TOLC-I Minimum Scores by University

The minimum TOLC-I score is not universal: each university sets its own thresholds, and changes them from one year to the next. In the 2026/27 calls, Bologna, Sapienza and Brescia require 18/50; Politecnico di Milano converts the TOLC-I to a 100-point scale and requires at least 30/100 to be included in the ranking. The score ranges from -12.5 to 50, and in 2025 the national average was 22.2. You can retake the test at most once a month, and each university decides whether your best or your latest attempt counts. From 2027/28, Politecnico di Torino is also switching to CISIA tests.

"What is the minimum score to get into Engineering?" is the question I receive most often. The answer is uncomfortable: it depends. It depends on the university, the degree programme, the academic year and whether the programme has limited enrolment or open admission with OFAs.

This guide collects the real thresholds of major Italian universities, explains how the TOLC-I score works and what happens if you don't reach the threshold. If you are looking for a complete overview of preparation, start with the complete TOLC-I guide. If you want to understand the test structure in detail, read TOLC-I: Structure, Scoring and Sections.

How the TOLC-I score works

The TOLC-I awards +1 point for a correct answer, 0 for unanswered, -0.25 for incorrect. Maximum score is 50, theoretical minimum is -12.5; in 2025 the national average was 22.2. The total score is composed of four sub-scores by section — some universities set specific thresholds for mathematics alone.

The TOLC-I has 50 multiple-choice questions with 5 options each. The scoring system is:

• Correct answer: +1 point
• No answer: 0 points
• Wrong answer: -0.25 points

This means the maximum theoretical score is 50 (all correct) and the minimum theoretical score is -12.5 (all wrong). In 2025, across 64,867 tests, the national average was 22.2 points out of 50 (CISIA data). In the English section, however, wrong answers cost no points. You can verify all details on the official CISIA structure and scoring page.

A detail many overlook: the total score is composed of four sub-scores by section (mathematics, logic, sciences, verbal comprehension). Some universities don't just look at the total — they set specific thresholds for mathematics. If you score 25/50 total but only 3/20 in mathematics, at certain universities you end up with an OFA even though your overall score is above the threshold.

To understand in detail how to read your result, see the guide on how to read your TOLC result.

Thresholds by university: the numbers in the 2026/27 calls

In the 2026/27 calls, Bologna, Sapienza and Brescia require 18/50, Parma 16/50 with at least 4 in mathematics, Pavia looks only at correct answers in mathematics and English, and Politecnico di Milano converts the score to a 100-point scale. Universities don't all measure the same thing: read the rule for your programme, not an average.

The thresholds below come from the 2026/27 calls, the most recent ones published. They may change for 2027/28: when your university's call comes out, check the figures there.

Politecnico di Milano

At Politecnico di Milano the main test is the TOL; the TOLC-I is accepted as an alternative. The score is converted to a 100-point scale using the Politecnico's own formula, built on the statistics of the results: it is not published and may change from one year to the next.

Reference numbers:

• Minimum threshold: 30/100 after conversion. It gets you into the ranking; it does not guarantee you a place.
• OFA: in English only, if you answer fewer than 24 of the 30 questions in the English section correctly.
• Early admission from the fourth year of high school: this goes through the TOL, as we explain in Early TOL.

The Politecnico does not think in terms of "minimum score to get in" — it thinks in rankings. The score you need depends on how many candidates there are and what they score. For Computer Engineering and Management Engineering, the most popular programmes, competition is intense. For less crowded programmes, the margin is wider.

Updated details are on the Politecnico di Milano scores and rankings page.

Politecnico di Torino

For 2026/27, Politecnico di Torino did not use the TOLC-I: it had its own test, the TIL-I. This changes from 2027/28: the Politecnico is joining the CISIA consortium and adopting TOLC tests for Italian applicants and the CEnT-S for international ones, as it announced on 23 July 2026. Which test, and with which thresholds, will be set out in the 2027/28 call, which has not yet been published.

University of Bologna — Engineering

• Threshold: 18/50.
• In the five open-admission programmes (Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Electrical Energy Engineering, Energy Engineering, and Chemical and Biochemical Engineering), below 18/50 you enrol with an OFA. It is your latest valid TOLC-I that counts, not your best.
• The other Engineering programmes have limited enrolment: the 18/50 threshold is calculated by weighting the sections, and in the first selection round it gets you into the ranking; in later rounds it becomes the OFA threshold.

Sapienza — University of Rome

• Threshold: 18/50 (20/50 for Management Engineering).
• Programmes have limited enrolment. In the first and second selection rounds you need at least 18/50 and a place in the ranking; from the third round you can enrol even below 18/50, but with an OFA to clear within the first year.
• Your best score counts, among the TOLC-I tests taken from 1 January 2025 onwards.

Other universities

As you can see, there is no such thing as "the" TOLC-I threshold: some universities look at the total, some at mathematics, some at the number of correct answers.

OFA: what happens below the threshold

The OFA (Additional Educational Requirement) does not prevent enrolment — it imposes an additional mathematics course to pass within the first year. You enrol anyway, but start with an extra requirement. Students with OFAs have a significantly higher dropout rate in the first year than those who enter without one — better to fill gaps before enrolment.

OFA stands for Additional Educational Requirement (Obbligo Formativo Aggiuntivo). It is not a failure — it is an additional course (usually in mathematics) that you must pass during the first academic year.

In practice:

• You enrol anyway (if the programme is open admission with OFA, not limited enrolment)
• You must pass a remedial exam — usually a basic mathematics test — by a specific deadline (typically within the first year)
• If you don't pass, you cannot take certain exams or, in some cases, must repeat the year

The OFA is not the end of the world, but it is a concrete complication. It means attending an extra course, preparing for an additional exam, and starting the first year already uphill. During the first semester you will already have enough demanding subjects — Calculus 1, Geometry, Physics 1 — without having to add a basic mathematics remedial course.

A data point we see often: students with OFAs have a noticeably higher dropout rate in the first year than those who enter without one. Not because the OFA is insurmountable, but because it signals gaps that then reappear in Calculus and Linear Algebra. Better to fill those gaps before enrolment.

For those with significant maths gaps that risk leading to an OFA, a course of targeted maths tutoring can make the difference in a few weeks. The pre-TOLC-I time investment is much smaller than the time you would lose clearing an OFA during the first year.

Score validity and repeatability

You can retake the TOLC-I at most once a month (it just needs to be a different calendar month), and it is valid at least for the year in which you take it. Each university decides in its call how long it accepts the test for, and whether your best or your latest attempt counts.

Three rules that change the preparation strategy:

Each university decides which test dates it accepts. The CISIA regulations guarantee validity at least for the year in which you take the test; many universities also accept older TOLC-I results (Sapienza, for 2026/27, accepted those taken from 1 January 2025). The same test counts for every university that accepts it.

You can retake the TOLC once a month. You don't have to wait exactly 30 days — you just need the next test to fall in a different calendar month. If you take the TOLC-I on 15 March, you can retake it from 1 April.

Best or latest: it depends on the university. Sapienza and Parma use your best score; Bologna, in its open-admission programmes, your latest valid TOLC-I. Where the latest counts, a worse attempt replaces the good one: before you retake, check the rule for your programme.

Each attempt costs €35. For a complete overview of preparation costs, check our pricing page.

What score to realistically aim for

Don't prepare "for the threshold" — prepare for the score that gives you margin. In 2025 the national average was 22.2; in the most popular limited-enrolment programmes you need to be well above the threshold. A realistic approach: take a diagnostic simulation, look at the score and add 8-10 points as your target — margins achievable with 2-3 months of structured preparation.

OFA thresholds are the bare minimum — the "no penalties" level. But if your goal is to get into a competitive programme or have the freedom to choose among multiple universities, you need to aim higher.

Here are the ranges:

In 2025 the national average was 22.2 out of 50. In the most popular limited-enrolment programmes you need to be well above the thresholds; where admission is open, 22-25 puts you above the thresholds on the total, but check your mathematics score too.

The key point: don't prepare "for the threshold" — prepare for the score that gives you margin. The OFA threshold is the floor, not the finish line. If you aim for 16 and score 14, you have an OFA. If you aim for 25 and score 22, you are still above the threshold with room to spare.

A realistic approach: take a diagnostic simulation, look at the score and add 8-10 points as your target. If you start at 15, aim for 23-25. If you start at 22, aim for 30. These improvement margins are realistic with 2-3 months of structured preparation — they are not numbers thrown out for motivation.

Mathematics is almost always the main lever: improving by 5 points in mathematics (from 8/20 to 13/20) is more realistic and has more impact than improving by 5 points distributed across logic, sciences and verbal comprehension. To understand how much time you need to reach your target score, read How Long Does It Take to Prepare for the TOLC-I?. If mathematics is your weak point — and for most students it is — the deep dive on TOLC-I mathematics topics and strategies is the next step.

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Continue your preparation:

• Complete TOLC-I Preparation Guide
• TOLC-I: Structure, Scoring and Sections
• TOLC-I Mathematics: Topics and Strategies
• How Long to Prepare for the TOLC-I?
• 5 Common TOLC-I Mistakes
• TOLC-I Simulations: Time and Scoring
• Maths Tutoring