In order to be eligible to apply for a Laurea (equivalent to bachelor degree) programme or a single-cycle Laurea Magistrale programme, you must hold a secondary school qualification obtained after a minimum of 12/13 years of schooling, overall.
Exams taken during university (and non-university) years used to fill any gaps in the admission requirements (i.e. 11 or 12 years of schooling, missing Aps, failing to pass the academic competence exam) cannot be used for an evaluation of the previous career for the purposes of shortening the course.
Regarding this, please note that Politecnico di Milano accepts the successful passing of a foundation course of at least one academic year.
The regulations relating to the admission of students to Italian universities, who are in possession of a foreign qualification, are set out in a document( Attachment 1 and Attachment 2) issued each year by the Ministry of University and Research.
Specific requirements are foreseen for students with a degree falling in one of the categories listed below. Such students are supposed to read these requirements in details in the above-mentioned Attachment 1:
- Students with less than 12 years of schooling
- United States high school qualification
- British qualifications
- Missing documentation referring to the passing of academic competence exams
For the following diplomas, see in particular the indications contained in the above-mentioned Attachment 2, page 3:
- International Baccalaureate (IB) qualifications
Such degrees “are valid for enrolment in Italian universities provided that the students in possession of the diploma in question have been admitted to the International Baccalaureate course after having obtained the promotion or the eligibility for the penultimate year of the upper secondary school in accordance with the school system of origin (i.e. the 11th class or 12th class of overall schooling depending on whether, respectively, the school system of origin is organised over 12 years or 13 years of total schooling). In the event that the International Baccalaureate Diploma has been awarded after 11 years of overall schooling, higher education institutions must request an integration for the missing year as indicated in Attachment 1.”
Therefore, students having started secondary school at an Italian institution, will be allowed to enter an undergraduate programme with an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma obtained after completion of the first three (3) years of school, in addition to the two (2) years of the IB path, for a total amount of 13 school years.
The Ministry’s guidelines valid for the admission for the 2025/2026 a.y. will be published as soon as available.