← Back to the rankingScuola Italiana di Montevideo
Montevideo, Uruguay · est. 1886 · Private
Illustration · Montevideo
Scuola Italiana di Montevideo is an Italian-Uruguayan school founded on 17 September 1886 by Dr Leone Maria Morelli and Italian immigrants; it turns 140 in 2026. Since 1973 it has occupied a 13-hectare campus in Carrasco and takes children from 3 months (BBSIM nursery) through the Montessori Casa dei Bambini kindergarten (ages 2-5), primary school and two secondary cycles to graduation at 18. Since 2004 all levels have been paritaria for Italy; upper secondary has two licei, scientifico and linguistico. Graduates sit the esame di Stato and receive two qualifications: the Italian maturità diploma and the Uruguayan bachillerato. The languages of instruction are Spanish and Italian; English starts in kindergarten, from grade 1 some subjects (language, reading and writing, history, science) are taught in English, and students take Cambridge-Michigan exams up to level C2. The liceo linguistico adds Portuguese as a third language, the liceo scientifico Latin. More than 1100 children attend, almost all Uruguayan citizens with Spanish as their first language.
Key facts
Programmes
Italian programme · National programme
Admits from
3 months · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
Spanish, Italian
Languages taught
English, Portuguese, Latin
Admissions Families fill in the admissions form on the website, and the school gets in touch and invites them for an individual tour. Students from other public and private schools can join the paritaria school if certain requirements are met. The PTOF specifies that students from foreign schools take the tests required by Italian law, which are not selective, and a preliminary Italian language test; for schools outside Italy, Europe and Uruguay a Dichiarazione di Valore from the Italian consulate is needed, and an apostille in all cases. Almost all students are Uruguayan citizens; the plan provides for the integration of foreign students.
Stages and year groups All levels paritaria since 2004 (decrees 3639 and 6189): BBSIM nursery (3-24 months), Casa dei Bambini (ages 2-5, Montessori), scuola primaria (6 years, ages 6 to 12, 35 hours a week, Italian and Uruguayan subjects together), scuola secondaria di primo grado (ages 12-15), scuola secondaria di secondo grado (ages 15-18) with two licei: liceo scientifico (Latin, English, Spanish) and liceo linguistico (Spanish, English, Portuguese). The curriculum integrates the Italian and Uruguayan programmes; the Uruguayan secondary education council recognises the equivalence of the levels and, since 2008, the Italian diploma for entry to Uruguayan universities. It ends with the esame di Stato, the Italian maturità diploma and the Uruguayan bachillerato.
Address General French 2380, Carrasco, 11500 Montevideo, Uruguay
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.
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.
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
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio · Playground
Campus: A 13-hectare campus in the Carrasco district, the former Sagrado Corazón complex bought in 1973: the BBSIM nursery house, the main building with the Casa dei Bambini kindergarten, primary school and the first secondary cycle, and a separate building for the second cycle. According to the PTOF: 2 libraries, computer rooms, science, physics and chemistry labs, a music room, 2 dance studios, 2 Montessori rooms, a psychomotor room, an assembly hall, a canteen, the school museum, Wi-Fi across the site. Sport: its own sports centre with volleyball, basketball and handball courts, football pitches, an athletics track, a regulation-size hockey pitch and an artistic gymnastics hall; next door Scuola Club has tennis courts and an artificial turf pitch. It is a day school with no boarding.
Clubs and activities: Fútbol (football) · Handball · Vóleibol (volleyball) · Hockey · Tenis (tennis) · Atletismo (athletics) · Artistic Gymnastics · School Choir · Ballet (kindergarten)
Teaching staff
The school publishes neither the number of its teachers nor their qualifications.
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 policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school publishes the PR.I.B.A. anti-bullying protocol and coexistence materials for families; each level has a psycho-pedagogical department, and kindergarten groups are supported by a psychologist.
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 data85 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 Value for money (6%) scored at the median90 "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