educationitaly.org

The Italian university system is similar to the UK and the US variants. Students focus on one subject during their degree program, so the educational major system does not use. However, often a university may provide various undergraduate courses, every specializing in a diverse area of the same discipline. For instance, in Psychology several courses are more directed toward Cognitive Psychology, some more to Social Psychology, Clinical Psychology or possibly Evolutionary Psychology or Psychology of Work.
A usual year in Italian universities is parted into two semesters. All courses last a semester and examinations take place at the start of the academic year in September, the mid of the year (from the middle of January till the end of February) and at the finish of the year (from the middle of May to the middle of July). Marks are pointed on a scale from 1 to 30, with 18 as the smallest passing mark. A cum Laude mark is often awarded to transcend the 30-mark scale (so, the mark higher than 30 is the 30 e lode).
At the finish of every program (Laurea Specialistica and Laurea), you be pass a final exam, usually demanding the exposition of a dissertation or thesis, which can be grounded on unique experimental work, or on an academic literature review.