Milan Licei With an Entrance Test: Dates, Structure and Scores

In Milan only a few licei (Italy's academic upper secondary schools) use a written test to rank applications for the first year: in the 2026/27 cycle it was the Liceo Scientifico Volta, the Liceo Scientifico Leonardo da Vinci, the Civico Liceo Linguistico Manzoni and a few private schools such as the Collegio San Carlo. The Vittorio Veneto, the Parini, the Einstein and the Virgilio hold no test at all. In state licei the test is called an "orientation test" (prova orientativa), it is optional and its score is added to the second-year middle school report, but in the ranking it can be worth 67 points out of 93. It takes place in the second week of December, before the January enrolment window.

Every autumn, families with a child in the third year of middle school (terza media) run into the same question: "Does liceo X have an entrance test?". The answers doing the rounds in parents' group chats are often years out of date, and the schools' own pages use different names for the same thing: prova orientativa, test orientativo, prova di accertamento. This guide sets out the facts for the 2026/27 cycle, school by school, with a link to the official source. The criteria change every year: once your first choice is decided, always check the liceo's enrolment ("iscrizioni") page.

Why some licei hold a test and others don't

The rule is national. Every year the Ministry's circular on enrolment establishes that a school may receive more applications than it has places and that, in that case, the School Board adopts priority criteria, to be published before enrolment opens. The circular for 2026/27 (prot. 100847 of 17 December 2025) adds a sentence worth reading in full: "it is considered that the outcome of any assessment tests should be avoided as a priority criterion" («si ritiene sia da evitare, quale criterio di precedenza, l'esito di eventuali test di valutazione»). It is a recommendation, not a ban.

That is why the state licei that use a test call it an orientation test, make it optional and add it to other criteria, first and foremost the school report. State-recognised private schools (scuole paritarie), including those run by the Comune di Milano, are not bound in the same way and can run a genuine selection, with a pass mark below which you do not get in.

The practical point for families is just one: the criteria only matter if the liceo is oversubscribed, that is, if it receives more applications than it has places. You find out in February, once enrolment has closed. Those who miss out see their application pass automatically to the second school they listed, then to the third.

The Milan licei with a test, one by one (2026/27 cycle)

Liceo Scientifico Statale Alessandro Volta

It is the best-known test and, in points, the one that weighs most. The Volta has used it since 2014, in place of a draw, and in December 2025 around 900 students sat it.

• What it is: an "orientation test" (prova orientativa), optional. Those who do not sit it can still enrol, but they enter the ranking without its points.
• What it looks like: two 70-minute blocks, in person. The first is logic and maths: 20 five-option questions, with blank answers counting as wrong. The second is reading comprehension — a cloze with 12 words to choose from 20 and four-option questions on the passage — plus a questionnaire on motivation and interests.
• How much it counts: the ranking is out of 93 points. The test gives up to 67 (26 logic and maths, 26 reading comprehension, 15 questionnaire), the second-year middle school report 20 (10 from the average across all subjects, 10 from the weighted average of Italian, maths, history and science), home address up to 5, siblings already at the school 1.
• When: Thursday 11 December 2025, at 15:00, at Via Benedetto Marcello 7. Registration for the test on the school's website from 24 November to 5 December, attaching the second-year school report.
• Sources: admission criteria (resolution no. 108 of 5 November 2025), orientation test page with the papers from past years.

Liceo Scientifico Statale Leonardo da Vinci

The da Vinci brought the test back in 2025, after its last edition in 2017, and moved it onto a computer.

• What it is: an "orientation test", recommended but not compulsory. The score is added to the school report and counts only if applications exceed places, and only for those who list the da Vinci as their first-choice school.
• What it looks like: 90 minutes on a computer, closed-answer questions in three areas: maths (questions and exercises), Italian (vocabulary, grammar and syntax on an INVALSI-style passage at third-year middle school level) and English. The sample tests published by the school have 15 four-option maths questions and 15 five-option English questions.
• How much it counts: the ranking is the sum of the second-year middle school average, the grades in Italian, English, maths and science, and the test score "converted to a mark out of 35".
• When: Tuesday 9 December 2025 at 15:30, not at the school but at the Selexi Test Center at Via Vida 11. Registration via an online form by 3 December.
• Worth knowing: for 2026/27 the da Vinci formed eight first-year classes without being oversubscribed, so the test excluded no one.
• Sources: entrance test page with the Italian, maths and English sample tests; orientation initiatives.

Civico Liceo Linguistico Alessandro Manzoni

The Manzoni is a state-recognised private school run by the Comune di Milano, and its test is the only one in Milan that genuinely selects: there is a pass mark, and those who fall below it do not get in.

• What it is: a written multiple-choice test, compulsory for everyone pre-registered for the languages liceo and the technical institute for economics (ITE). The ranking is based on the test score alone.
• What it looks like: 60 general knowledge and logic questions, 2 hours, no penalty for wrong answers. Pass mark 31 out of 60 for the liceo, 28 for the ITE. The papers from 2015 to 2024 are published.
• How much it counts: everything. In 2025, 454 candidates passed the mark for 202 places at the liceo; the candidate ranked 205th had 44.7 points.
• When: Wednesday 10 December 2025 at 16:00 at Via Deledda 11, a single sitting, with no online alternative. Pre-registration by 2 December. For 2027/28, pre-registration opens on 3 October 2026 and the first open day is on 17 October.
• Sources: test regulations, papers from past years, 2026/27 rankings.

Private schools: the case of the Collegio San Carlo

Among private schools an admission test is the rule, not the exception, but few describe it in detail. The Collegio San Carlo does: three areas (logic and maths, Italian, English at A2/B1 level), about an hour and a half, scores from 0 to 100 per area with different minimums for each track — for the scientific liceo, 60 in Italian, 65 in maths, 70 in English. Those who miss the minimum in one or two areas can retake it after about a month. Source: licei admission tests page. The Gonzaga and the Sacro Cuore, on the other hand, hold no written test but a meeting with the family.

The licei that hold no test

This is where parents' group chats get it wrong most often. These licei, even when oversubscribed, do not use a test:

• Liceo Scientifico Vittorio Veneto: when oversubscribed it orders applications by siblings already at the school, the middle school's guidance recommendation, home-address bands and finally a draw (criteria).
• Liceo Scientifico Einstein: a merit ranking from the second-year middle school report (average across all subjects and average of Italian, maths and English) plus the guidance recommendation, siblings and home address; a draw to break ties (2026/27 criteria).
• Liceo Classico Parini: the highest average in the second-year report, conduct included; then siblings, residence in Milan, a draw (criteria).
• Liceo Virgilio: "continues to choose not to adopt entrance tests"; a share of places reserved for residents of the listed postcodes, then a draw (2026/27 criteria).
• Berchet, Cremona, Tito Livio (liceo classico), Carducci, Tenca: no test; criteria based on siblings, home address and the guidance recommendation.
• Severi-Correnti: in December 2024 it organised an "orientation test" in Italian and maths, presented as a self-assessment tool, with no declared weight in the ranking (news item).

The calendar, from October to February

1. October to November: open days. Families visit the schools; the Manzoni opens pre-registration as early as 3 October.
2. Late November to early December: registering for the test. On the liceo's website, with the second-year middle school report. Anyone who wishes can register for more than one school's test, if they fall on different days.
3. Second week of December: the test. In person, in the afternoon, a single date.
4. January: enrolment on the Unica portal. For 2026/27 from 13 January to 14 February, then extended to the 21st. One school as first choice, two as fallbacks.
5. February: oversubscription. The schools publish their rankings; from 6 February the Volta posts running updates on applications online. Unsuccessful applications pass to the second choice.

Why the test counts for more than it seems

The fact nobody explains to families is this: by the time the test is taken, the school report that counts is already written. Rankings use the grades from the second year of middle school, closed in June. The third year does not come into it. At the Volta the school report is worth 20 points out of 93 and the test 67: almost three quarters of the total depends on one December afternoon.

The second thing to know is that "optional" does not mean "irrelevant". A student with a perfect school report who skips the test starts with 20 points; one with a good report who sits it and does well can reach 80. If the liceo is oversubscribed, that is the difference between the first choice and the second.

It is not the September entrance test

Search for "liceo entrance test" on Google and you find almost nothing but the tests that high schools give in September, in the first year, to get to know their newly formed classes. They are tests from textbook publishers, on the middle school syllabus, and they decide nothing: they do not count towards grades and do not touch enrolment, which has already happened.

The test this guide is about is a different one: it is taken in December of the third year of middle school, before enrolment, and it orders the ranking. It has different content (logic, fast reading, time) and a different weight. Preparing on the September material gives a false sense of security.

How to prepare

The schools themselves publish the papers from past years "to give an idea of the structure and the type of questions", and they are the starting point. Three things make the difference:

• The format before the content. Five-option questions with blanks counting as wrong, a cloze, 70 minutes per block or 90 on a computer: a student who has already seen them spends the time answering, not working out the instructions.
• All three areas, not just one. Reading comprehension is worth as much as logic and maths; at the da Vinci there is English too. A student who prepares only maths leaves half the points on the table.
• Timed practice tests. Time management can only be learned by trying it: at least two or three full timed tests in the chosen school's format, marked and gone through one by one.

What cannot be prepared, on the other hand, is the Volta's questionnaire on motivation and interests: there, your child simply answers honestly.

On the liceo entrance test preparation page you will find the structure of the tests area by area, the path from October to December and the answers to the most frequent questions.

FAQ

Sources checked on 30 September 2026: the official websites of the licei cited, MIM circular prot. 100847 of 17 December 2025 on 2026/27 enrolment, Il Giorno (27 February 2026), Leggo (24 November 2025). Up to Ten is an independent tutoring service, not connected to any school.