Quintilian returns to Italian Maturità after 13 years as maths paper tests lake levels and volleyball

What was tested

On 19 June 2026, the second written exam of the Italian Maturità took place across the country, focusing on the subjects that define each school track. At the Classico (classical studies) liceo, students were asked to translate a passage from Quintilian’s Institutio oratoria, Book I, which discusses music as the foundation for training the perfect orator. The last time Quintilian appeared in the second exam was in 2013, according to the student portal Skuola.net.

For the Scientifico (science) liceo, the mathematics paper contained two main problems. The first required students to define a mathematical function modelling the water level of Lake Bracciano, north of Rome, using a data table from measurements taken in 2016 and 2017. The lake served as an emergency water reserve for nearby towns and Rome, but extraction was suspended in 2017. The second problem was a classic function study. Among the eight optional questions (students choose four), other real-world scenarios appeared, including a volleyball tournament, the card game scopone, and the game “Cover the spot”.

Across the school system

Other tracks had their own characteristic subjects. The Linguistico focused on the main foreign language (Lingua Straniera 1). Technical institutes sat papers such as Economia aziendale for the Administration, Finance and Marketing (AFM) stream, or Progettazione, Costruzioni e Impianti for the Construction, Environment and Territory course (the former geometri). Art-school students faced the longest test: 18 hours spread over three days.

Time limits varied: four hours for the Latin translation, six hours for the mathematics exam, and up to eight hours for other written tests. The oral exams will begin next week.

Grading and credit

Each of the three Maturità components (first written, second written, oral) can earn up to 20 points. The total is then added to school credits (maximum 40 points) and any bonus of 1–3 points awarded to candidates who reach at least 90. Grading follows national evaluation grids, assessing not just the final answer or fluency, but also method, reasoning, and the overall command of skills acquired over five years.

Yesterday’s Italian paper left many cold

The second day follows a first written exam on 17 June that drew tepid reactions. An instant poll conducted by Skuola.net on around one thousand candidates found stark dissatisfaction.

One in two candidates did not appreciate even a single track.

Only 6 percent said they liked all the proposals. Three out of four students reported not having studied the poets Cesare Pavese and Vitaliano Brancati in class deeply enough to handle the text-analysis tracks comfortably. Pavese’s poem “Passerò per Piazza di Spagna” was considered the hardest track by over one in three candidates. A historical argumentative text on Giuseppe Saragat’s 1946 speech to the Constituent Assembly was rated second most difficult. The topical essay (Tipologia C) provided some relief.