Short-cycle tertiary education, corresponding to the ISCED/EQF level 5, is offered by the Higher technological institutes (Istituti tecnologici superiori – ITS Academies or ITSs). According to a recent reform, ITSs also organise bachelor's programmes leading to qualifications equivalent to the ISCED/EQF level 6 (legge 99/2022).
Branches of study
Each ITS Academy organises programmes in one of the following technological areas:
- Energy
- Sustainable mobility and logistics
- Chemistry and new life technologies
- Agrifood system
- Housing system and built environment
- Mechatronics
- Fashion system
- Services to businesses and non-profit organisations
- Technologies for artistic and cultural heritage and activities and for tourism
- Information, communication and data technology
Each area is organised in sub-sectors that correspond to one or more national professional figures.
The training programmes at ITSs are organised into semesters. Short cycle programmes have a duration of two years, corresponding to four semesters, with at least 2 000 hours of training. At the end of the training pathway, students obtain a qualification called diploma di specializzazione per le tecnologie applicate.
ITSs award training credits that are taken into consideration at the end of each programme or, in any case, when a student decides to continue her/his studies in another tertiary institution, either university or AFAM. Training credits refer to all competences and skills acquired that can be recognised in a different programme to reduce the overall number of credits necessary to complete the programme itself (DM 247/2023 and DPCM 29.12.2023).
Admission requirements
One of the following qualifications is required to access courses at ITS Academies:
- an upper secondary education leaving certificate,
- a certificate released at the end of a four-year regional vocation course (Istruzione e formazione professionale – IeFP), followed by a one-year course of higher technical training.
ITSs autonomously organise tests to verify the possession of basic technical and technological competences as well as of competences in English. ITSs may also administer aptitude and motivational tests. They also define preparatory modules to access the programmes (DM 203/2023).
Curriculum
Short-cycle programmes at ITSs have a duration of four semester, corresponding to a total of at least 2 000 hours of training that include hours of theoretical, practical and laboratory activities. At least 60 per cent of the total number of hours of training is carried out by lecturers from the world of work. Company internships and apprenticeships are mandatory for at least 35 per cent of the total number of hours and can also be carried out abroad.
The Ministry of education and merit has defined the technological areas (please see above 'Branches of study') that are the object of training in ITS Academies. Each technological area corresponds to one or more national professional figures.
Central regulations have established the general cultural profile of the national professional figures that refers to the EQF, which has been implemented by decree in 2018 and referenced to the Italian qualifications in 2023. The general cultural profile is characterised by knowledge, skills and competences that students are expected to acquire at the end of a programme at ITSs.
At the end of the programme at ITSs, students are expected to:
- be capable of supporting research and development activities to identify continuous improvement interventions and innovative and sustainable solutions with technological applications,
- have scientific, technical, technological, organisational, communication and marketing skills,
- have the linguistic skills in English, level B2 or higher,
- use specialist languages and to adopt a responsible and reliable behaviour in the various aspects of production, safety in the workplace and environmental protection,
- have the skills to interact in heterogeneous work groups,
- be able to relate with the various figures operating in the production and service chains in complex work processes involving different subjects, also on an international scale,
- have the skills to offer innovative contributions aimed at enhancing the local aptitudes in an international dimension.
Moreover, students are expected to use technological knowledge to create market opportunities, to know how to interact between different technologies and to interpret customer and market needs identified with the use of technologies (DM 203/2023, Annex 2).
Curricula of programmes at ITSs refer to general competences common to all technological area, to technical competences, which are common to all the professional figures of a technological area and to technical competences that are peculiar of each professional figure.
The general competences common to all technological areas belong to the linguistic, communicative and relational, scientific and technological, legal and economic, organisational and management, as well as digital fields.
Teaching methods
The freedom of teaching is a principle established by the Constitution of the Italian Republic and, therefore, teachers are free to choose their own teaching methods.
In ITSs courses, 60% of teachers come from enterprises or from specific professions.
In general, ‘learning by doing’ is the most common teaching method. It is also common the use of labs at research centres, universities and companies. Teaching in English is also common.
Progression of students
Courses at ITSs have a modular organisation. Therefore, students do not progress from one grade to the next one.
Students who graduated at ITSs can switch to bachelor's programmes at universities and AFAM, and vice-versa, upon recognition of the training and ECTS credits obtained and according to the tables of correspondence between the professional figures and the bachelor's degrees (Annexes to the DPCM 29.12.2023). At central level it has been established the minimum and maximum number of credits that should be recognised to graduates at ITSs to enrol in a university or AFAM course and vice-versa (DM 247/2023).
Employability
The Higher technological tertiary education system has been established with the purpose of providing technicians with high technological and technical professional skills, with the aim of progressively bridging the mismatch between labour demand and supply in strategic technological areas. To facilitate the employability of graduates in the national territory and abroad, the Ministry has provided for the ATECO and ESCO codes for each professional figure corresponding to the different technological areas (DPCM 29.12.2023). Moreover, it has been established the correspondence of the certifications to the EQF 5 level (DM 246/2023). Finally, the final certification is accompanied by a diploma supplement based on the Europass model (DM 203/2023)
According to the monitoring issued in 2024, the rates of graduates employed after one year from graduation was 87% (data refer to graduates at 31.12.2022), of which 93.8% placed in jobs coherent with the programmes attended. These data refer to the short-cycle programmes, as in 2022 the programmes corresponding to bachelor's were not yet operating.
(Source: INDIRE, ITS Academy, Monitoraggio nazionale 2024, Infografiche)
Student assessment
Student assessment at ITSs is summative and it is carried out during the course, at the end of the traineeship and at the end of the course itself.
At the end of the course, students who have attended at least 80% of the total amount of hours and have obtained a final mark between 6 and 10, are admitted to the final exam that aims at verifying the competences acquired. The final mark is the result of all previous assessments, traineeship included.
The final exam consists of a written test, a theoretical-practical test and an oral test, all three related to the technological area, field and professional figure of reference of the training course.
The written test is prepared by the Scientific committee of the single ITS and consists of a set of thirty closed multiple-choice questions, five of which are aimed at assessing foreign language skills. The written test is assessed with masks up to 30 points, being 18 the minimum mark to pass the test and be admitted to the next one.
The theoretical-practical test concerns the discussion of a technical-scientific problem and two short-answer questions. The test is prepared by the Scientific committee of the ITS. The test is assessed with marks up to 40 points, being 24 the minimum mark to pass the test and be admitted to next one.
The oral test concerns the discussion of a work project developed during the traineeship carried out at the company that makes up the ITS Academy. The project can be developed individually or in group and the oral test aims at verifying the validity and feasibility of the results. The test is assessed with marks up to 30 points, being 18 the minimum mark to pass the test.
The exam is positively passed when the student has obtained at least the minimum mark in each test.
The assessment of the tests is carried out by an examination board, which also assigns the final mark out of 100th, considering all the previous marks obtained during the course and during the examination. It is also possible to graduate with honours.
The members of the examination board are experts belonging to higher education institutions, the regions, upper secondary schools and the world of work (legge 99/2022, DM 88/2023).
Certification
To obtain the final certification (diploma di specializzazione per le tecnologie applicate), students must complete the two-year programme and pass the final tests and assessments.
The diploma is issued by the Ministry of education and merit together with the ‘Europass diploma supplement’. The certification is valid throughout the country and shows, in addition to the name and province of reference of the ITS, the technological area, the national professional figure and profile (if any), the final grade and the award of EQF level 5. The Ministry has provided for the model of certification (DM 88/2023, Annex 1).
Upon the student's request, ITSs also release the certification of competences acquired during the course and in the internship activities. Such certification is issued even in the event of failure to complete the training course or failure to pass the final assessment tests (DM 88/2023).