School in Italy: enrolling your children
If you move with children, school is both a right and a duty: education is compulsory for 10 years, from age 6 to 16 (L. 296/2006, art. 1, c. 622), and foreign minors in Italy have exactly the same education rights and obligations as Italians (TU 286/1998, art. 38). Facts verified ; orientation, not legal advice.
The school ladder
| Nido (0–6 system) | 3–36 months | Optional |
| Scuola dell’infanzia | Ages 3–6 | Optional |
| Scuola primaria | Ages 6–11 · 5 years | Compulsory |
| Scuola secondaria di I grado | Ages 11–14 · 3 years | Compulsory |
| Secondaria di II grado or regional IeFP | Ages 14–19 · 5 years | Compulsory to 16 |
The last stage can be a liceo, a technical or vocational institute, or a regional vocational pathway (IeFP) — all satisfy the obbligo. After 16 there is still a right/duty to education or training up to 18 (L. 53/2003).
Arriving mid-year: enrol any time, at the school itself
The newcomer rule most people don't know: enrolment can be requested at any point in the school year — you do not wait for September. Go directly to the chosen school's secretariat. The right to education is independent of residence-permit status; missing or incomplete papers mean enrolment con riserva (provisional), never refusal, and it does not block final qualifications (DPR 394/1999, art. 45).
Children are placed in the class matching their age, unless the teachers' board (collegio dei docenti) decides one class up or down based on the home-country system, assessed skills and prior study. The same board adapts teaching and can run intensive Italian courses; schools may use cultural mediators to communicate with families.
Bring: passports/ID, the child's codice fiscale if you have one (a just-arrived child is enrolled with a provisional code), and vaccination records. The school can submit the online application on your behalf — including when a parent has no codice fiscale yet.
The ordinary route: the January window on Unica
First-year enrolments (primaria, both secondarie, IeFP) are filed online on the MIM's Unica platform. For the 2026/27 school year the window ran 13 January – 21 February 2026; order of arrival is irrelevant. You name a first-choice school plus up to two backups — if the first is full, the application cascades. Access is via SPID/CIE. Scuola dell'infanzia is the exception: paper enrolment directly at the school, same period.
Vaccinations
Ten vaccinations are compulsory and free for ages 0–16 (D.L. 73/2017, conv. L. 119/2017). Proof — or an ASL booking — is requested at enrolment. For nido and scuola dell'infanzia it is a condition of access; for the compulsory grades (6–16) it is not, but non-compliance brings an ASL notice and a €100–500 fine.
What is actually free
- State school is free throughout the obbligo; primaria textbooks are provided free by the Comune (D.lgs 297/1994, art. 156). Book subsidies for later grades vary by region — check your Comune.
- State tasse scolastiche exist only for years 4–5 of secondaria di II grado (roughly €6–15 each), with merit and income (ISEE) exemptions.
- The contributo scolastico schools ask for is voluntary: it cannot be a condition of enrolment. Only actual reimbursements (insurance, trips) are due.
Bringing children through family reunification? School enrolment works exactly as above once they are here — including before the permesso di soggiorno is issued.
Sources
Primary, official sources this page is based on — each fetched and checked on 23 July 2026.
- Normattiva — TU 286/1998, art. 38 (istruzione degli stranieri)
- Normattiva — DPR 394/1999, art. 45 (iscrizione scolastica dei minori stranieri)
- Normattiva — L. 296/2006, art. 1, c. 622 (obbligo di istruzione di 10 anni)
- Normattiva — D.L. 73/2017 conv. L. 119/2017, artt. 1, 3, 3-bis (obblighi vaccinali)
- Normattiva — D.lgs 297/1994, art. 156 (libri di testo gratuiti nella primaria)
- MIM — Sistema educativo di istruzione e formazione
- MIM / Unica — Iscrizioni on line
- MIM — Tasse scolastiche e contributo volontario