Liceo Minghetti, a state classical high school in central Bologna

Liceo Classico Statale Marco Minghetti is a state upper-secondary school in central Bologna. It offers the five-year Italian liceo classico, a humanities-centred programme with substantial Latin and Ancient Greek.

Teaching is in Italian and the final qualification is the Italian Esame di Stato, often called the maturità. There is no boarding and no international-school tuition.

This makes Minghetti a fundamentally different choice from International School of Bologna. That private, English-medium school offers the International Baccalaureate. Compare them only if the child could genuinely study either programme.

Who should consider it

Minghetti suits a pupil who already has the Italian needed for complex secondary study and wants the liceo classico route. A family seeking immediate English-medium teaching or continuity with the IB should consider a different programme.

For 2026/27, applicants could rank four options:

• the traditional liceo classico;
• liceo classico with additional scientific study;
• liceo classico with additional legal and economic study;
• liceo classico with additional visual education.

The school calls these additions potenziamenti. They modify the emphasis of the programme; they are not four separate leaving qualifications.

The published plan allowed up to nine first-year classes, subject to staff and building capacity. This was a planning maximum, not confirmation that nine classes opened or that a late place remains.

Three sites, not one campus

The legal and historic site is Via Nazario Sauro 18, within walking distance of Bologna Centrale. The school also uses:

• Vicolo Stradellaccio 2, which the school says is no more than 15 minutes on foot from Via Nazario Sauro;
• Via Ca’ Selvatica 9, served by several city and regional bus routes.

First-year admissions

The school uses the national Unica online application system for ordinary first-year entry. Its own 2026/27 page gives an opening of 13 January 2026 and an original deadline of 14 February.

That deadline was later superseded. Italy’s education ministry extended applications for the first and second school cycles to 21 February 2026. The Emilia-Romagna school authority published the extension on 13 February.

The school page has not incorporated that later change. For an accurate record, use 21 February 2026 as the final 2026/27 ordinary deadline, not 14 February.

The 2026/27 process is now closed. Minghetti had not published a 2027/28 timetable when this profile was reviewed. Check the school and Unica pages for the next cycle rather than reusing these dates.

The application form allowed families to rank the four programme options. Results across the Bologna metropolitan area were due on a common date set by the local school office and sent by email.

What happens if applications exceed places

Minghetti’s published order for 2026/27 was:

1. applicants with a sibling already attending Minghetti;
2. residents of Porto-Saragozza or Navile;
3. pupils attending lower-secondary school in those districts;
4. residents of Borgo Panigale-Reno;
5. residents of specified neighbouring municipal unions;
6. residents of Bologna’s other districts;
7. metropolitan-area residents without a comparable course locally;
8. other metropolitan-area residents;
9. a random draw.

Applicants with certified disabilities or documented specific learning disorders, known as DSA, have absolute priority. For a pupil in foster care, the foster parents’ address is used. Oversubscribed potenziamento options are allocated by a public draw.

These were the criteria for that published cycle. Ask whether the governing council has changed them before a later application.

Costs and the voluntary contribution

Minghetti is a state school. The school does not publish annual private-school tuition.

For 2026/27, it requests a voluntary contribution of €120 to support activities beyond the ordinary curriculum. Families can change the amount. The school’s page explicitly recognises that payment is voluntary and that family circumstances differ.

The contribution supports projects in areas such as languages, science, theatre, writing and preparation for the state examination. It is not an admission payment and does not buy priority.

Budget separately for any books, transport, trips, meals or optional activities relevant to the pupil. Ask the school which materials are lent, which support schemes apply and which costs are compulsory.

Do not compare the €120 voluntary contribution with international-school tuition. They are different kinds of payment attached to different education systems.

Language, placement and support

A newly arrived pupil should discuss Italian proficiency before applying. Studying Latin and Greek does not reduce the level of Italian needed for literature, history, philosophy and written assessment.

Ask how previous schooling maps to the five-year sequence and whether a transfer is possible in the requested year. Entry after the first year is not described by the first-year Unica notice.

For documented learning needs, request the school’s procedure and an individual discussion. The oversubscription priority for disability or DSA does not by itself describe classroom adjustments or specialist provision.

Our take

Choose International School of Bologna when English-medium IB continuity is the essential requirement. That option has a very different fee structure.

Friendly orientation, not an application. Dates, fees, and programme details move. Confirm everything with the school.