the PYP and the Diploma Programme. The language of instruction is English; Italian families and students with native Italian can follow a parallel Italian state curriculum with the exam at the end of middle school (Terza Media), and with the right subject combination the IB Diploma is recognised as equivalent to the Italian maturità. Since the 2023-2024 school year the early years and elementary sections have been a scuola paritaria. More than 450 students of 50 nationalities attend.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $11 862–31 356 a year
10 500–27 755 EUR
Programmes
IB · PYP, DP · Cambridge · Lower Secondary, IGCSE
Admits from
2 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Italian, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese
About the fees Fees for the 2026-2027 school year, in euros per year, VAT exempt: Nursery and Kindergarten 10500, Transition 11480, Year 1 16240, Year 2 18080, Years 3-4 20665, Years 5-6 21350, Years 7-9 24140, Years 10-11 26160, Years 12-13 27755. Compulsory lunch costs 1355-1550 EUR per year. Fees are paid in three instalments (25% at enrolment, 50% by 31 August, 25% by 30 November); a 4% discount applies for payment in full, and sibling discounts are 10%, 20% and 40% for the second, third and fourth child.
Admissions Admission runs all year as places allow: families complete an online enquiry, then submit the birth certificate, passport, medical form, reports for the past two years (with an official English translation if not in English; not required under age 5) and a recommendation from the current school. The school considers the family's agreement with its mission, records and reports for three years, and the ability to learn in English; middle and high school applicants take a CAT4 assessment before enrolment, testing is required for all secondary years, and high school applicants must commit to the demands of IGCSE and IB. Decisions come within 7 working days. Class placement is by age on 30 September; the nursery takes children who have turned 2. Students wishing to sit the Italian Terza Media exam or obtain maturità equivalence need continuity of education at their previous school. Students of 50 nationalities attend; there are teachers of English and Italian as an additional language for those who need support.
Stages and year groups Grades Nursery, Kindergarten, Transition, Year 1-13. Early Years (ages 2-5: Nursery, Kindergarten, Transition) and Elementary (Years 1-6, ages 6-11) follow the IB Primary Years Programme with the Italian curriculum; since 2023-2024 they have been a scuola paritaria (scuola dell'infanzia and scuola primaria). Middle School (Years 7-9, ages 12-14) follows an international curriculum based on Cambridge Lower Secondary materials, and in Year 9 all students take Cambridge Checkpoint in English, Mathematics and Science; optionally, an Italian curriculum prepares for the Terza Media exam (licenza media) with extra hours for an additional fee. High School: Years 10-11 (ages 14-16) - Cambridge IGCSE, exams in 8 to 11 subjects (English language and literature, mathematics, Coordinated Science, history, geography, economics, Italian, art, music, drama, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, physical education or information technology); entry to IGCSE requires a test, and successful IGCSE exams are required for entry to the Diploma Programme. Years 12-13 (ages 16-18) - the full IB Diploma Programme for all: six subjects (three at higher and three at standard level), theory of knowledge, extended essay, CAS; with the right subject combination, equivalence to the Italian maturità. Checkpoint, IGCSE and IB exams are compulsory.
Address Via Guglielmo Pecori Giraldi 137, 00135 Roma
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · Lower Secondary, IGCSE · authorised programmeIB · PYP, DP · authorised programmeGlobeducate · school is part of the networkThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge Lower Secondary, Cambridge IGCSE. The school names the IB Primary Years and Diploma programmes on its own pages; it was not in the IB register listing we worked from. Years 7-9 follow Cambridge Lower Secondary with Checkpoint in English, Maths and Science, Years 10-11 sit 8-11 compulsory IGCSEs, and everyone then takes the IB Diploma.
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: Lower Secondary (ages 11-14), IGCSE (ages 14-16). Lower Secondary is the middle stage, ages 11 to 14, with the same optional Checkpoint test at the end. 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 →IBInternational Baccalaureate
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
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 organisation has no public register: the status is confirmed by a document of the school. At this school: PYP (ages 3-12), DP (ages 16-19). PYP is the primary stage, ages 3 to 12. It is not a set of subjects but a frame for the whole school: learning is built around lines of inquiry, and there are no exams at the end. DP is the final stage, ages 16 to 19: six subjects plus a compulsory core of theory of knowledge, an extended essay and CAS. The diploma is accepted by universities all over the world, and in a number of countries it counts for admission on the same footing as the local leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Globeducateschool network
A K12 education group bringing together bilingual and international schools as well as online programmes. The site names "65+" schools in 11 countries and 40,000 pupils, and on all the pages read these numbers agree. Whether the group owns the schools, manages them or passes on its methodology under licence is not said on the site; the year of foundation and the country of registration are not named.
What this means for this school. The network owns or operates the school. Its accreditation and programme authorisation the school obtains separately, in its own name.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results IB Diploma 2025: highest score 40 points, 43% of graduates earned the bilingual diploma, 14% scored above 35 points; the school says its graduates consistently score above the world average. IGCSE 2022-2023: 80% of grades A* to C, 20% A*, 100% pass rate in 11 subjects. In 2025, 100% of students passed the Italian Terza Media exam.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio · Playground
Clubs and activities: Model United Nations · Duke of Edinburgh's International Award · LAMDA · ABRSM private music programme · LEGO Club · Codemotion · Chess club · Language labs · Cookery club · Fitness and sports
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
The school names more than 64 experienced educators of many nationalities. Music and PE are taught by specialists from age 2, there are teachers of English and Italian as an additional language and a full-time librarian; Arabic and Chinese are taught by native speakers; the Italian curriculum is taught by native Italian staff. All teachers have completed mandatory safeguarding training.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
✓CCTV
✓Security staff
·Access controlnot stated on the website
·Nurse or medical roomnot stated on the website
✓Counsellor
✓Child protection policy
✓Staff training
✓Anti-bullying policy
The campus has 24-hour security and video surveillance. There is a Designated Safeguarding Lead and a safeguarding team, and all teachers have completed mandatory training; written policies cover child protection, ICT acceptable use, safer recruitment, risk assessment, whistleblowing and the use of artificial intelligence. School counsellors meet students confidentially, with a self-referral option. The school takes part in Safer Internet Week and Anti-Bullying Week. There is no resident school nurse.
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%)97 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data90 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 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. 1988 · Private