Italian University System
ITALIAN UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
THREE-YEAR DEGREES AND SPECIALISED/ADVANCED DEGREES
The Education Ministerial Decree no. 270 of October 2004 decided an extensive reforms of the Italian University System so that now students can enroll at the following degree (laurea):
- the firs level degree is the "Laurea Triennale" obtained at the end of a three year course. It prepares students for intermediate job positions in the labour market;
- the second level degree is the "Laurea Magistrale", a post-graduate degree obtained after a two-year course. It prepares students for higher, managerial and professional positions.
The University credit system (CFU) which is based on ECTS system, is represented by numerical values allocated to course units to describe the student workload. Each credit is equivalent to 25 hours’ work including lessons, hands-on practice, laboratories, internships and self-study. The total work of an Italian student is calculated as 60 credits which correspond to 1500 hours per year. A course unit will be allocated with credits when examination is passed by the student with a minimum grade of 18/30.
For further information on ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) the reference website is:http://ec.europa.eu/education/tools/ects_en.htm
Here you can find the copy of the grading scale that we currently use, with reference to the ECTS scale. This scale refers only to quantitative marks.
WHAT ARE CLASSES? (classi)
Under the new system, following the reform, all degree courses are grouped into classes (classi) which relate to a specific field of study. Degrees belonging to one class have the same legal value.