Ancient Civilizations for the Contemporary World

In order to be admitted to the Bachelor's programme in Ancient Civilizations for the Contemporary World, prospective students must hold an upper secondary school diploma or equivalent qualification obtained abroad after at least 12 years of schooling.
A sound knowledge of English (level B2 of the European reference framework) is required to make the best of the programme as well as an adequate logical argumentative capacity.
Pursuant to Art. 2 of Italian Law 264/1999, the enrolment in the Bachelor's programme has a cap on student numbers. This is to ensure the feasibility of compulsory internships in organizations and companies (as required by the programme and its learning objectives) and the availability of computer workstations with suitable classroom assistance (as required by the blended teaching and learning of programme: see below).
The maximum number of students is set at 100 included a number of spots (max 25) that will be reserved for non-EU candidates residing abroad. Based on available resources, the relevant Academic bodies will determine the number of students that can enroll annually.
The admission test assesses the basic knowledge and skills required for enrolment on the programme, namely: the ability to read and understand texts written in English (B2 - upper intermediate level), the ability to draw general conclusions from specific observations, to decode the implications and assumptions in a given text, to understand the formal and semantic relationships between the elements of a text, and to interpret textual data correctly. No prior knowledge is required other than an adequate level of English. Candidates should correctly answer at least 50% of the questions in each of the three areas (reading comprehension, clues and inductive reasoning and reasoning on texts and data).

OFA (Obblighi formativi aggiuntivi) are defined as further requirements for all students who fail to meet the 50% threshold in either (or all) of the three sections (reading comprehension, clues and inductive reasoning and reasoning on texts and data) of the admission test. Students falling short of the threshold may be admitted at discretion but must undergo a specific training designed to address their areas of weakness. Within the first year of enrolment, they will be given the opportunity to sit the test again. Second-year exams will only be available to students who have passed the test. Further information is found at https://ancient-civilization.cdl.unimi.it. Fulfilment of the English OFA is a mandatory condition to sit any exam of the programme.

English OFA
To be able to sit the exams included in the degree programme, students must be proficient in English at a B2 level under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). This proficiency level may be certified as follows:
- By submitting a language certificate attesting B2 or higher level in English and issued no more than three years before the date of submission. You will find the list of language certificates recognized by the University at: (https://www.unimi.it/en/node/39322). The certificate must be uploaded during the enrolment procedure, or subsequently to the portal https://studente.unimi.it/uploadCertificazioniLingue;
- By submitting a secondary school diploma with English as teaching Language. The diploma must be uploaded during the enrolment procedure in the Language Certificate section, or subsequently to the portal https://studente.unimi.it/uploadCertificazioniLingue;
- By taking a placement test offered by the University Language Centre (SLAM) during year I only, in October. Students who fail the test will be required to take a SLAM course. The Placement Test is mandatory for all students who do not hold a valid certificate, or a secondary school diploma with English as teaching language. Students who do not sit the Placement Test by October or who fail to pass the SLAM end-of-course test within six attempts, must obtain a paid certificate to be able to register for and sit any exam included in the degree programme.


The selection takes place in two sessions that will be held in May and in July 2025. Each selection contributes to the coverage of a quota of the total available places and has its own deadlines and requirements. For each of the two sessions, candidates must comply with all the procedures and deadlines set out below.

EU candidates:
The following requirements apply:
May session: both candidates who will obtain their high-school diploma in Italy or abroad (or equivalent qualification) within the 2024/2025 school year, and candidates already in possession of it can apply.
July session: applicants must hold their high-school diploma (or equivalent qualification), or be able to demonstrate its possession by the time of enrolling.

Non-EU candidates applying for a student visa:
May session: applicants must be enrolled in the final year of a secondary school, and obtain their qualification within the 2024/2025 school year.
Important. In this session 25 spots are reserved for NON-EU applicants (i.e. in need of a student visa): in order to benefit from the protected list it is mandatory to sit the test in this session. NON-EU applicants will be all ranked in a dedicated list. Those who will remain excluded and other NON-EU prospective applicants are invited to check the programme's website to see whether any spots have remained vacant after the first admission session.
July session: applicants must already hold their secondary school qualification or be able to demonstrate its possession by the time of enrolling. NON-EU applicants (i.e. in need of a visa) are welcome to apply if available spots have been announced as per the previous point.