Nearly all students taking Italy’s high school diploma exam (maturità) passed this year, with southern regions showing a significant surge in top grades. According to data released by the Ministry of Education and Merit, 96.5% of students were admitted to the exam, and 99.7% of those admitted graduated successfully.
Nationwide, almost 14,000 students achieved the highest possible score with honors (100 e lode), while over half of graduates received a final mark between 61 and 80 out of 100. The proportion of students attaining the top honors mark saw a slight increase, rising from 2.6% nationally in 2024 to 2.8% this year, totaling 13,857 students.
Southern regions dominated the honors rankings: Calabria led with 6.1% of graduates achieving honors, followed by Puglia (5.5%) and Sicily (4.7%). Northern regions recorded the lowest rates, with Valle d’Aosta at just 0.3%. Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, and Veneto barely surpassed 1%. Regarding the ‘100’ score alone (without honors), Calabria again recorded the highest rate at 12%, followed by Sicily (10.3%) and Puglia (9.9%).
Overall, more than half of graduates nationwide scored between 61 and 80, and nearly three in ten scored between 71 and 80.
Breaking down results by school type, academic high schools (licei) had the highest proportion of honors at 4.3%, up from 3.9% last year. Technical institutes followed at 1.5%, and vocational institutes at 0.6% – figures stable compared to 2024. Among specific programs, the classical high school (liceo classico) and international high school (which surpassed the scientific high school this year) saw the highest honors rate at 8.4%. Conversely, the scientific high school’s sports program had the highest rate of students passing with the minimum grade (60), at 8.3%.
Data on the entire high school cycle shows that 76.6% of students progressed to the next grade during the first four years. The repeat rate was 5.6%, with judgments suspended for 17.8%. A similar high pass rate trend was seen in the middle school leaving exam (terza media), where 99.9% passed. Mirroring the high school results, southern regions saw a boom in top middle school scores, led by Puglia where 8.7% graduated with top honors (10 e lode).
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