Scuola Svizzera Catania is one of the Swiss schools abroad recognised by the Swiss Confederation, with the canton of Zurich as its patron canton. It grew out of lessons organised by Swiss families in Catania at the turn of the 20th century: in 1902 ten children studied in the German-Swiss club under the Zurich curriculum, and on 1 January 1904 the Swiss School of Catania Association was founded. Since 1928 the school has been housed in the Casa Elvetica in the city centre. It is recognised by the Italian authorities and since 2009 has been on the regional register of non-paritaria schools. The school teaches children from age 3 to the end of scuola secondaria di primo grado on a dual Swiss and Italian curriculum: from grade 1 about half of the lessons are in German with native-speaker Swiss teachers and 40-50% in Italian with Italian teachers following the state curriculum. English is taught from grade 4 and French from grade 6. Classes are grouped in mixed-age sections: kindergarten, grades 1-2, grades 3-4 and grades 5-8. Students take the licenza media exam at a state school in Catania with which the school has an agreement, and may prepare for the Goethe-Institut, Cambridge English and DELF language exams. Swiss citizens make up 30-40% of students, the rest are mostly Italian.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $4 389–5 633 a year
3 885–4 986 EUR
Programmes
Swiss programme · National programme
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
German, Italian
Languages taught
English, French
Class size
small groups; the school does not give an exact class size
Registration fee
≈ $791
700 EUR
About the fees Fees for 2026/2027 (contributo scolastico annuale) for non-Swiss students, first child: kindergarten 3885 EUR, scuola primaria 4390 EUR, scuola secondaria di primo grado 4986 EUR; second child 3302, 3732 and 4238 EUR, third child 2720, 3073 and 3490 EUR. Swiss students pay less: 1995, 2394 and 2678 EUR for the first child. Fees and the enrolment fee include teaching materials, administrative costs and insurance. Payment in full by 10 December 2026 with a 3% discount or in 10 monthly instalments by the 5th of each month.
Admissions The kindergarten admits children who turn 3 by 31 December of the year of entry and are out of nappies; grade 1 from age 6 (reached by 31 December). For entry to grades above the first, Italian children take a German test and children with another mother tongue an Italian test. Children with little or no Italian get additional Italian lessons agreed with the parents. Enrolment for 2026/2027 is open: the procedure and details are given by the office by phone or e-mail; the enrolment fee and the form signed by both parents are due by 14 February. Different fee scales apply to non-Swiss and Swiss students.
Stages and year groups A dual Swiss and Italian curriculum from kindergarten to grade 3 of lower secondary, in mixed-age sections: kindergarten (German introduced gradually through play), grades 1-2, grades 3-4, grades 5-8. Primary has 30-32 lessons a week: most subjects in German with native speakers, Italian from grade 1, and from grade 3 Italian curriculum subjects (history, geography, science and mathematics) with Italian teachers following ministry programmes; English from grade 4. Lower secondary (grades 6-8 in Swiss numbering) has 34-36 lessons a week: German, Italian, English, French from grade 6, mathematics, geometry, science, basic physics and chemistry, history, art history, geography, computing, handicrafts. In the final year the Italian curriculum is intensified before the licenza media exam (esame di Stato) at a state school in Catania. Optional exams: Goethe-Institut (from grade 5), Cambridge English (from grade 6) and DELF (from grade 7). The school does not run Cambridge International courses. There is no liceo.
Address Via Matteo Renato Imbriani 32, 95128 Catania
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
educationsuisse · accreditationA dual Swiss-Italian curriculum taught in German and Italian, with the licenza media exam taken at a state school in Catania. It is a Swiss school abroad recognised by the Swiss Confederation (educationsuisse).
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
educationsuisseSwiss school abroad recognised by the Confederation
State recognition by Switzerland: the school follows the Swiss curriculum and takes pupils to the Swiss Matura, usually bilingual, alongside the certificate of the host country. Each school has a patron canton answerable for the content of the programme. Sixteen schools are recognised worldwide, so this is a narrow list rather than an industry association: far more schools call themselves Swiss.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Swiss programme
The school programme of Switzerland. Schools abroad recognised by the Confederation take pupils through to the Swiss maturity certificate, the Matura, used for entry to Swiss universities. There are sixteen recognised schools in the whole world, and each has a sponsoring canton answering for the content of the programme.
What this means for this school. In a school abroad the Swiss maturity is usually bilingual and runs alongside the certificate of the host country, so a leaver ends up with two documents. Recognition is granted to the school as a whole rather than to separate stages, unlike French homologation, which covers now one set of year groups, now another.
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 hallnot stated on the website
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Playground · Makerspace
Campus: The school is housed in the Casa Elvetica, the Swiss community house in central Catania on via Imbriani, built in 1928; the building and schoolyard were renovated in 2014-2015 and in summer 2018. There is a workshop for handicrafts and lab activities, computers in some lessons, and a large courtyard with a football pitch and play area (Bambinopoli); PE is held outdoors and there are no changing rooms. There is no canteen: students staying in the afternoon heat lunch brought from home in a microwave or order a delivery. Textbooks and exercise books are provided by the school. Paid morning care from 7:30 and afternoon homework care until 15:30.
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: All teachers are native speakers of the language they teach in: German-taught subjects are led by teachers from Switzerland, the Italian curriculum by qualified Italian teachers.
The history page speaks of 15 teachers. The 2026/2027 staff list names the head, 13 teachers (kindergarten, Swiss lower-grade teachers, Italian, mathematics and science, humanities, sport, French, German, English, music), a tutor and two assistants.
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
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
Students who fall ill during lessons are taken to a sick room supervised by the caretaker or secretary, parents are phoned, and an ambulance is called for injuries. Mobile phones and smartwatches are banned throughout the school: in grades 6-8 they are left in boxes at the entrance, younger students may not bring them. A child may be collected only by a person the parents have named in writing in advance, with ID. The school follows internal regulations.
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 data60 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data60 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
Catania, Italy · est. 1904 · Private