Scuola Italiana a Tirana is an Italian paritaria school in Tirana. It was founded in 2017 by three Italian teachers; the Albanian government authorised it as the first Italian-language school in the country, and since 2018 the school has been part of the Società Dante Alighieri and holds PLIDA Italian exams. Lower secondary school opened in 2022, and in 2023 the school obtained paritaria status by joint decree of the Italian education and foreign ministries. From the 2026-2027 school year grade 9 has opened, the first year of a four-year liceo scientifico with the scienze applicate option, for which the school has requested paritaria status. Teaching is in Italian following the Italian curriculum; Albanian and English are taught as subjects, with topics on Albanian history and geography. The school has 90 students in 8 classes, 11 per class on average.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $5 029 a year
410 000 ALL
Programmes
Italian programme
Languages of instruction
Italian
Languages taught
Albanian, English
Class size
11 students per class on average
About the fees Annual fees from January 2026: full day (8:00-15:30) for all classes 410000 lek; part-time (8:00-13:10) only for kindergarten and primary 350000 lek. A second child pays half the fee of the preceding sibling; children of staff get a 50% discount. Payments in euros use the Bank of Albania rate. A student joining during the year pays one tenth of the annual fee per month.
Admissions Applications are accepted subject to places, without discrimination, with acceptance of the educational project, the PTOF, the school rules and the agreement with the family. Enrolment requires identity documents, previous school records, transfer documents and medical certificates under Albanian rules. Students transferring from other schools and other education systems are admitted with dedicated support, above all in Italian. Admission to grade 9 of the liceo requires good Italian; the school provides language support where needed. Children of various nationalities from Tirana and other parts of Albania attend.
Stages and year groups Grades classe preparatoria, 1-9, 8 classes. Paritaria since 2023 (joint MIUR-MAECI decree): scuola primaria (grades 1-5) and secondaria di primo grado (grades 6-8 in Albanian numbering, since 2022-2023). Kindergarten consists of a preparatory class (classe preparatoria, the Albanian preparatory year before primary school). From 2026-2027 grade 9 has opened, the first year of a four-year liceo scientifico, scienze applicate option; an application for paritaria status for the liceo has been submitted. The exam at the end of lower secondary is held under Italian rules. Albanian track: a 2017 licence from the Albanian government, with Albanian language, history and geography in the curriculum; marks are converted to the Albanian scale using equivalence tables.
Address Rruga Rauf Fico 11, 1022 Tirana
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
MAECIItaly's foreign ministry names the school on its list of paritarie Italian schools abroad: it teaches the Italian curriculum, and Italy recognises its exams and diploma on a par with state schools. Parity is recognised for the kindergarten, the primary school and the scuola media; the liceo (liceo scientifico) opened in the 2026/27 school year, and parity for it has been requested but not yet granted.
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
MAECIItaly's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI)
An Italian school abroad: a state or paritaria school, the Italian curriculum, the esame di Stato exam and a diploma with the same legal value as in Italy.
What the badge means for this school. This is an Italian school abroad: it teaches the Italian curriculum, and Italy's foreign ministry names it on its list of state or paritarie schools - so Italy recognises its exams and diploma. The entry is not a quality inspection. Which stages are recognised and what the school charges are on this page and on the school's own website. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Italian programme
The Italian school curriculum taught in Italian: scuola dell'infanzia, primaria, secondaria di primo grado (scuola media) and the liceo, ending with the state exam, the esame di Stato, and the Italian diploma.
What this means for this school. The curriculum is set by the Italian state: the school is an Italian state school abroad or a paritaria school, recognised by Italy. Exams follow Italian rules and the diploma has the same legal value as in Italy, giving access to Italian universities. The host country's curriculum usually runs alongside, and students receive two certificates.
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 hallnot stated on the website
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The school occupies one building on Rruga Rauf Fico in Tirana. According to the PTOF it has spaces for lessons, laboratory, creative and sports activities and independent study; equipment is being expanded with the opening of the liceo and STEM activities. There is a library with an online catalogue and a canteen with hot meals from a contracted caterer from 13:10 to 13:40. Lessons run from 8:00 to 13:10, and full-day pupils have lunch and after-school care until 15:30. The school is a PLIDA Italian language certification centre for adults. It is a day school with no boarding.
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: According to the PTOF, teachers hold qualifications matching their subjects and the requirements for paritaria schools under Italian and Albanian rules.
The school was founded by three Italian teachers; the teacher list is updated annually, teaching is led by the didactic coordinator and administration by the founding company. Teachers receive training in Italian as a second language, multilingual teaching, STEM, inclusion and safety.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
✓Access control
·Nurse or medical roomnot stated on the website
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school applies safety measures under Albanian law and works to prevent bullying and cyberbullying; parents and visitors enter the building under safety procedures. Teachers do not give children medicines except as agreed with the family; individual plans are drawn up for children with disabilities and learning difficulties.
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 data70 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data55 "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
Tirana, Albania · est. 2017 · Private