536,000 students in Italy to sit maturità this week.

More than half a million final-year students in Italy will start the maturità state exams, the Italian public high-school diploma, on Wednesday 21 June.

The maturità kicks off at 08.30 with a written Italian exam, with students given up to six hours to write an essay providing analysis or critical reflection on one of seven different literary texts.

Iniziano questa settimana, per oltre 500mila studenti, gli #EsamiDiStato2023 della Scuola secondaria di II grado. Domani la prima prova, comune a tutti gli indirizzi di studio.

Qui tutte le date e le informazioni utili https://t.co/t8oBgUwn2f#Maturita2023 pic.twitter.com/qUTLgxvk40

— Ministero dell’Istruzione e del Merito (@MIsocialTW) June 20, 2023

The maturità comprises two written tests assessing students' comprehension of the Italian language and another subject - which depends on the type of school they attend (classical, scientific, technical etc) - followed by an oral test based on the courses taken by the student.

Students are given a score out of a maximum of 100 points, with 60 points needed to pass the exam.