Scuola Europea di Varese was founded in 1960 and remains the only European School (type I) in Italy among the 13 such schools in the EU. It was built for the children of staff at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre in Ispra, but admits other children when places are available. About 1300 students of more than 50 nationalities attend. The school has five language sections - Italian, English, French, German and Dutch - and children whose mother tongue is another official EU language receive mother-tongue lessons from native-speaker teachers. Three cycles: nursery (2 years, ages 4-5), primary (5 years, ages 6-10) and secondary (7 years), which in Italian terms covers lower secondary and liceo; it ends with the European Baccalaureate exams common to all European Schools. The first foreign language (German, English or French) is taught from primary year 1, and from secondary year 3 human sciences and religion or ethics are taught in it, from year 4 history and geography. The second foreign language starts in secondary year 1, a third in year 4, and Latin in year 2. The school's rules are set by the Board of Governors of the European Schools, representing the ministries of EU countries and the European Commission.
Key facts
Programmes
European Baccalaureate
Admits from
4 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
Italian, English, French, German
About the fees Children of EU institution staff (category 1) study free of charge, and for category 2 the company pays under its agreement. For private families (category 3) fees are set by the Board of Governors of the European Schools; the school publishes the rules and refers to the website of the Office of the Secretary-General of the European Schools for the amounts. A 25% deposit of the annual fee is due by 30 June, without which enrolment is not confirmed; non-payment by the end of the year leads to removal from the register. Discounts for category 3 families enrolling since 2013/2014: the second child pays 80% of the fee, the third and further children 60%. Instalments and partial reductions in serious social cases (with ISEE) can be requested from 2 June to 13 September.
Admissions The school admits three categories of students: category 1 - children of EU institution staff (no fees), category 2 - children of employees of companies with a financing agreement, category 3 - private families, admitted if places are available, with a waiting list in the English and Italian sections. Enrolment for 2027/2028 is open to all categories in all sections from 15 January to 30 April 2027: the application signed by both parents with the required documents is sent as one PDF by e-mail and the original is then handed to the office. For the current 2026/2027 year category 3 is admitted only to the French, Dutch and German sections. The class is set using the European Schools table of equivalent years of study. Monthly mini open days are held by booking.
Stages and year groups The European Schools curriculum. Ciclo materno - 2 years (ages 4-5), ciclo primario - 5 years (ages 6-10), ciclo secondario - 7 years: S1-S3 correspond to Italian lower secondary, S4-S5 (pre-orientation cycle) end with harmonised exams, S6-S7 (orientation cycle) end with the European Baccalaureate exams, identical in all European Schools. Five language sections: Italian, English, French, German, Dutch. Languages: the first foreign language (German, English or French) from P1, the second from S1 and the third from S4 - any official EU language if a group forms, studied until the end of S5; Latin from S2 for at least two years. There is no separate Italian state curriculum or diploma. The school does not run Cambridge International courses.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
European Schools · authorised programmeThe European Schools curriculum in five language sections, including English, leading to the European Baccalaureate. It is a European School (type I) of the European Schools system: graduates sit the European Baccalaureate.
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
European SchoolsThe European Union's European Schools (Schola Europaea)
An intergovernmental system of European Union schools with its own curriculum and its own certificate, the European Baccalaureate. It runs thirteen schools of its own, and national schools gain the status of Accredited European School after an audit with a visit by inspectors. The certificate is recognised for university entry in every EU country.
What the badge means for this school. The school runs the European Schools curriculum, and this can be checked in the system's lists at eursc.eu. The system's own schools are checked by inspectors from EU countries, accredited schools pass an in-school audit, and accreditation is renewed every three years. Whether the school awards the European Baccalaureate, and whom it admits, is stated on its own page. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →European Baccalaureate
The European Union's European Schools curriculum from nursery to the final year, with the European Baccalaureate as the leaving certificate. Teaching is in language sections, and a second language is compulsory from primary school.
What this means for this school. The curriculum and the certificate are set by the European Schools system, whose Board of Governors is made up of the education ministers of the EU countries. European Baccalaureate papers are marked by the teacher and an external examiner, and the certificate is recognised for university entry in every EU country and in several others. A school may award it only if it is one of the system's own schools or is accredited for the senior years.
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
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio · Playground
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 sizenot stated
What the listings show: Mother-tongue lessons are taught by native-speaker teachers supervised by inspectors from all participating countries. The management is led by a director from Croatia, with deputy directors for secondary from Ireland and for nursery and primary and for finance from Italy.
The school does not give staff numbers on its website; the secondary school runs maths and science 'clinics' for S4-S7 students.
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 policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
A medical service with two school nurses, procedures for pupil accidents, rules for giving medicines on parental request and doctor's prescription, and accident insurance. A team of two registered psychologists, documents on bullying prevention and mental wellbeing, the ProDAS programme, a listening service and a student support network in secondary.
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 data75 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 data55 Value for money (6%) scored at the median95 "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 7 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
Varese, Italy · est. 1960 · State