General diploma requirements
Who can apply for a Bachelor’s degree at Università Cattolica?
The following requirements are set by the Italian Ministry for University and Research (MUR) and are available on UniversItaly Portal.
To apply for an undergraduate degree, you must:
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Get your high school diploma by August 30, 2026. For Medicine and Surgery: obtain your high school diploma by the enrolment deadline established in the programme “Admission Guidelines”.
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Have at least 12 years of total education. If you studied in a non-EU education system, your final 2 years of secondary school must be completed within the same national system.
What if I only have 11 years of education?
You may still apply if you meet one of these conditions:
- You completed at least one year of university studies and passed all the required exams. You can’t transfer any credits from these studies.
- You completed a Foundation Course at a recognised Italian university. Foundation courses from non-Italian universities are evaluated case by case.
Your high school diploma must qualify you for university
Your diploma must grant you access to university-level studies in the country awarding your qualification. If a special exam is necessary, you must show you passed it with the required scores.
Examples:
- Spain: Selectividad / EBAU
- Greece: Veveossi Prosvassis
- Brazil: ENEM or Vestibular
- China: Gao Kao
- Turkey: YKS (TYT + AYT/YDT)
- Portugal: ENES
- Republic of Korea: CSAT
- Colombia: Saber 11 (ICFES)
Special conditions for some diplomas
International Baccalaureate (IB)
You must meet the specific requirements in our IB Admission Policy.
US high school diploma
You need:
- A US high school diploma earned after 2 full years in a US high school, AND
- One of the following:
- Three Advanced Placement (AP) Exams with the College Board passed in different subjects with a minimum score of 3 within the graduation year. Please note:
- If available, upload your official College Board AP score report.
- If you haven’t taken AP exams yet, submit the AP Exam Declaration Form
- If you have Italian citizenship you cannot count AP Italian Language and Culture as an AP exam.
- One year of university studies completed with all credits passed (no credit transfer)
- Foundation Course at a recognised Italian university, provided that it compensates for the missing AP exams (courses from non-Italian universities will be reviewed case by case)
- Three Advanced Placement (AP) Exams with the College Board passed in different subjects with a minimum score of 3 within the graduation year. Please note:
British A-Levels
You need:
- To pass at least 3 A-Level exams in different subjects.
- If you haven’t received your A-levels yet, submit the A-Levels Declaration Form
- If you have Italian Citizenship, you cannot use A-Level Italian
Other National Diplomas
Some diplomas may have extra requirements.
Check your diploma in the ARDI database.
If your diploma is not listed, contact us for help.
English Language Proficiency Requirements
Who needs to submit an English language certificate?
If you pass the entrance exam and receive an offer, you must provide an official English language certificate unless your high school’s main teaching language was English.
What English certificates and scores are accepted?
You can submit any one of these:
- IELTS Academic: overall score of at least 6.0
- TOEFL iBT: overall score of at least 80
- TOEFL Computer-Based: at least 213
- TOEFL Paper Based: at least 550
- Cambridge FCE - First Certificate: Minimum grade B
- Cambridge CAE – Advanced
- Cambridge CPE - Proficiency
- Proof that your high school’s main language of instruction was English
Who is exempt from this requirement?
If your high school classes were all taught in English, you do not need to submit an English language certificate.
You must provide an official letter from your school confirming this.
When do I need to submit my English certificate?
You do not need to submit the certificate when you apply for the entrance exam.
However, you must provide it before you can enroll as a student.