Course Presentation
The Foundation Course (FC) offered by the School of Economics and Management (SEM) is a one year, multidisciplinary, pre-university course, fully taught in English. It is intended for international students who:
- Have obtained a high school diploma that allows them to study at university in the country that issued it. The precise identification of whether a particular type of qualification meets this requirement depends on the type of high school diploma and on the country that issued it. Please refer to the guidelines that the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) publishes every year (in early Spring) and which are valid for the upcoming academic year: MUR page a.y. 2023-24 (in Italian with links to the English translation); direct links to English translations: Guidelines for a. y. 2023-24, Attachment 1 for a.y. 2023-24, Attachment 2 for a.y. 2023-24.
- Wish to enrol in an English taught bachelor course of the SEM and fall into one of these two categories:
- Students who must make up a year to reach the minimum requirement of 12 years of schooling.
- Students who reach the 12 years of schooling but fail to satisfy admission requirements or the entrance test of the bachelor courses of the SEM, and need therefore some further education.
After completion, students acquire 60 Foundation Course Credits (FCC), computed on the basis of the equivalence 1 FCC= 25 hours of total student commitment = 8 hours of classroom lessons + up to 1.6 hours of exercise classes. The following table shows the syllabus.
Teaching |
Credits |
Lessons (hours) |
Exercises (max hours) |
Mathematics |
15 |
120 |
24.0 |
Principles of Economic History and Economics |
9 |
72 |
14.4 |
Principles of Law |
9 |
72 |
14.4 |
Italian Language |
18 |
144 |
28.8 |
English Language (B2 level) |
9 |
72 |
14.4 |
Total |
60 |
480 |
96.0 |
To be admitted at the FC, students must have a certified knowledge of English at least at B1 level.
In order to enrol, students will have to submit a certification (level at least B1) among those recognized by our University at the time of enrolment.
No entrance knowledge of the Italian language is assumed.
The FC will be activated only in case of at least 8 enrolled students.
The 2023-24 edition lectures are in presence-only mode.
Terms for the 2023-24 edition:
Enrolment deadline: November 2, 2023.*
Lectures start on November 6, 2023 and end in May 2023.**
Christmas break: from December 22, 2023 to January 7, 2024 (including).
Eastern break: from April 8, 2024 to April 12, 2024 (including).
Final exams: in June 2023, with possible remedial exams in July 2023 and in September 2023.
* Late enrolment is possible (annual study prospectus, sec. 4.1 on page 21), subject to the approval of the rector, who will consider the reasons for the late enrolment request.
Should there be a sufficient number of students joining late for visa reasons, we will arrange for additional classes, to begin in early December 2023.
** Please, have a look at the page Study ► Timetable of classes
Enrolment fees for the 2023-24 edition:
3500 euro + 16 euro (revenue stamp), to be paid in 3 non-refundable instalments:
- First instalment by November 2, 2023: 1'182.67 euros
- Second instalment by December 22, 2023: 1'166.67 euros
- Third instalment by March 1, 2024: 1'166.67 euros
Payment instructions and methods are specified on the student portal: https://segreteriaonline.unisi.it.