What Is CEnT-S?

CEnT-S is the "Sciences" version of the CISIA English Test family. Rather than testing English on its own, it evaluates a candidate's mathematics, logical reasoning and core science skills, conducted in academic English. In that sense, CEnT-S is not a standalone English-proficiency test — it's an academic admissions test delivered in English.

CEnT-S is used by some programmes at Italian universities — most notably in engineering, economics, pharmacy and other science-heavy fields. Whether it's required varies by programme.

Until November 2025, admission to English-taught programmes ran through three separate tests depending on the field: TOLC-I for engineering, TOLC-E for economics, and TOLC-F for pharmacy. A student applying to more than one field had to prepare for and sit each one separately.

From November 2025, CISIA replaced all three with a single unified test: CEnT-S. The goal was to simplify the application process for both universities and students — one exam, one score, usable across multiple programmes.

We'll cover the differences between CEnT-S and the previous English TOLC exams in a dedicated guide.

CEnT-S is open to any candidate who has graduated, or is due to graduate, from a secondary school — in Italy or abroad. There's no age or nationality restriction: the test is open to EU citizens and to international students applying from outside the EU alike.

Being eligible to sit the test doesn't guarantee admission to any specific programme. Admission also depends on your secondary-school qualifications and their recognition, the university's application deadlines, your EU / Non-EU status, programme-specific admission rules, which CEnT format the programme accepts (CEnT@UNI / CEnT@HOME), and any separate language certificate requirements.

Can international students take CEnT-S?

Yes. International students, wherever they're applying from, can take CEnT-S in either the CEnT@UNI or CEnT@HOME format. Taking the test is only the first step, though — the target university's and programme's own admission conditions still need to be checked individually.

Each section has its own strict, system-tracked time limit. When a section's time runs out, the system automatically moves you to the next one. If you finish a section early, you can choose to move on early too — but any unused time does not carry over to the next section.

The most important rule: once you close a section and move to the next one, you cannot go back — not to review answers, not to complete questions you left blank.

This is a penalty system where wrong answers partially offset correct ones. Leaving a question blank costs nothing, which makes a selective, elimination-based strategy more sensible than guessing blindly on questions you're unsure about.

The raw score you see immediately after the test isn't your final result, though — normalization comes next.

Candidates sit CEnT-S on different dates with different question sets, and those sets can vary in real difficulty. To make results comparable across sessions, CISIA applies a statistical normalization at the end of each macro-period, based on how every candidate in that period actually performed.

Immediately after the test

You see only your raw result — the number of correct, incorrect and unanswered questions.

At the end of the macro-period

Once normalization is complete, your final normalized result is uploaded as a PDF to your CISIA Student Area. This isn't a guaranteed "bonus" for sitting a harder exam — the coefficient is derived from that session's actual statistical difficulty and can move either direction.

CEnT-S can be taken in two formats. There's no difference between them in content, difficulty, duration or how universities recognize the result — the difference is purely in how the test is delivered and supervised.

CEnT@UNI

Taken in person, in computer labs specifically accredited for the test, on the campus of a partner university.

CEnT@HOME

Taken remotely, from home, under CISIA's specified technical setup and remote-proctoring conditions.

The CEnT-S exam calendar runs across four macro-periods tied to the Italian academic cycle: November–January, February–March, April–June, and September–October.

A candidate can sit the same CEnT type once per macro-period. A new booking for the following macro-period can be made starting the day after the completed test, subject to availability and the current rules.

We'll keep the exact test dates and official result publication dates for each macro-period updated in a dedicated guide.