Foundation year

Foundation Year at Sapienza University of Rome

The 2026-2027 Sapienza Foundation Year admission ranking has been published! See attachment on the left side of your screen

Participation to the admission procedure is conditioned under penalty of exclusion on paying a participation fee of € 200,00 within 15/06/2026. The participation fee is not refundable for any reason. Payment of the participation fee without following in due time the whole procedure described below at Article 6 does not guarantee inclusion in the final admission list.

What is the "Foundation Year" Programme?

The Sapienza University “Foundation Year” Programme was conceived for international students who need to complete their basic education in order to pass an admission test in Italian state universities (in a range of disciplines, i.e. Medicine, Architecture, Science, Engineering and Humanities). The programme is held in Italian and primarily addresses to students who do not meet the minimum schooling requirements outlined in current legislation for enrolment at Italian universities.
Candidates may apply for the “Foundation Year” Programme even if they already have the 12 years of schooling necessary to enrol, but wish to improve their educational or linguistic competences.
Students who successfully complete the programme will be able to apply to Bachelors or Single-cycle degree programmes at Sapienza University without having to sit the Italian language exam for Non-EU students. Attendance is mandatory for at least 75% of classrooms.

Eligible Candidates

Candidates who meet the requirements indicated below are eligible to apply for the programme:

  • holding a secondary school diploma obtained abroad after 11 years of schooling;
  • possess minimum B2 English language level or equivalent level .

Candidates Non-EU citizens residing abroad have mandatory to request by 30 june 2026 through the UNIVERSITALY portal of the Ministry of University and Research (https://www.universitaly.it/), a visa for study purposes for the academic year 2026-2027  for “University enrolment” (see https://www.uniroma1.it/en/pagina/international-student-office ).

For further information about enrolment procedures visit the Hello - International Student Office page

Participation to the admission procedure is conditioned under penalty of exclusion on paying an application fee of € 200,00 within 15/06/2026

 

To pay the application fee, after logging into the main page of your Infostud 2.0, please follow step by step the instructions below:

  1. CORSI DI FORMAZIONE - Advanced Professional Courses ⇒
  2. IMMATRICOLAZIONE (“tuition fees”) (on the left side of the screen; under item “Tasse”)
  3.  Insert CODICE (“code”) 32950
  4.  Click on VAI 4 (“continue”) 
  5. Click on SUCCESSIVO 
  6. Click on GENERA BOLLETTINI 
  7.  Click on PagoPA 
  8. Pay the installments through the PagoPA platform following the instructions at: https://www.uniroma1.it/en/pagina/payment.

Study Options

The “Sapienza Foundation Year" Programme is made up of three parts: 1. Intensive Italian language and culture classes; 2. Curricular classes in either Human Sciences (Art History, Contemporary History, Italian Literature, Sociology), Natural Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics) or Social Sciences (Contemporary History, Mathematics, Physics, Sociology); 3. Preparatory classes for entrance exams on four groups of subjects: Applied Sciences, Management Sciences, Clinical Sciences, Human Sciences.

Courses are entirely held in Italian; they are aimed at complete beginners and no previous knowledge of the language is required. Within the Sapienza Foundation Year Programme, English is also used as an administrative language to facilitate communication between students and administration, not for teaching.

Classroom activities total 400 hours, and attendance is mandatory for at least 75% of them.

 

 

October 2026

 

 

Introductory Italian Language and Culture

Online A1-A2

 

Nov 2026–Feb 2027

200 hours

 

 

Intensive Italian language and Culture

Classroom B1-B2

 

Feb 2027–May 2027

160 hours/curriculum

40 hours/class

 

 

Curricular classes

Human Sciences:

Art History

Contemporary History

Italian Literature

Sociology

Social Sciences:

Contemporary History

Mathematics

Physics

Sociology

 

Natural Sciences:

Biology

Chemistry

Mathematics

Physics

May 2027–Jun 2027

40 hours

 

Preparatory classes

Applied Sciences

(Engineering, etc.)

Management

Sciences

(Economics, Management,

etc.)

 

Clinical

Sciences

(Medicine, Nursing, Psychology, etc.)

Human

Sciences

(Archaeology, Art History,

Classics, etc.)

 

Info and Contact

foundation.year@uniroma1.it

Locations

Marco Polo Building
Via Circonvallazione Tiburtina, 4  
00185 Rome

(Locate on map)

© Sapienza Università di Roma - Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma - (+39) 06 49911 - CF 80209930587 PI 02133771002