Early TOL: Engineering Admission from the Penultimate Year

The Early TOL is the version of Politecnico di Milano's TOL reserved for students in the penultimate year of high school. Same structure as the Standard TOL (65 questions in 100 minutes), same cost (EUR 35), same 2-attempt cap. The key difference: if you score ≥ 75/100, you cannot retake the test but you have already locked in your seat in an Italian-language Engineering programme for the 2027/2028 academic year. For students who are already solid on math, it is the most efficient shortcut into Polimi — without the pressure of the Maturità hanging over your head.

If you are in the fourth year of high school and Engineering at Politecnico di Milano is your goal, the Early TOL is probably the most underestimated step in your admission strategy. Many students think the test can only be taken "in fifth year", wait a full year, and end up playing their entire academic future across the two windows of the Standard TOL while also preparing for the Maturità.

The Early TOL changes the game: one extra chance, at a different moment, with a shortcut (the 75/100 threshold) that — if you hit it — closes the admission file one year early.

This guide explains how it works, who can sit it, what the 2026 sessions look like, and why the 75/100 rule is the single most important thing to understand.

In this guide:

• What the Early TOL is and who can take it
• When to take it: 2026 sessions
• How many times you can sit it
• The 75/100 rule: the game-changing shortcut
• Structure, cost, mode: everything like the Standard TOL
• Early TOL below 75: what happens
• Why it's worth sitting (even if 75 is not certain)
• How to prepare for the Early TOL
• FAQ

What the Early TOL is and who can take it

The Early TOL is the version of Politecnico di Milano's TOL reserved for students in the penultimate year of high school. The rule is formal: Politecnico refers to "students enrolled in the penultimate year of high school who will graduate in the 2026/2027 school year."

For the 2026/2027 admission cycle (the one this guide covers), this means:

• Yes: students enrolled in 2025/2026 in the fourth year of a five-year secondary school path who will graduate in 2026/2027.
• No: students in the final year (fifth year or equivalent) graduating in June 2026 — these candidates sit the Standard TOL.
• No: students who have already graduated — they also take the Standard TOL.

For students with disabilities or specific learning disorders (DSA), accommodations can be requested during registration; the DSA deadline is brought forward by two working days so that Politecnico can prepare support materials.

Learn more: TOL preparation with dedicated tutoring for Politecnico di Milano

When to take it: 2026 sessions

The Early TOL for 2027/2028 admission is held in 2026, across two sessions:

The deadlines for individual test dates within the windows vary — typically you must register about two weeks before the specific date you choose. This means you cannot show up last-minute: Politecnico closes registration for each individual slot ahead of time to organise the remote proctoring.

In practice: if you want to take the test in mid-April, registration must be completed by the end of March. Always check the up-to-date calendar on Polimi's official pages — the exact closing dates for each test date are published there.

How many times you can sit it

Maximum 2 attempts, one per session. This is the same rule as the Standard TOL: Politecnico is explicit — "you can take the test a maximum of two times, once for each test session."

A critical rule applies here too: if you register for a test and fail to show up, it counts as "taken". In practice, if you book a date and then change your mind, you have burned one of your two attempts. Do not register for a test unless you are sure you will show up.

Combined with the 75/100 rule (see below), this means date planning matters a lot: better to take the first attempt when you feel prepared, not "just to see what it's like".

The 75/100 rule: the game-changing shortcut

This is the rule that makes the Early TOL strategic. Here is the Polimi text — worth reading carefully:

Penultimate-year students who score ≥ 75/100 (rounded) on the Early TOL "may not repeat the test but will gain the right to enrol in courses taught in Italian during the A.Y. 2027/2028."

Translated into practice:

• You are in the fourth year of high school in 2025/2026.
• You take the Early TOL (first or second session of 2026).
• You score 75/100 or higher.
• You have secured your seat at Engineering at Politecnico, in an Italian-language programme, for the 2027/2028 academic year — after you graduate in June 2027.
• You can no longer retake the TOL (neither Early nor Standard) — the seat is yours.

This means in fourth year you can close the Polimi admission file one full year ahead of the Maturità. No Standard TOL in fifth year to handle alongside the Maturità and final exams. No second window in May while you prepare your oral. You already have the seat.

For students whose strong suit is math and who reach fourth year with solid foundations, this shortcut is worth attempting. For those who are still building up trigonometry, analytic geometry, and exponential-logarithmic functions, it may be ambitious — but also a strong "diagnostic" attempt that tells you exactly where you stand and where you need to work for the Standard TOL the following year.

Three important details:

1. 75/100 is rounded to the whole number. 74.6 rounds to 75 and qualifies, 74.4 rounds to 74 and does not. The threshold is technical.
2. Italian-language programmes only. The rule guarantees access to programmes delivered in Italian — Polimi's English-language Engineering programmes have separate admission procedures.
3. No OFA exemption: standard rules still apply. Even if you scored ≥ 75 overall, if you got fewer than 24/30 correct in the English section, the English OFA is still assigned and must be cleared during the first year (see the complete TOL guide for English-OFA details).

Structure, cost, mode: everything like the Standard TOL

Operationally the Early TOL is structurally identical to the Standard TOL:

• 65 questions in 100 minutes.
• 4 sections: Logic-Mathematics-Statistics (25), Verbal Comprehension (5), Physics (5), English TENG (30).
• Weighting system: Logic-Mathematics-Statistics weight 2.6 per question (65/100 of the total); Verbal Comprehension 3.0 (15/100); Physics 2.0 (10/100); English 1/3 per question (10/100).
• Scoring: +1 correct, -0.25 wrong, 0 unanswered.
• Cost: EUR 35 per registration, non-refundable.
• Mode: exclusively remote — taken from home, on your own computer.
• Authentication: SPID or CIE mandatory to register via Online Services (`aunicalogin.polimi.it`).
• Eligibility threshold: 30/100 (to be considered in the Standard TOL ranking the next year, if you score below 75).
• Preferences: up to 5 degree programmes — even if a 75/100 effectively books a seat, the order of preferences helps define which programme is reserved for you.

For syllabus, weights and ranking detail: TOL Preparation: Complete Guide

Early TOL below 75: what happens

If you sit the Early TOL and score below 75/100, the attempt does not lock in your seat but is not wasted: the Early TOL score is valid for the ranking of the subsequent admission cycle, according to the Politecnico bando rules for that year.

Concretely this means:

• You can use your second attempt (the other Early TOL session) to try to clear 75/100.
• If you also fall short on the second attempt, you sit the Standard TOL in fifth year (in 2027) for admission to the 2027/2028 academic year.
• The Early TOL you took in fourth year still served as a "serious diagnostic": you know exactly where you stand across the 4 sections, you learned the remote mode, you understood the format — and you arrive at the Standard TOL with real experience.

For many students the Early TOL in fourth year is the first real test they take: not a home simulation, not a school test — an official Politecnico test with an official score. Even without hitting 75, you come out of that experience with a much clearer picture of your preparation.

Why it's worth sitting (even if 75 is not certain)

I often tell parents who ask "does it make sense to take the Early TOL if we're not confident about 75?" — yes, it does, for three reasons.

Serious, time-stamped diagnostic. After the Early TOL you know your score by section, you know where you lose points, you know how far you are from the 30/100 standard-ranking threshold. No more "I did a home simulation and it seemed okay" — you have an official Politecnico number. From that number you build the study plan for the following year with clear priorities.

Experience of the real format. The TOL is done only from home, with proctoring, with specific software, with room rules. The first time you do it under pressure is a different experience from any simulation. Doing it in fourth year (at "low stakes") removes the novelty for the Standard TOL in fifth year.

The shortcut exists — it's worth trying. Even if the probability of clearing 75 is 30%, the value of closing admission one year early is enormous — no second window in May while preparing for the Maturità, no anxiety of "if I do badly on the second Standard-TOL attempt it's over". If the conditions to attempt are there, it is worth attempting.

To understand where you stand in your preparation: Common TOL Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

How to prepare for the Early TOL

Preparation is structurally the same as the Standard TOL — same syllabus, same structure, same weights. But there are specific adaptations for students aiming at 75/100 from the penultimate year.

Three realities that change the planning:

1. In fourth year you have not yet covered the full fifth-year math syllabus. Exponential, logarithmic and trigonometric functions, trigonometric equations, more advanced parts of analytic geometry — some of these topics are covered at school between late fourth year and fifth. For the Early TOL you must anticipate these topics relative to the school programme. Not impossible, but it requires planning: better to start in September/October of fourth year than in February.

2. You need to aim for 75, not 30. The standard-ranking threshold is 30/100. The shortcut threshold is 75/100. Different orders of magnitude: 75 places you in the upper range of admitted students, not the "barely scraped through" zone. The study plan must match this level — simulations where you score 50 are not "okay we're there".

3. Calendar management is tighter. You have two attempts between March and July 2026, and in the middle sits the end of fourth year with all the homework, tests and final marks. Concentrated preparation outside school hours is mandatory. Many students choose to use the first session (March-May) as an "advanced diagnostic" and the second session (June-July) as the serious attempt once school is closed.

Three areas to focus on:

• Logic-Mathematics-Statistics. It is worth 65 points out of 100, it is the tiebreaker, and it is the 25-question / 65-minute block. To aim for 75 you should land around 75-80% correct in this block. That means solidity on algebra (polynomials, quadratic equations, rational and radical equations), functions (exponential, logarithmic, trigonometric), analytic geometry, trigonometry. Gaps on any one of these topics take the 75 away. Targeted math tutoring on the uncovered parts of the five-year syllabus is often necessary.
• English TENG. Aim for 27-30/30 correct, not 24. Above 24 you avoid the OFA, but a strong TENG section adds net points (weight 1/3 over 30 questions = up to 10 points). To aim for 75 overall, losing 5 points in TENG makes them very hard to recover in the technical sections.
• Cognitive endurance on the single block. 65 straight minutes of Logic-Mathematics-Statistics. Simulations must respect this duration, not be split into chunks. Training long-form concentration is a skill, just like solving an equation.

For TOL-format simulations (not TOLC-I) with section-by-section progress tracking, the Up to Ten platform is built on the Politecnico format — and the TOL preparation path includes a specific plan for students aiming at 75 from the penultimate year.

Deep dive on mistakes to avoid on the Early TOL: Common TOL Mistakes

FAQ

Can I sit the Early TOL in third year of high school? No. The rule is precise: students in the penultimate year (fourth year of a five-year secondary school) who will graduate in school year 2026/2027. Third year does not qualify.

How much does the Early TOL cost? EUR 35 per registration, the same as the Standard TOL. Non-refundable. Payment is processed via PagoPA from the Politecnico Online Services.

What happens if I score 74/100? Below the 75 threshold (rounded), the seat guarantee does not apply. You keep your score for later attempts and can use your second attempt or sit the Standard TOL in fifth year.

If I score 75/100 on the first attempt, can I sit the second to try to do better? No. The rule is clear: candidates who reach ≥ 75 "may not repeat the test but will gain the right to enrol". The seat is yours and the test is closed.

Can I use the Early TOL score for other universities? No. The TOL is Politecnico di Milano's proprietary test — it is valid only at Polimi. If you want to keep multiple universities open, you must also sit the TOLC-I or an alternative test. Full comparison: TOLC-I vs TOL Politecnico.

Same syllabus as the Standard TOL? Yes. Same syllabus, same structure (65 questions, 100 minutes), same section weights. The specific challenge of the Early TOL is that some topics in the math syllabus (exponential and logarithmic functions, advanced trigonometry) have not yet been covered at school in fourth year and must be anticipated.

Does the English OFA also apply to the Early TOL? Yes. If you score 75/100 but fewer than 24 correct in the English section (TENG), the English OFA is still assigned and must be cleared during the first year of university. For English OFA details, see TOL Preparation: Complete Guide.

If I don't show up, does it count as an attempt used? Yes. The Early TOL follows the same rule: if you register for a test and fail to show up, it counts as "taken" and burns one of your two attempts. Do not register unless you are sure you will show up.

For a structured path from the penultimate year: TOL Preparation Politecnico di Milano

Early TOL Preparation with Up to Ten

The Early TOL rewards students who arrive in fourth year with solid foundations and know how to anticipate fifth-year math topics. Our path starts with a diagnosis of areas to build, anticipates the key topics from the school programme, and uses TOL-format simulations — not TOLC-I — to prepare you for exactly what you will face. All progress tracked in Up to Connect.

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Continue reading:

• TOL Preparation: Complete Guide
• TOL Math: Topics, Weights and Strategies
• Common TOL Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
• TOLC-I vs TOL Politecnico: Which to Choose
• TOLC-I Preparation: Complete Guide