Homeschooling in Italy

Key Requirements at a Glance

• Primary statute: D.Lgs. 297/1994 art. 111 comma 2 — parents who intend to provide instruction privately or directly must demonstrate technical or economic capacity and notify the competent authority each year.
• D.Lgs. 62/2017 art. 23 — formalises annual prior notification to the dirigente scolastico (school principal) and the requirement to sit an annual esame di idoneità at the end of each school year.
• Compulsory education runs for 10 years, from age 6 to age 16 (Constitution art. 34 and Law 296/2006 art. 1 commi 622-624).
• Notification is annual, by the start of the school year, to the dirigente scolastico of the school in the family's territorial catchment.
• The notification must include a self-certification (autocertificazione) of technical or economic capacity to educate; no formal teaching qualification is required.
• There is no state-mandated curriculum at home, but the child must reach the learning outcomes of the corresponding grade as verified by the idoneità exam.
• If the child fails the idoneità exam, they may be required to enrol in a state school for the following year.
• Procedural standardisation (notification form, exam organisation, school responsibilities) is set by DM 5/2021 and updated by DM 218/2025.

Legal Framework

Italian home education is governed by: (1) Constitution arts. 30, 33 and 34 (parental duty to instruct, freedom of education, compulsory education); (2) Decreto Legislativo 16 aprile 1994, n. 297 (Testo Unico Istruzione), in particular art. 111 comma 2, which requires parents to demonstrate technical or economic capacity (capacità tecnica o economica) and notify the competent authority annually, and arts. 112-115 covering home/family instruction; (3) Decreto Legislativo 13 aprile 2017, n. 62, art. 23, which requires prior annual notification to the dirigente scolastico and an annual idoneità exam; (4) Ministerial decrees DM 5/2021 and DM 218/2025 standardising procedures. Responsible authority: Ministero dell'Istruzione e del Merito (MIM) at national level, with the dirigente scolastico of the territorially competent state school administering notifications and exams.

Filing Requirements

How to Get Started

1. 1

   Contact local state school for dirigente scolastico

2. 2

   Prepare and submit annual notification with self-certification by school start

3. 3

   Prepare child for end-of-year idoneità exam

Pros & Cons