School in Italy for foreign kids: enrollment

A foreign child is accepted into an Italian school without residenza and without a permesso: per the community a passport, a codice fiscale and an application to the school secretariat are usually enough, and education in Italy is compulsory until 16. Below: from what age and into which grade they take a child, which documents are asked for, what happens with vaccinations, what language support there is, how meals and ISEE benefits work, and why the school itself can become a ground for a residence permit under art. 31. This is not legal advice: verify the enrollment procedure and timelines on istruzione.it and at the school itself.

This is a system overview; for the concrete mechanics of enrollment - windows, appuntamento, ASL vaccinations, payment - see the article on enrolling in kindergarten and school.

Can you enroll a child in school without documents and status?

The most important thing to know right away about school for foreign children in Italy: a place in a state school is the constitutional right of any minor. The child must be accepted regardless of the family's status - even without a permesso di soggiorno, without residenza, and while the documents are still in process. Enrollment cannot be refused, and if parents do not take the child to school at all, this is treated as a serious violation, up to a criminal one.

Compulsory education in Italy lasts up to age 16, and school attendance is mandatory - unlike kindergarten (asilo), which remains the family's choice. You cannot keep a school-age child only on Russian distance learning, without sending them to an Italian school.

We moved when my daughter was 14. I was afraid of the classic triple fear: no language, no friends, falling behind in the program. In reality all the fears turned out to be exaggerated - children adapt quickly, the Italian school is easier than ours, and in a few months my daughter became a top student.

At what age and into which grade do they take a child?

According to the community, children start primary school (scuola elementare) in the year the child turns 6. But a child can be placed in school at practically any moment - up to about age 14-15. Older children are often enrolled a grade or two below their age: that way they already know the material and it is easier for them to catch up in the language.

The structure of Italian education by stages:

• Scuola dell'infanzia / asilo - kindergarten, from about age 3 (an optional stage).
• Scuola primaria (elementare) - primary school, 5 years (about ages 6-11).
• Scuola media (secondaria di primo grado) - middle school, 3 years (about ages 11-14), ending with exams.
• The upper stage from age 14 - liceo (lyceum), istituto tecnico (technical) or istituto professionale (vocational institute).

After the lyceum you can enter university directly; after the technical or vocational institute, according to the community, one more additional year is usually needed. Verify the exact age boundaries on istruzione.it.

A separate subtlety about the upper stage: the choice of a lyceum or a technical school the child makes at about age 13, after scuola media, and this, according to the community, is not just a "general school" but a predetermined direction toward a future university. For a foreign teenager this is a serious decision at an unusually early age, and it is worth discussing with the family in advance, rather than in the last weeks of enrollment.

No one warned in advance that at 13 my daughter already chooses between a lyceum and a technical school and effectively sets the trajectory up to university. We agonized until the last moment, because in Russia there is no such early fork. Advice: look at the upper schools' programs already in the year of scuola media, then the choice will be informed.

A separate point for those aiming at an Italian university: for admission, 12 years of school are required, while graduates of the Russian system have 11. That means an additional "integration" year (anno integrativo) will be needed - there are many state online options - and only after it does a foreign applicant submit documents to an Italian university.

In the segreteria my son (14 years old) was mistakenly placed with the eleven-year-olds. For half a year I fought to correct this: in the end the child was allowed to take full Italian exams for scuola media on a par with native speakers - only that way did we manage to skip a grade.

When does the school year start?

There is no single date across the whole country. The Ministry sets different start dates by region, tying them to the easing of the heat - usually this is mid-September - according to the community, dates around September 11-15 are most often named. The exact date for a specific year is approved by the regional council (Giunta regionale), so be sure to clarify the day at your school and on the region's site.

How to enroll a child: the segreteria, deadlines, and the appuntamento

According to the community, enrollment goes not through a general comune portal but directly to the chosen school - to its secretariat (segreteria); through the comune you enroll only into kindergarten (asilo). An appuntamento is usually needed, so you call or write first, and the official enrollment window for the first grade falls in January - outside the window you have to call around the schools and ask about places. The step-by-step deadlines, the portals and how placement by address works are covered in the article on enrolling in kindergarten and school.

Enrollment is pure Italian bureaucracy: several visits, because now one employee is on vacation, now another is absent, the vaccination card was chased between the pediatrician, the vaccination office, and the ASL. But everyone around was polite and welcoming, so it is worth saving your nerves in advance, not once you are there.

I enrolled my son in the first grade without an appuntamento - I just came to the right school, but I had to drop by four times: now the employee is out, now they have a holiday, now "we'll call back and invite you." In the end they took copies of passports, the birth certificate, and the codice for everyone, asked whether the child is Catholic, gave a list of books and stationery, and asked me to send the temporary tessera to the email. Then they said to track the school start date on the site - the letter may not be sent.

Which documents are needed for enrolling in school and kindergarten?

According to the community, for enrolling in school or kindergarten they usually ask for:

• copies of the passports of the child and one (or both) parents;
• the child's birth certificate;
• codice fiscale for all family members;
• an enrollment application (iscrizione) with both parents' signatures;
• a vaccination card;
• sometimes - a report card or a certificate of grades from the previous school.

The exact set depends on the specific school, so verify it in advance. About obtaining the codice fiscale and registration see codice fiscale and residenza, and about the translation and legalization of Russian certificates - apostille and sworn translation.

A couple more details about everyday school bureaucracy that surprise newcomers (according to the community):

• In primary school they issue a paper diary (libretto) with tear-off sheets for parents - in them you yourself record days of absence and lateness, indicating the reason (motivi di salute - for health, motivi di famiglia - for family circumstances). Notes from parents, as in Russia, are not requested; everything is written right into the diary. The number of absences per semester and year matters - to have the year counted as successful, it is better to ask the teacher about the allowable limit in advance.
• In parallel, many schools have an electronic diary (registro elettronico): grades, announcements, and the schedule are posted there. Note the technical nuance - if the child was enrolled not strictly by age (for example, they took exams for an older grade), inconsistencies may arise in the electronic system, up to a delay in issuing the final document for the next stage.

I did not expect that instead of the usual notes there would be a paper diary with tear-off sheets: every absence you mark yourself and sign the reason. And the parents' correspondence goes in a chat in Italian - at first I read it through a translator so as not to miss a meeting or an excursion.

What about vaccinations?

According to the community, parents transfer the child's vaccination card into the Italian system: the translated card is brought to a centro vaccinale or the ASL, or the pediatrician (pediatra) creates an Italian card, and a copy goes to the school. Important: the child may be suspended from school if they contract a disease against which they should be vaccinated according to the documents. Exactly how vaccinations are registered at the ASL is covered in the article on enrolling in kindergarten and school.

Per the community, enrollment both in school and in the ASL (tessera sanitaria) is possible without residenza - with the ricevuta (an A4 sheet) and a copy of the passport. More on this - in the material on SSN and tessera sanitaria.

What language support is there?

Language support within the school is modest, but it exists. A child with zero Italian is accepted anyway. Schools provide extra Italian - often this is a volunteer about once a week. In addition, the optional Catholic religion lesson can be replaced with extra Italian for non-native speakers: you need to ask the class teacher about this.

The result depends entirely on the child. Those who really apply themselves speak Italian fluently within a year. And some teenagers aged 10-15 who only pretended knew a couple of words a year later - despite tutors. So the school will help, but it will not learn the language for the child.

I advise starting the language even before the move: YouTube courses, a tutor, even cartoons like Peppa Pig or Masha and the Bear. A teenager is better brought at least up to A2 - then the first school months will go tolerably, rather than as continuous stress.

Scuola media itself gave the child the language better than any courses: in the program they study Italian poets and writers, and even mathematical terms then surface at the right moment. At first it is hard, but immersion in the ordinary program, rather than only a volunteer lesson once a week, is the main engine.

Adults too have somewhere to go: for migrants there are free state Italian schools, the CPIA. There you need to enroll, pay a small one-time fee, buy a textbook, take a basic level test - and wait for a group to form and to be called in. Italians teach in Italian, often right in the building of an ordinary school; the CPIA also has vocational courses (forklift, driving, cooking, and others). The CPIA should not be confused with commercial language courses.

Textbooks, schedule, and meals

According to the community, textbooks for primary school are free: they are ordered through a stationery store (cartoleria / libreria), naming the school, grade, and the child's name - sometimes you pay first and then are partly reimbursed through the comune. In practice, at the store they simply enter you in an order log (you write in the child's name yourself), and they invite you to pick up the books by the start of September. Free textbooks for primary school rely on law 719/1964 and art. 156 of D.Lgs. 297/1994. But textbooks for middle and upper school are paid, although for low-income families partial reimbursement is possible: according to the community, it is arranged as a "bonus libri / bonus scuola" - the application is submitted for the current school year, the conditions and thresholds depend on the region and are tied to the ISEE, so verify the current details on the site of your region or comune.

The schedule in primary school comes in two kinds:

• 27 hours a week - the child stays until 16:00 only one day a week, and lunch only on that day;
• about 36-40 hours (tempo pieno) - until 16:00 every day, effectively working like an extended day.

More than 40 hours is not allowed. Homework in primary school is little or none at all, especially in classes with a long day.

The school cafeteria (mensa) is paid and ordered a year ahead, with options for diets and menus; registration and payment go through the catering organization. The details on textbooks, meals and after-school care are in the article on enrolling in kindergarten and school.

ISEE and benefits: what you can count on

The ISEE is a certificate of the family's property and income status that opens access to benefits: reduced or free school meals, textbook reimbursement, a school bus, free university, child allowances. According to the community, the ISEE is valid until December 31 of the current year, and the benefits accrue from the month of submission - so it is worth arranging it earlier. You can do the ISEE online or through a CAF/patronato. An important caveat: without residenza and a carta d'identita these benefits are unavailable.

Of the specific child payments that, according to the community, surface most often: the single allowance for children (assegno unico) - its size depends on the ISEE and the child's age, for an older teenager the sum is usually more modest than for a baby; and the reimbursement of nursery fees (bonus asilo nido) for children up to about age 3, the application for which is submitted online or through a patronato. These are different measures with different conditions, all sums and thresholds change yearly - verify the current details on inps.it.

State and municipal schools in Italy are genuinely good, and locals usually discourage paying for private ones. But keep in mind: in a state class with a mixed level, the pace is set by the weakest student, so a motivated child may find it a bit boring. This is not a reason to run to a private school, but a reason to load the child up at home.

Summer: kindergartens close, camps are needed

According to the community, state summer kindergartens are closed from about July to September (about two months), and this gap is filled by summer camps. State camps - the application is roughly by April 10; private camps often take children from age 6. A beach or private camp, according to the community, usually operates from 8:00 to 16:30 and costs from about 500 euro per month. All sums and dates change over time - verify the current details on the comune's site.

For kindergarten, unlike school, they give a whole list of things: a blanket and bedding, indoor shoes, a bib, sometimes a uniform or smock, your own pencil case with pencils and markers. A trifle, but by the first day all this has to be bought in time, so it is better to get the list in advance. Our state kindergarten came out noticeably cheaper than a private one, but the place had to be waited for in a queue.

School as a ground for a residence permit: art. 31

A separate topic is the "permesso di soggiorno per assistenza minori" (art. 31). According to the community, a child can be enrolled in a state school even on a tourist Schengen (a D visa is not needed for this), and after the child has studied for about 6 months, the parents can apply to the juvenile court. Then guardianship (the social services) observes the school and the home for about a year before the hearing, and the whole path to obtaining the residence permit itself takes about 2 years.

It is important to understand the risks: while the tourist visa has expired and the case has not yet been filed in court, the family is in Italy illegally, and it is hard to obtain important documents during this period. If the child is healthy, you first need to prove deep integration (school, friends, sports), which is hard for newcomers - so lawyers advise first living in Italy. A private boarding school is not suitable here: it is precisely the state school that serves as proof of integration.

On art. 31 I consulted with three Roman attorneys. The path is long and greatly limits you in documents, it makes sense - especially with a healthy child - only if there is something to prove real integration with. But even a lost case often gives an extra year or two of legal stay. The fees named varied, up to packages for the whole family, so budget in advance.

A detailed breakdown of the court procedure is in the material on assistenza minori (art. 31). About children in the general KIT when applying for the permesso it is worth knowing: children under 14 are entered into the parent's KIT; certificates from school or kindergarten about attendance were sometimes brought to the fingerprinting, but they were turned away as unnecessary. How submission at the post office is organized - see the KIT and the permesso.

A small town or a metropolis: where to look for a school?

According to the community, in small towns you can really arrange a kindergarten, school, and housing within literally a few days, and the quality of education is the same - it can be checked through eduscopio. There is no official ranking of state schools. International and private schools (with an IB program or without) are mostly in large cities (Milan, Rome) and often have no upper stage; the fees at international schools, according to the community, run from about 11000 to 25000 euro a year and higher. In regions with a special status (Trentino, Valle d'Aosta), according to the community, schools are funded better.

There is enough space, a private kindergarten is cheaper than a Moscow one, and a child can be placed in a kindergarten or school about 10 days after arrival - even while you are still jumping between short-term apartments. We even chose the city for the school and for proximity to the sea, and settled on an option with an international school and the atmosphere of a university town.

About the Russian school certificate and exams: the OGE and EGE, as a rule, require in-person sitting in Russia, the accredited school at the embassy in Rome is the only one and is overcrowded. True, according to the community, in 2022-2023 a decree came out allowing some children abroad to get the certificate without exams. This point is worth clarifying separately and in advance.

What is important to keep in mind

• The child must be accepted into a state school regardless of the family's status - this is a basic right.
• Compulsory education - up to age 16; kindergarten is optional, school is mandatory.
• Enrollment goes directly through the school's segreteria (kindergarten - through the comune), with an appointment.
• Language support exists but is modest; the result depends on the child's effort - prepare the language in advance.
• Vaccinations are transferred into the Italian system through the ASL or the pediatrician.
• The ISEE opens up benefits but requires residenza and a carta d'identita.

Related articles

• Codice fiscale and residenza - the first steps and the tax number.
• SSN and tessera sanitaria - vaccinations, the pediatrician, medicine for children.
• Assistenza minori (art. 31) - the court path to a residence permit through a child in school.
• The KIT and the permesso - submission at the post office, children under 14 in the KIT.
• Apostille and sworn translation - translation of school documents.
• Family reunification - bringing children to Italy.
• Not sure about the route for the family? Take the route matcher.

Official sources

• Ministry of Education: istruzione.it
• Enrollment and education of foreigners: miur.gov.it
• Health and vaccinations: salute.gov.it
• Italian Ministry of the Interior and immigration: interno.gov.it, portaleimmigrazione.it
• School bills and payments at the post office: poste.it

This is not legal advice. The guide reflects generalized community experience and open official materials for foreign families; verify specific rules, timelines, and amounts on official sites and at the school itself.

Frequently asked questions

Can you enroll a child in school without a permesso, residenza, and ready documents?

According to the community, yes: a place in a state school is the constitutional right of any minor, the child must be accepted regardless of the family's status, even without the permesso and registration, while the documents are still being processed. Compulsory education applies up to age 16, and not taking a child to school is no longer just a violation. Verify the enrollment procedure on istruzione.it and at the school itself - this is not legal advice.

At what age do children start school, and can you enroll mid-year?

According to the community, children start primary school (scuola elementare) in the year the child turns 6, while kindergarten (asilo) is optional. You can enroll at practically any moment up to about age 14-15; an older child is often placed a grade or two below their age, so they can catch up in the program and the language. Verify on istruzione.it.

Which documents are required to enroll in school or kindergarten?

According to the community, usually needed are copies of the child's and parents' passports, a birth certificate, codice fiscale for everyone, an application with both parents' signatures, and a vaccination card; sometimes a report card from the previous school is requested. The exact list depends on the school - verify it in advance. This is not legal advice.

Will they support a child with zero Italian?

According to the community, a child with zero language is accepted anyway; schools provide extra Italian (often a volunteer about once a week), and the optional religion lesson can be replaced with extra Italian - you ask the class teacher about this. The volume of support is modest, much depends on the child's own effort.

What is the ISEE and why does a family with a schoolchild need it?

According to the community, the ISEE is a certificate of property status that opens up benefits: a discount or free meals, textbook reimbursement, a school bus, child allowances. Without residenza and a carta d'identita these benefits are unavailable. The ISEE is valid until December 31, the benefits run from the month of submission, so arrange it earlier - online or through a CAF/patronato. Verify on the INPS site - this is not legal advice.

How are absences recorded in an Italian school and why does it matter?

According to the community, in primary school, instead of the usual notes, they issue a paper diary (libretto) with tear-off sheets for parents: every day of absence or lateness you record yourself, indicating the reason (motivi di salute - for health, motivi di famiglia - for family circumstances). In parallel, many schools have an electronic diary with grades and announcements. The number of absences per year matters - to have the year counted as successful, clarify the allowable limit with the teacher in advance. The procedure depends on the school, this is not legal advice.

Related materials - Guides

• Immigration in Parma: questura, timelines
• Partita IVA in Italy 2026: how to open one
• Income for the D visa and permit renewal
• Buying property in Italy as a foreigner

Next stepItalian residence route matcherFive questions show the best-fit permit: lavoro autonomo, digital nomad, residenza elettiva or family.

Documents for this topic

• "Guide to the Italian High School System for Foreign Teenagers and Parents (Bilingual, It/Ru)"
• List of school supplies for 1st grade of Italian primary school (A.S. 2022/2023)
• Italian Education System by Age Levels