School dropout rates remain one of Italy’s most pressing social challenges, particularly in the country’s most disadvantaged urban areas. According to a new analysis by Italy’s national statistics agency Istat for Save the Children, 15.4% of middle and high school students living in fragile social environments either leave school early or repeat a school year.
The figure is twice the average recorded across Italy’s provincial capitals, where the overall rate stands at 7.6%.
The study, published ahead of Impossibile 2026 - Save the Children’s biennial event on childhood and youth issues taking place in Rome on May 21 - highlights stark educational inequalities within the same cities. In some cases, the gap between affluent districts and struggling neighborhoods is comparable to the historic divide between northern and southern Italy.
Venice recorded the widest disparity among the cities analyzed. In its disadvantaged urban areas, the rate of school dropout or grade repetition reached 21.7%, compared with a citywide average of 7.9%.
Serious gaps were also reported in Naples, where the rate climbed to 18.1% compared with a municipal average of 9.8%, and in Cagliari, where the figure reached 18.9% against a city average of 9.7%.
Rome showed a smaller but still significant divide, with rates of 10.8% in disadvantaged districts versus 5.3% across the city overall. In Milan, the incidence rose from 7.6% citywide to 14.3% in the most fragile areas.
Data from Italy’s Ministry of Education also revealed that students attending middle schools located in or near disadvantaged neighborhoods are far more likely to repeat a year. The rate reaches 3.8%, compared with 1.6% elsewhere in the same municipalities. In high schools, the figure rises to 6.2%, versus 4.7% in other areas.
The report underscores how deeply educational opportunities remain tied to social and economic conditions, with disadvantaged neighborhoods continuing to face structural barriers that affect younger generations.