School, Invalsi 2025: one in two young people finish high school without a basic level in Italian and mathematics

The glass is also half empty in middle school. On leaving the third grade, only 59% of students achieve adequate results in Italian (it was 60% in 2024). This means that 41% do not achieve them. In mathematics we are at 56%, the same as in 2024. We improve with English: 83% reach level A2 in reading, 70% in listening (compared to 82% and 68% respectively in 2024). Compared to 2018, they reach level A2 +9 points in reading, +16 points in listening. The territorial gaps remain strong: in Italian, compared with about 62% of pupils showing at least adequate skills in the Centre-North, in the South this percentage drops significantly and in the South and Islands (in particular Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia) less than half of those who acquire the middle school leaving certificate enter high school with adequate skills. In mathematics it is even worse: in the two macro areas of Southern Italy not even half of the pupils leave the first cycle with adequate competences. In the South and the Islands only 4 out of 10 students.

Primary pupils remain more or less stable in Italian. In second grade, approximately 66% of the pupils have reached the basic level (it was 67% in 2024, 69% in 2023 and 73% in 2022). This means that 34%, i.e. one in three, did not reach it. The main difficulties concern the comprehension of written text. Compared to 2019, i.e. before the pandemic, the drop in average results is around 2-3%. In second grade, however, the first differences begin to be seen, both territorial, with the South lagging behind, and according to socio-economic background, with a wider gap for children from more disadvantaged backgrounds. Foreigners do worse than Italians. And these gaps in learning, unfortunately, they carry them through to high school.

The same applies in mathematics where about 67% of second graders achieved a sufficiency (it was 67% in 2024, 64% in 2023 and 71% in 2022). Compared to 2019, this represents a drop of approximately 4-5%. Already in second grade, girls achieve lower results in mathematics, with a similar disadvantage to children in reading comprehension. The territorial gaps in mathematics are accentuated at the end of primary school: in some southern regions, particularly Sardinia, average results are more than 20 points lower than in central northern regions. In fifth grade, 75% of children have reached adequate levels in Italian, the same percentage as in 2024. In mathematics we are at 66% (in 2024 we were at 68%). In English, results are also lower or stable compared to 2024. 91% reach A1 level in reading (95% in 2024) and 86% in listening, the same percentage as in 2024.

Lights and shadows on early school leaving. Italy missed the EU target of 10 per cent early school leavers in 2020. But the situation has now improved: our country has reached the Pnrr bar on the reduction of early school leaving, standing at 9.8% in 2024, one year ahead of the target set for 2026 at 10.2. And we are also close to the EU target of 9% by 2030: according to Invalsi's provisional estimate for 18-20 year-olds in 2025 we are at 8.3/8.5%. Of course, we have to wait for ISTAT to make it official, but the target seems within our reach.

This 'return' of excluded pupils to school, however, is changing the classes somewhat: in high school, from 2019 to 2025, the percentage of regular pupils has increased by 4.1 points; however, pupils with lower learning levels have entered. This is producing two consequences. The first is that the implicit dropout rate on leaving school, i.e. inadequate preparation, has risen from 6.6 per cent in 2024 to 8.7 per cent in 2025. The second is that the share of 'excellent' has decreased from 15.1 per cent to 12.3 per cent. Two alarm bells that we cannot underestimate.

The measures put in place by the government against early school leaving, starting with Agenda Sud, "are working," stressed Education and Merit Minister Giuseppe Valditara, who said he was convinced that "the teaching of Italian needs to be rethought. It is fundamental,' he explained, 'to return to a strong focus on grammar, syntax, summaries'.