It is the end of September 2026. The procedure for applying to sit the esame di Stato (the state exam, known as the maturità, Italy’s school-leaving exam) as an external candidate (candidato esterno, or privatista) opens at the beginning of November — in about six weeks — and the traditional deadline is 30 November, a little over two months from today. Anyone who starts looking into it in January has already lost the year, because by then the window to apply is closed and they will have to wait for the next session. This post comes out now for that reason, not a day later.
Who this post is for
There are at least four concrete situations in which this route applies:
- People who interrupted their studies for a period — illness, personal difficulties, a move that went badly — and now want to reach the diploma anyway.
- People who changed school late, perhaps after the third or fourth year, and find themselves with a path that does not fit well with any state school available.
- People who study privately, by choice or necessity, following a programme of their own without attending a class.
- Adults returning to study after years, often for a specific work goal that requires the diploma.
In all four cases the question that matters most is not “which school to choose” but “how do I get back into the system”, and the routes for doing so are not all the same.
The table of routes
| Route | What you need | Qualification it gives | Who it makes sense for |
|---|---|---|---|
| External candidate at the state exam | Application to the USR (Regional School Office) by the deadline, age requirements, PCTO (work-experience programmes) or equivalent activities, possibly a preliminary exam in May | High school diploma, with exactly the same value as that of an internal candidate | People who already have solid preparation (self-taught or from an interrupted course) and want to get the diploma in the nearest June session |
| Suitability exams (esami di idoneità) | Application to the school to be admitted to a later class without having attended the previous years | Admission to the requested class, not the diploma | People coming from private study or from a course abroad who want to re-enter the ordinary school system and finish the course as internal students |
| Evening course (second-level pathway) | Enrolment at a school with evening courses, organised in teaching periods (not by year) | Diploma, with the same value as a daytime course | People who work or have commitments that rule out daytime attendance, and still want a structured course with teachers and a class |
| CPIA (first level) + network with the second level | Enrolment at the CPIA (Centro Provinciale per l’Istruzione degli Adulti, provincial adult education centre) | Middle-school leaving certificate (first level) or support towards the second level, in a network with an evening school | People who first need to get the middle-school certificate or strengthen their Italian before tackling high school |
| Private school with state recognition (scuola paritaria) | Enrolment and regular attendance as in a state school | Diploma with the same legal value as one from a state school | People looking for a structure closer to an ordinary course but with timetables or organisation different from a state school |
The first two rows of this table are where most of the confusion lies: “suitability exam” and “supplementary exams” (esami integrativi) sound alike but are not the same thing. Suitability exams are for entering a class you have not attended; supplementary exams are for changing track from the third year on, covering only the subjects not followed in the new track. In the first two years, on the other hand, changing track only requires the school’s consent (nullaosta), by 31 January, with no supplementary exam at all.
The calendar from now to June
| Period | What happens |
|---|---|
| November | You submit the application for admission to the state exam to the USR of your region of residence (traditional deadline 30 November; for the 2027 maturità the circular with the exact date has not been published yet, it is expected between October and November 2026 — check the Ministry’s website and your own USR’s as soon as it is available) |
| May | For those who do not have a pass in the last class they regularly attended: preliminary exam at the “hub” school assigned by the USR |
| June | State exam, for those who have passed the admission stage (and the preliminary exam, if required) |
The application, step by step
The application for admission to the state exam for external candidates is submitted to the Director General of the Regional School Office (USR) of your region of residence, through an online procedure on the Ministry’s portal, accessible with SPID, CIE or eIDAS (Italian and European digital identity credentials). The window opens at the beginning of November.
Before filling it in, it is worth having ready:
- A valid identity document and working digital credentials (SPID, CIE or eIDAS) — check them in good time, not on the day of the deadline.
- The documentation on your previous school career: school reports, attendance certificates, any certificates of courses already followed.
- The documentation on the age requirement: having turned, or turning within the calendar year of the exam, 19 years old, except for early admission for merit or special cases such as an interruption of studies of at least one year or coming from paths other than the ordinary one.
- The documentation on the PCTO (school-work training pathways): those coming from a regular school career must document at least 3/4 of the required hours; pure privatisti carry out equivalent activities, to be agreed with the hub school.
The most useful recommendation that can be given here is simple: do not wait for the last week of November. The “hub” school that will run the preliminary exam (when needed) is assigned by the USR, and the time the office takes to process applications is not in the candidate’s hands. Submitting the application in the first half of the window leaves room to correct a missing document or a filling-in error without risking the deadline.
The preliminary exam, properly explained
The preliminary exam is compulsory for those who do not have a pass in the last class they regularly attended — so typically for those who interrupted their studies before the final year or have never regularly attended a class. It takes place in May, at the state or state-recognised school assigned as “hub” by the USR, and tests your preparation on the subjects of the previous years not yet certified — not only on the final year’s programme.
This is the point that surprises people most when they approach this route for the first time: it is not an exam on a single year, but potentially on subjects from different years, each with its own programme. For this reason the preliminary exam must be prepared from November, as soon as the application is submitted, and not from April: realising in March or April how large the programme to cover really is leaves too little time to fill the gaps calmly.
A pass in the preliminary exam gives access to the state exam in June. A fail means that you cannot take the state exam that year, and you have to try again in the next session.
The two mistakes that cost a whole year
- Discovering in December that the application was due in November. It is the simplest and the most expensive mistake: it requires no missing preparation, just a date not checked in time. Marking the opening of the window (beginning of November) and the traditional deadline (30 November, to be confirmed for the 2027 session) is the first thing to do, even before you start studying.
- Discovering in May that you have to face the preliminary exam on five subjects from three different years. It happens to those who submit the application in November and then put off the preparation, thinking that the preliminary exam is “just a formality” or “only on the last year”. It is not, and that is why the organisation of your study has to be set up right after the application, not close to the exam.
How to organise yourself to study several subjects alone
Preparing a preliminary exam or a state exam as an external candidate, often on subjects from different years, requires a different method from that of a student following a class:
- Give priority to the subjects with a written paper (typically Italian and the subject that characterises the track): these are the ones the exam weighs most on and that need more practical training time, not only theoretical study.
- Build a calendar backwards from the date of the preliminary exam (May) or of the state exam (June), assigning each subject a block of weeks proportional to how much of the programme is left to cover — not equal time for all.
- Do a periodic check, not just a final review: every two or three weeks, a real check (a timed test, a mock oral with someone) on how much has actually been consolidated, to correct the plan before it is too late.
- Tackle first the subjects you have never been strong in, because those are the ones at risk of being pushed to the end of the calendar, when time is scarcest.
To get a concrete idea of where you stand on a specific subject before the exam, the maturità practice tests section (mostly in Italian) can be a starting point: the correct answer is free, the guided solution is unlocked with the first lesson. On some specific topics there may not yet be a dedicated simulator: in that case the most useful tool is still a conversation with someone who teaches the subject.
An honest note on commercial promises
Some websites advertise the “diploma in one year” as if it were an automatic shortcut. It is not, and it is worth saying clearly because this is the point where families are most often fooled. What really happens, when it is legitimate, is a combination of suitability exams on the skipped years plus a regular state exam — not an alternative route that goes around the rules. Any accelerated route, of the “two years in one” kind, is in any case subject to authorisation by the Regional School Office and to checking the student’s real prerequisites: it is not something a state-recognised private school can offer just because it is state-recognised.
It is also worth remembering that regular attendance at a recognised private school (scuola paritaria) has the same legal value as at a state school: the problem is not the private school itself, it is the promise of skipping steps that the rules do not allow you to skip.
If you are thinking of a route towards the vocational track (professionale), a useful fact to keep in mind is that the number of hours of school-work training required for admission is not less than 210 hours over the last three years — higher than for technical schools (150 hours) and licei (90 hours): one more thing to check with the school before choosing this route.
Where to start
If the route you have identified is that of the external candidate or a return after an interruption, the first practical step is clear: mark the November window, check the age requirements and the PCTO, and start studying right away on the subjects with a written paper. If you need to talk through how to set up a credible catch-up plan in maths or another specific subject, you will also find some pointers on how to structure self-study. If you want concrete help, the first introductory call is free and lasts half an hour.
Related posts: how many failing grades it really takes to be held back, final year: the plan for the maturità from September, the argumentative essay (type B) at the maturità.
