Politecnico di Milano TOL preparation, online and tailored to you.
The TOL is not the TOLC-I: it is the Politecnico di Milano's own engineering admission test, with different weights and no chemistry. Logic, maths and statistics alone are worth 65 points out of 100, and the rest of the plan is built around that number. Want to see where you stand? Take the free TOL practice test now, with the real structure and weighted scoring.
The TOL is not the TOLC-I: no chemistry!
The students I work with
- Final-year high school students aiming at engineering at the Politecnico di Milano who want a plan calibrated on the real weights of the TOL, not on a generic TOLC syllabus.
- Students who already have a TOLC-I score and want to understand whether and how it converts, as well as to fill the syllabus differences (physics, English counting towards the score).
- Students from technical institutes whose maths is less theoretical than at a liceo scientifico (science-focused high school), who need to consolidate exactly the section worth 65/100.
How it works
- We start from a diagnostic TOL practice test to see where you lose points, section by section.
- We plan the lessons by real weight: most of the time goes on logic, maths and statistics.
- On a digital whiteboard we solve targeted questions, topic by topic, including the physics parts specific to the TOL (waves, structure of matter).
- Every 3-4 lessons, a new timed practice test, with the real weighted score out of 100.
- At the end of the course you get a summary of formulas and time-management strategies across the 4 sections.
The 4 sections of the TOL, with the real weights.
65 questions in 100 minutes, but the score is not a simple sum: each section has a different weight in the total out of 100. We work first where it is worth the most.
- Logic, maths and statistics
- Algebra and equations/inequalities
- Analytic geometry and trigonometry
- Basic probability and statistics
- Logical reasoning and sequences
- Verbal comprehension
- One passage, read and analysed in depth
- The author's thesis and inferences
- Reading strategies under time pressure
- Physics
- Basic mechanics and kinematics
- Waves: intensity, interference, diffraction
- Structure of matter: energy levels, photons
- English
- B1/B2-level grammar and vocabulary
- Unlike the TOLC-I, here it counts towards the total score
- Below 24 correct answers, the OFA (extra learning requirement) is triggered
Maths and logic overlap a lot with the TOLC-I: the guide how to pass the TOLC-I covers that common part in detail. For the structure and weighted scoring specific to the TOL there is the free TOL practice test.
Politecnico di Milano TOL: frequently asked questions.
Is the TOL the same test as the TOLC-I?
No. The Politecnico di Milano uses a test of its own, the TOL, run directly by the university and not by CISIA. It does accept the TOLC-I as an alternative, converted to the TOL scale at the university's discretion, but the structure, the weights and even the physics syllabus are different: the TOL has no chemistry, it has questions on waves and the structure of matter that the TOLC-I does not have, and it does not have the geometric optics that the TOLC-I includes.
Is there chemistry in the TOL?
No, none. The subjects are logic/maths/statistics, verbal comprehension, physics and English. Physics weighs only 10 points out of 100: anyone preparing with "electromagnetism and chemistry" in mind is describing at most a tenth to a fifth of the real score.
Which section counts the most?
Logic, maths and statistics alone is worth 65 points out of 100, by far the heaviest section. Verbal comprehension is worth 15, physics 10, English 10. The lesson plan reflects these weights: we start from the section that decides the score, not from the one that is most comfortable to revise.
What is the minimum score to enter the ranking?
The eligibility threshold is 30/100. Note that it is the minimum threshold to enter the ranking, not the score that guarantees a place: that is decided by the ranking itself, based on the places available. Always check the call for applications of the year you apply for up-to-date figures.
What happens if I do badly in English?
Two separate things. First: English counts towards the total score anyway (10/100), unlike the TOLC-I, where it is a separate test that does not count towards the score. Second: if you answer correctly fewer than 24 of the 30 questions, on top of the lower score the extra English learning requirement (OFA) is triggered, regardless of the total.
Can I prepare together with the TOLC-I if I am not yet sure between PoliMi and other universities?
Yes, it is the most common choice among my students. Maths and logic largely overlap between the two tests, so we work on the common core first and then differentiate: physics (waves/structure of matter for the TOL, kinematics/optics for the TOLC-I) and the English part, which in the TOL counts towards the final score while in the TOLC-I it stays separate.
Ready to prepare for the TOL?
We start with a free diagnostic practice test. We find out where you are and build the lesson plan around the real weights of the test, not a generic syllabus.