Study location	Italy, Pavia
Type	Foundation Year, full-time
Nominal duration	9 months
Study language	Italian
Course code	CS01/PDS0-2018/2018

Tuition fee	€5,000 one-time
Application fee	€35 per programme This fee is not refundable.

Entry qualification

High school Diploma - Have completed 11 years of schooling (from elementary school to high school); - Have received a final school diploma, which should be accompanied by the transcripts of your high school senior year and a translation and declaration of value; - Being at least 17 years old. If you are 17 years old, a legal tutor is required; - The student must turn 18 years old by the end of the program (June 30, 2026) The entry qualification documents are accepted in the following languages: English / French / Italian / Spanish. Send scanned copies of the original documents. Copy of the original version of the High School Diploma and Transcript of Records of the last year of High School, officially translated into Italian/English, legalized (or with an “apostille”) together with its corresponding Declaration of Value (DV) issued and validated by the Italian authorities of the country of residence/ CIMEA Statement of Comparability

Other requirements

Please upload the following documents to the online application: - A scan of your passport (main page – front cover – back cover); - A scan of your High School Diploma officially translated into Italian or English with Apostille/legalization; - A scan of your transcript of records of the last High School year, officially translated into Italian or English with Apostille/legalization; - A scan of the Declaration of Value of your High School diploma. The declaration of value has to be issued and validated by the Italian authorities of the Country of residence; Alternately, a legal replacement accepted by the University of Pavia is the Statement of Comparability issued by the CIMEA Institute. - Italian language certificate (if any)

More information	foundationyear.unipv.it/#

Overview

The Foundation Year is a preparatory course, taught in Italian designed for:

- students who do not meet the minimum 12 years of schooling required for enrollment in an Italian University Degree course;

- students who want to access undergraduate degrees at the University of Pavia;

- students interested in learning Italian or improving their Italian language skills.

The course includes both Italian language classes and preparatory courses from one of the following study areas: (1) Humanities; (2) Science and Medicine; (3) Social Sciences.

For the academic year 2025-2026, students will attend all courses, both Italian and Area Studies courses in person in Pavia from October 2025 until June 2026.

Students who pass the Foundation year final exams will:

- meet the minimum entry requirements for undergraduate study and have the chance to possibly be exempted from the first year of University fee at the University of Pavia. ( Fee waiver)
- be exempted from the Italian Proficiency University admission test

Please note that students applying to degrees with limited enrollment must still take the admission test.

Programme structure

- 400 hours of Italian language and Culture course (several levels available from beginner to advanced)

-300 hours of Area Study courses taught in Italian

Students can choose one of the following AREA STUDIES:

1. HUMANITIES
- History of Art and Archaeology
- Italian Literature
- Ancient and Medieval History
- Philosophy

2. SCIENCES AND MEDICINE
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Mathematics

3. SOCIAL SCIENCES
- Political science
- Contemporary History
- Economics
- Law

Academic Calendar

Foundation Year program for the academic year 2025/2026 will start on 13 of October 2025 and will end on 30 June 2026.
Italian courses will run from 13 October 2025 to 30 June 2026.
Area study courses will run from 16 February 2026 until 28 June 2026.