International Students 

Admission procedures and requirements

Title required: First-Cycle (Bachelor’s) Degree Diploma, 180 credits (ECTS)

In general terms, prospective students can have access to this Second-Cycle Degree Programme if they hold a university or post-secondary qualification which would allow them to enroll in the second cycle at a university in their country.

As regards degrees earned in Italian universities, the admission requirements are expressed with reference to the descriptions and alphanumerical codes by which the Ministry of University and Research and the Italian National University Council identify academic fields and disciplines (see Requisiti di ammissione).

In the case of students who have earned their degree abroad, the suitability of their curricular activities, academic achievements and qualifications is checked directly by the Presidente del corso (Coordinator of the Master’s Degree) and the Unità didattica (the Didactic Unity of the Department of Philology, Literature and Linguistics). Before enrolling, these students must submit copies of their degrees and certificates and/or a Diploma Supplement. The evaluation board will take into account their lists of exams, study fields and training, types of course syllabi, workload and learning outcomes so as to assess them in accordance with the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) as well as the guidelines of the Didactic Regulation of the Master’s Degree in Euro-American Languages, Literatures and Philologies. Depending on the recognition of their qualifications, students might be required to fill a gap in their educational background and take one or a few supplementary exams in order to properly enroll.

Further information on admission requirements

If basically an open-access course (see Corsi di laurea magistrale ad accesso libero), the Master’s Degree in Euro-American Languages, Literatures and Philologies requires that prospective students should take a preliminary test called “Prior Knowledge Assessment Test”.

This is a written test consisting of a few questions dealing with one or two literary excerpts (depending on whether the chosen track is monolingual or bilingual). Questions aim to assess the student’s skills in matters of reading comprehension, literary analysis, knowledge of the fundamentals of the history of literature, and linguistic competence (see Test di verifica).

As far as foreign students are concerned, the mode and language in which this preliminary test should be taken are established on a case-by-case basis by the Coordinator of the Master’s Degree and the Didactic Unity.

As a general rule, students who wish to apply for this Master’s Degree should possess

  • a fair knowledge of one or two European languages (ranging from B2 to C1 levels as determined by the European frame of reference);
  • a good knowledge of the literature(s) connected with the chosen foreign language(s), along with basic skills in the field of the linguistic and philological analysis of texts;
  • a good knowledge of Italian literature and the Italian language (both written and oral);
  • a basic knowledge of computer/digital tools.

If you need supplementary information, see Iscriversi all’Università di Pisa.