Enrolment procedures and deadlines

Access requirements

A high school diploma or other recognised foreign qualification is required for access to the degree course. Logical reasoning skills, knowledge and elementary mathematics skills and the fundamentals of experimental science are required. It is also necessary to be able to communicate effectively, in written and oral form, in Italian.
These abilities will be tested by means of a non-selective Admission test, which is a valuable tool for the self-assessment of one's initial preparation. Students who either do not participate in the test or who fail it are assigned Additional Training Obligations (OFAs), which can be fulfilled within the first year of the course by passing special tests with dates distributed throughout the academic year. Alternatively, students will be required to take and pass either the Mathematical Analysis 1 or the Geometry exam before they can take any exam in the 2nd year.

Admission procedures

QUALIFICATION REQUIRED
In order to be admitted to the degree course, the student must hold an Upper Secondary School Diploma or another recognised foreign qualification.

ENTRANCE TEST
Although admission is not dependent on passing an entrance test, participation in an orientation test organised nationwide by a certified external body is compulsory. The test, to be carried out systematically and in accordance with a certified procedure, is for orientation purposes, is not selective and is compulsory for the purposes of identifying training gaps; the purpose of the test, which is not binding for enrolment, is to check the students' initial preparation, make them aware of the skills they possess and identify any training gaps to be filled in accordance with the procedures defined by each degree course. (Formulation requested by the University Evaluation Committee).

With reference to the above, it should be noted that:

•  as this is a course with no entrance test (‘open access’), there are no closed or scheduled numbers;
• the ‘orientation test’ in the text may be referred to in different ways in the University's documents, web pages and procedures that refer to engineering degree courses, e.g: ‘entrance test’, ‘assessment test’, ‘self-assessment test’, and other similar terms, which all refer to the same thing;
• the purpose of the test is also to provide the university with an objective picture of the level of education of incoming students;
• in the case of engineering courses in Parma, the 'training gap' takes the form of an 'additional training obligation (OFA)', which is decided annually by the department to which the course belongs and specified on the website providing information on the test.

All information on the entrance test can be found on the UniPR test site (https://dia.unipr.it/en/didactics/imatriculations-test-of-entry-and-pre-courses/test-of-entry), however, a few important aspects are mentioned here.

The test is recommended for enrolment in all engineering degree courses at the University of Parma and is valid nationally, i.e. it is valid for access to engineering degree courses at all CISIA member universities (approximately 40).

The test consists of a series of multiple-choice questions on topics in mathematics, physical and chemical sciences, logic and verbal comprehension. The level of depth of each subject is that acquired in high school.

The test, called the TOLC-I Test (Test On Line CISIA for Engineering), is delivered on a computerised platform and takes place in a number of computer labs on the University of Parma Campus (‘Aula delle Scienze’ Complex, Parco Area delle Scienze 22/A and Engineering Scientific Complex, Parco Area delle Scienze 69/A).

The test can be taken on several dates from March to July (‘early TOLC-I’), or on one of two dates in the first half of September (‘ordinary TOLC-I’), or on one date in October (‘remedial TOLC-I’). The dates can be found on the UniPR test site (https://dia.unipr.it/en/didactics/imatriculations-test-of-entry-and-pre-courses/test-of-entry).

The remedial test session ('TOLC-I remedial') is scheduled after the conclusion of the 'Maths Precourse', which takes place every year in September for a duration of approximately three weeks. The pre-course calendar is published in good time on the Department of Engineering and Architecture website (https://dia.unipr.it/en/didactics/imatriculations-test-entry-and-precourses.) and on other pages of the University website.

The test may be retaken up to the remedial session of the year of first enrolment, however, those who, at the end of all test sessions, have not exceeded the minimum thresholds (see the website on the UniPR test, http://dia.unipr.it/testingresso) will be assigned an Additional Training Obligations (OFA), as specified on the DEA page dedicated to the test.

Due to the continuation of the COVID-19 emergency, the University of Parma, in 2020, also adhered to the use of a new tool TOLC@CASA that temporarily replaces the provision of TOLC-I tests in person. The ultimate aim of TOLC@CASA is to enable the regular delivery of TOLC-I at from students' homes, by adapting the usual CISIA procedure for individual home delivery. The TOLC@CASA are in every respect identical to the TOLC-I, the only differences being the delivery methods which, thanks to the organisational procedures and technologies adopted, can be carried out from students' homes, and the fact that the TOLC@CASA can be repeated only once per macro-period identified in the calendar and not once per calendar month.
All detailed information can be found on this page: https://www.cisiaonline.it/area-tematica-tolc-cisia/cose-il-tolc/.