๐ฎ๐น Milan ยท Schools
Schooling and childcare in Milan
Free state schools taught in Italian, a paritarie sector that is private but state-recognised, and one of Europe's larger international school clusters.
The thing people get wrongState school enrolment happens through a national online window in January for the following September, using SPID. Miss it and you are dependent on whatever the local school has room for โ and in central Milan, that is often nothing.
Indicative figures
- Scuola stataleFreeBooks, meals and trips are charged.
- Paritariaโฌ3,000 โ โฌ7,000/year
- International schoolโฌ10,500 โ โฌ26,000/year2026/27 tuition at ISM and ASM; admission and enrolment fees extra.
- State enrolment window, 2026/2713 Jan โ 21 Feb 2026Unica platform, SPID or CIE.
- Private asilo nidoโฌ600 โ โฌ1,000/month
Checked . Ranges, not quotes โ your Insider confirms the current numbers in Milan before you commit to anything.
The state system and how to enrol
Scuola statale is free, taught entirely in Italian, and organised as scuola dell'infanzia from three, primaria from six, secondaria di primo grado from eleven and secondaria di secondo grado from fourteen. Enrolment from primaria upwards runs through the Ministry's Unica platform during a single national window, and you log in with SPID or CIE. Places are allocated on catchment and stated criteria, so the flat effectively picks the school.
- For 2026/27 the window ran from 13 January to 21 February 2026, extended from 14 February. The next one is set by ministerial circular in the autumn.
- Arriving mid-year is handled directly by the school and the Comune, subject to space.
- At fourteen, families choose between liceo, istituto tecnico and istituto professionale โ a consequential fork.
- Some state schools run English-language or bilingual streams; they are heavily oversubscribed.
Paritarie and the private sector
Scuole paritarie are privately run but recognised by the state and issue the same qualifications. Many are Catholic, fees are modest by international-school standards, and they are a mainstream choice rather than a niche one. They set their own admissions and can accept a child mid-year when the local statale cannot.
The international sector
Milan has British, American, French, German, Swiss, Japanese and IB-curriculum schools, spread between the city and the suburbs to the north and west. They are the standard route for families on a defined posting or expecting to return to a home system, and they fill early. Published 2026/27 tuition at two of the largest gives the range: the International School of Milan runs from about โฌ10,500 to โฌ26,000 a year by grade, and the American School of Milan from โฌ12,300 to โฌ23,100 at the private rate, with a higher corporate rate where an employer pays.
- Apply the winter before the September you want, and earlier for the established schools.
- Expect an assessment, an interview and the last two years of school reports.
- One-off fees sit on top of tuition: the American School of Milan charges a โฌ5,000 admission fee, a โฌ1,350 annual enrolment fee and โฌ2,500 a year to its building fund for the first four years; the International School of Milan's admission fee runs โฌ2,100 to โฌ3,600 by grade.
Nido and younger children
Asili nido cover the first three years and municipal places are allocated by a points ranking with fees scaled to the family's ISEE income assessment. Demand in Milan far exceeds supply, so private nidi fill the gap at market rates. Scuola dell'infanzia from three to six is free in the state sector and near-universally attended.
- Municipal nido applications run in a fixed annual window through the Comune.
- ISEE, the income indicator, must be calculated at a CAF office before you can be means-assessed.
- Private nido rates are considerably higher than the municipal scale.