International students who enrol for the first time in the Università degli Studi di Genova must sit an Italian assessment test (taking place in September and October). The level required is the B2 of the CEFR (only in same cases the level needed must be higher). If you are a Marco Polo student, for you the level requested is the B1. If you are going to enrol in one of the Master's degree courses belonging to the Foreign Languages Department you need to reach the C1 level.

From a.y. 2023/2024 those students who do not reach at least the A2 level cannot enrol in the Università degli Studi di Genova (in any course taught in Italian).

The test includes cloze questions on syntactic-grammatical topics and the difficulty of the questions is progressive (for further details on the topics please refer to the Syllabus). The test includes also an reading and comprehension exercise as well as a writing.

The test and how to enrol

Read more details on the test and on how to enrol or get in contact with the Welcome Office dealing with international students (SASS).

If you fail the Italian assessment test, you will get an OFA (Obbligo Formativo Aggiuntivo) which means that you have to attend a free and compulsory course given by lecturers specialised in teaching Italian as a foreign language.

If you reach at least the A2 level in the test of Italian language, you will be put in a course whose level will depend on the result of your test.

At the end of the course, you can retake the test once again to verify if you reached the level required by the University which is the B2 level (or the B1 for Marco Polo students or the C1 for those who want to enrol in one of the Master's degree courses of the Foreign Languages Department. If you pass the test, the educational deficit will be settled and cancelled. If you do not pass the test after the first year, you will not be able to fill in the study plan of your second year.

Courses and timetables Academic Year 2024/2025

 Italian courses for International students who enrolled for the first time in the Università degli Studi di Genova,  eligible for A2 level but not for B2, will probably start in December and are reserved for those students who have completed their enrollment at Università di Genova by 1st December.

Timetables will be updated.

Tests schedule 2024/2025

See here

If you are a PhD foreign student or a foreign student enrolled in one of our Master's degree course held in English, please go to this section.