TIL Polito: From 2027/28 the Politecnico di Torino Test Moves to the TOLC

“TIL Polito” is the name final-year students use when they search for the Politecnico di Torino test, which is why this guide still goes by that name. But the question it answers has changed: no longer “what is the TIL-I like” but “what changes now that the Politecnico is dropping its own test”. The source is the Politecnico’s announcement, published on 23 July 2026: “Starting from the 2027/2028 academic year, the Politecnico will join the CISIA consortium, adopting the TOLC tests for national candidates and CeNT-S for international ones” (our translation of the Italian original). The rest of what we know is on the Politecnico’s admission test page, which points to the official call, not yet published.

What Changes From 2027/28?

The Politecnico stops using its own test and joins CISIA, the consortium that runs the TOLC for many Italian universities. Italian applicants will take the TOLC tests, international ones the CEnT-S. It is a fundamental change: the TIL-I was only held in the Politecnico’s own labs, whereas the TOLC is taken in several sessions during the year and at several sites, including other universities in the consortium.

The 2027/28 admissions page contains a rule that matters straight away: only tests taken in person will be accepted, at the Politecnico or at another university, that is TOLC@UNI and CEnT@UNI. Remote tests, TOLC@CASA and CEnT@CASA, will not be accepted.

The TIL-I, on the other hand, is gone: it counted for the last time for 2026/27 admission, and its sessions took place between February and July 2026.

What We Still Don’t Know

The Politecnico has announced the change, but the details are in the call, which is not out yet. Until it is, these things are open:

• which TOLC each course requires. For Engineering the CISIA test is the TOLC-I, but the call will say which TOLC applies to which course;
• thresholds and rankings: how admission is calculated and whether a threshold that guarantees a place will remain;
• dates and places for 2027/28 admission;
• whether the SAT will remain a way in: for 2026/27 it counted as an alternative to the TIL-I, for 2027/28 nothing has been announced;
• how long a TOLC result stays valid: whether tests taken in Year 12 will count for Turin.

What Was the TIL-I Like?

The TIL-I, Test in Laib – Ingegneria, was the admission test for every course in the Engineering area of the Politecnico di Torino. It was taken in person, in the university’s computer labs (LAIB) in Turin or at the Mondovì campus: 42 questions in 90 minutes, five answers each, in four timed sections.

It scored +1 for each correct answer, 0 for each unanswered question and −0.25 for each wrong one, with the total converted to a score out of 100. The minimum threshold for the ranking was 30/100, the guarantee threshold 60/100: with that score you enrolled on your first-choice course. In 2026/27 you could take it up to three times, once per session, with the best result counting, and each session cost €50. Alternatively you could get in with the SAT, with at least 650 in each of the two sections. There were 5,177 places across 21 courses.

TOLC-I: The Closest Test

The TOLC-I is CISIA’s test for Engineering, and many universities already use it, including the Politecnico di Milano as an alternative to the TOL. It is 50 questions in 110 minutes, plus an English section of 30 questions in 15 minutes: maths 20 in 50 minutes, logic 10 in 20, sciences 10 in 20, verbal comprehension 10 in 20, with +1 for each correct answer and −0.25 for each wrong one. The TIL-I had 42 in 90, with a section on basic technical knowledge that the TOLC-I does not have.

The core, though, is the same: maths, logic, physics and comprehension. That is why it makes sense to start preparing now, without waiting for the call. The comparison between the tests is in TOLC-I vs TOL: how to choose, and TOLC-I thresholds at different universities are in TOLC-I minimum scores by university.

How Do You Prepare Now?

Without the call you can’t prepare “for the Turin test”, but you can prepare the core shared by the Engineering tests: school maths and physics, logical reasoning, fast reading, and above all pace, because in a timed test with a penalty you lose more to the minutes than to the hard questions.

You start with a full TOLC-I mock test, timed and with the penalty: it tells you where you stand and which sections to work on. Then you work in blocks and go back to a mock test at regular intervals. There is no need to fix an exam date straight away: the right date depends on what the call says, and in the meantime the preparation stays valid for the Politecnico di Milano too, which accepts the TOLC-I as an alternative to the TOL.

To do it with a dedicated tutor, on site in Milan, online or at home, there is the page on the Politecnico di Torino 2027/28 test, with one-to-one preparation, and the small-group TOLC-I and TOL Masterclass. To work out where to start you can book the free 15-minute call.

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