Guides to the university

The information in this Guide refers only to activities and regulations in place at Bocconi University. For activities and regulations in place at Politecnico, please check the PoliMi widget available in the yoU@B Diary.

The Cyber and TS study plan includes one EU language (minimum exit level B1 business), more specifically:

• for non-native Italian speakers: Italian mandatory
• for native Italian speakers: choice between French, Spanish or German

Please note that:

• students can change the choice of their language during the timeframe when the study plan can be changed (see the Chapter 8 'Administrative Procedures, Regulations and Deadlines');
• the native language cannot be selected as a foreign language. Students declare their native language during the admission process and can never change it during MSc studies.

The curricular educational offer includes:

• B1 business course
  second year, first semester
• Preparatory Course
  Course offered in the second semester of the first year, with the aim of allowing students to successfully participate in the curricular course.

The educational offer will be preceded by an entry-level readiness test. This will direct the student to the most suitable educational path.  

Detailed information on the educational offer is available in the “course profiles” published on the website at the page www.unibocconi.eu/courses and in the “course syllabi” available on Blackboard (accessible through the yoU@B diary).

Knowledge may be assessed through an internal exam or recognition of a language certificate. In both cases:

• the grade is recorded as a score out of 30 and included in the calculation of the Grade Point Average (GPA);
• the final level of competence acquired is mentioned in the exam report and in the student’s transcript.

After passing the internal exam, a certificate can be completed at a later date, but the certificate cannot be recorded in the student's transcript. However, after a certificate for a specific language is recorded on the transcript, the internal exam can no longer be taken.

The assessment method consists of a Bocconi exam focused on assessing four skills, in line with international certifications:

• reading comprehension
• writing skills
• listening comprehension
• speaking skills

The exam can be passed in the following ways:

• only for students enrolled in the first year in the 2021-2022 academic year: by passing the two partial exams + oral part;
• by passing the general exam (which includes a written part and an oral part).

Further details on exam methods and assessment criteria are available in the course syllabus posted on Blackboard.

Regarding international certificates, please note that:

• because B1 business certificates do not exist for some languages, general language certificates are recognized as an alternative, as long as the minimum level is B2 general;
• in order for it to be recorded in the transcript, students must submit the certificate to the Language Center (see submission methods at the page www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter  'Language Certification Recognition' section) and do not need to register for the Bocconi internal exam.

International certifications can be recorded in the academic curriculum provided that they are:

• officially recognized by the University and have been taken at an officially recognized test center in Italy or abroad;
• equal to or higher than the minimum exit level requirement;
• submitted to the Language Center within 3 years after sitting the international certification exam;
• submitted by the student; only original certifications or, as an alternative, statement of results;
• verifiable by the University.

NB: Please note that for some certificates, the Language Center must be authorized to view the results in order to verify the authenticity of the certificate. Authorization must be requested before sitting the exam. If this authorization is not provided, the necessary verification operations cannot be completed and, as a result, the certificate submitted by the student will not be taken into consideration.

More detailed information (list of recognized certificates, conversion tables, etc.) is available on the website www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter, in the 'Certification Recognition' section.

Under his/her responsibility, the student must carefully check the certifications which can be recognized and the relating conversion rules, before forwarding the certification recognition request. 

In order to support students who want to earn an international certification, the Language Center offers:

• courses to prepare for some certifications (details available on the website at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in the “Supplementary Activities” section);
• materials for preparing for certificates at the Language Lab (details on the website www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in the ‘Self-Study’ section);
• test center service for some certificates:
  • British Council/Cambridge English Language Assessment for English: IELTS Academic, BEC Vantage, BEC Higher, C1 Advanced (CAE), B2 First (FCE)
  • Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Paris Ile-de-France for French: DFP Affaires (levels B1 Business and B2 Business).

Detailed information is available on the page www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in the “Certifications” section.

Students enrolled in the first year who have attended a Bachelor program at Bocconi and who recorded in their academic career for the Bachelor program an internal exam or certification at or above the minimum exit level required for the Master of Science program, may apply for an exemption, provided that:

• the exam in the Bachelor program was passed no more than three years ago;
• the certification is still valid at the time of application for the exemption (i.e. completed no more than three years ago).

Please note that the exemption may be granted only if the level recorded in the Bocconi Bachelor academic career is at least B2.

The related application can be completed by filling out the form available in the B in Touch procedure - 'Languages' topic (for deadlines, see Chapter 8 'Administrative Procedures, Regulations and Deadlines').

In addition to attending lectures, learning foreign languages requires a constant commitment to self-study.

The Language Center offers:

• tutoring service with the language teaching staff to support individual learning; the service is available upon reservation;
• various multimedia materials for preparing certifications and the Bocconi exam.

A Language Exchange service for students is also organized, along with a film festival for movies in their original language (Film Festival - Movies and Languages).

For more information: www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in the 'Self-Study' and 'Other Activities' sections.

Curricular languages are usually recorded as included in the standard 120 CFU of the study plan, but they can also be recorded as additional activities (on top of standard 120 CFU - see Chapter 8 Administrative Procedures, Regulations and Deadlines), either by passing a Bocconi exam or through recognition of a certification.

Moreover, also non-curricular languages (Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and Portuguese) can be recorded in the academic transcript but only as additional activities.

As no internal exams are organized for such languages, it is possible to register only the result of a certification (score converted in a mark out of thirty). 

For further detailed info on recognition of certifications, please see the website at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in the “Certification Recognition” section.