Stricter teachers or less studious students? It's impossible to pinpoint the truth, but what is certain is that Sardinia is the Italian region with the highest percentage of students who fail to pass the final exam. According to 2025 data, 7.1% are a staggering figure, more than double the national average of 3.5% , and over two percentage points higher than Liguria, which, with 5% of students failing to pass, is the second-lowest region. Trentino-Alto Adige comes in third with 4.6%.
The results were decidedly more lenient in Molise (2.6% rejections), Campania, Valle d'Aosta and Veneto (all at 2.9%).
It's well known that for several years now, to take the exam, students must have achieved a passing grade in all subjects, including conduct. And the real hurdle is admission, considering that only 0.3% of those admitted fail the exams .
Another finding, again from 2025, shows that high grades outnumber low grades: 4.9% of students nationwide managed to escape with a 60, while 7.1% achieved a 100 without honors. A further 2.8% (nearly 14,000 candidates) achieved honors . Adding these two groups, we find that the percentage of graduates with top grades is nearly 10%, exactly double the percentage of those who settle for a 60.
Calabria dominates the ranking of excellence: not only does it boast the highest percentage of "100 cum laude" (6.1%), but it is also the region with the highest number of graduates with top marks, reaching 12.0%. In total, almost 1 in 5 Calabrian high school graduates achieved the maximum score. Close behind, with regards to those with top marks without honors, are Sicily (10.3%), Puglia (9.9%), and Campania (9.5%), joined by excellent performances also in Basilicata (8.9%) and Molise (8.3%). Outside the South, Umbria deserves a mention, holding its own very well with both top marks (8.6%) and top marks (4.4%). In contrast, the North of the Peninsula shows a more rigid picture in top-level evaluations. In Valle d'Aosta, top marks are a mirage (0.3%), and those with top marks without honors stop at 3.0%. Lombardy (4.0% of 100), Piedmont (5.0%), Trentino-Alto Adige, and Veneto (both 5.1%) also recorded percentages of top grades well below the national average. Furthermore, the northern regions are home to the highest number of students who graduated with a "survival score" (60/100): Lombardy takes the lowest mark (6.8%), followed closely by Liguria (6.4%) and Veneto (6.0%).
And in Sardinia? 5.3% graduated with a grade of 60 (national average of 4.9%), 28.4% with a grade between 61 and 70, 28.2% between 71 and 80, 16.8% between 81 and 90, 11.3% between 91 and 99, 7.2% with a grade of 100, and 2.8% with a grade of 100 cum laude, the latter two figures in line with the national average .
(Unioneonline/L)
