Student’s info / Language skills
Three-year courses
All our new students must demonstrate adequate proficiency in the course language.
Students who have completed their high school education in Italian schools (or British ones in the case of courses held in English) may present their higher education certificates as evidence of their familiarity with the language.
If you are a foreign student or your first language is not the course language, you will have to pass a proficiency interview and/or present a certificate of attendance at a language school.
Here is a list of the minimum number of hours you must attend in an Italian language course before you can be admitted to a three-year course at IED:
- students from Asia and the Far East: 700 hours;
- students whose first language is English or another European language (except Spanish or Portuguese): 320 hours;
- students whose first language is Spanish or Portuguese: 160 hours.
Prerequisite Course
Al foreign students who enrol in courses held in Italian must attend a Prerequisite Course in Italian.
The course has two sessions:
- Session A: Intensive phase. 125 hours divided into four hours of lessons, every day from Monday to Friday, plus afternoon activities.
- Session B: 96 hours of lessons divided into 4 hours of lessons per week plus a tutor.
Session A
Provides for one month of intensive language study, starting at the beginning of September. An entrance test is used to gauge how well you already know Italian and divide students into classes and groups at different levels.
The morning is taken up by Italian lessons. In the afternoon, you take part in additional theoretical and practical activities designed to develop your Italian language skills (such as watching films, going on guided tours, taking extra tutorials and so on).
The Prerequisite Course session A ends with the final examination.
Advanced students sitting this examination session will take a B2 level test (in compliance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the B2 level certifies the degree of familiarity with a language necessary for admission to attend a school held in Italian).
Students who do not pass this examination or are not admitted to the B2 level test must continue with Session B of the Prerequisite Course.
Session B
Starts in October and provides for training classes divided into three levels (basic, intermediate and advanced). It takes the form of two lessons per week, each one lasting two hours.
A final examination is held at the end of this session: students who do not pass must attend repeater sessions modelled on the ones used for the design disciplines.
All the students who attend the Prerequisite Course are tutored: this means that you can have extra lessons to help you catch up, learn more or tailor your study to your individual requirements.
Italian Language Courses
If you are a foreign student and are attending one of the courses in the Visual Arts and Design that are held in English, you can also take the opportunity to learn Italian by attending this 100 hour course during the first and second years of your three-year course.
The course comprises four hours of lessons per week: two lessons lasting two hours each. An entrance test is used to gauge how well you already know Italian and the language training ends with a final examination.