The countdown begins

Italy's Ministry of Education and Merit (Mim) published the composition of the examination boards for the 2026 Maturità on its official portal on 4 June. The search engine, available at matesami.pubblica.istruzione.it, allows students to look up the commissioners assigned to their school and class. This year, 527,607 students are registered to take the exams (513,479 internal candidates and 14,128 external candidates), distributed across 13,989 boards covering 27,884 classes. The publication marks a key milestone on the road to the June exams, which will start on Thursday, 18 June at 8:30 a.m. with the first written test in Italian.

A reformed commission structure

Under the reform introduced by Minister Giuseppe Valditara, the examination boards have been streamlined from seven members to five. Each commission is now composed of a president (external), two external members, and two internal members from the candidate's own school. The reform also changes the oral exam, which will focus on four subjects per course of study rather than a broader interdisciplinary discussion. For the Classico (classical studies) track, the subjects are Italian, Latin, Mathematics, and History (with Greek excluded from both the written and oral exams for the first time). For the Scientifico (scientific studies) track, the subjects are Italian, Mathematics, History, and Natural Sciences.

The student hunt for information

Within minutes of the publication, the ministry's website was overwhelmed by traffic from students trying to look up their commissioners, causing slowdowns and long waiting times. The release triggers an annual tradition: a widespread, informal hunt for information about the external teachers. Students immediately begin searching for names on Google, looking for academic publications, teaching materials, personal pages, and any clue about a commissioner's style. A peer-to-peer information network also springs to life, with students sharing details about teachers from their own schools who will serve as external commissioners elsewhere. Common questions include whether a teacher is strict or understanding, what kind of questions they tend to ask, and whether they focus on the syllabus or prefer interdisciplinary connections.

Exam schedule and structure

The exam unfolds over several days. The boards will convene on 16 June for their initial meeting, during which they verify the commission's composition, set the calendar for oral exams, draw a letter to determine the starting order, and review the class council documents. The first written test, Italian, common to all tracks, takes place on 18 June starting at 8:30 a.m. and lasts up to six hours, with a maximum score of 20 points. The second written test, focused on the characteristic disciplines of each course of study (Latin for Classico, Mathematics for Scientifico, Business Economics for technical institutes in administration), follows on 19 June. The oral exam begins after the written papers are corrected, with each interview lasting 40 to 60 minutes. During the colloquium, the five commissioners must also assess the candidate's "degree of responsibility and maturity achieved," worth up to 5 of the 20 points available for the oral component.

Candidate distribution and final scoring

Of the 527,607 candidates, 273,854 come from licei (academic high schools), 167,136 from technical institutes, and 86,617 from vocational institutes. The final grade is expressed in hundredths and combines the exam results with the student's pre-existing school credits. The Ministry has set up an information page on the Maturità exams at istruzione.it, accessible to students, families, and school staff. The oral exam also takes into account the information contained in the student's Curriculum, a document that outlines their academic and extracurricular profile.

Licei273,854

Technical institutes167,136

Vocational institutes86,617

Licei

273854 students

Technical institutes

167136 students

Vocational institutes

86617 students

Data from the article text