Ancona, September 14, 2026 — The school bell rings today, but at the Marche desks there is already a striking figure: there are 187,247 students called to start the new school year, 3,810 fewer than last September and 6,672 fewer than the 2024/2025 year.
Declining birth rates continue to bite especially in the early years of the school path, while on the front of learning quality there is a countertrend response: the Marche are in fact the only Italian region significantly above the national average in the Italian test in fifth grade according to Invalsi results, released at a conference held in Ancona on Thursday. A school that loses numbers, therefore, but not ground in terms of results.
The regional picture
The territorial picture tells of four different realities. Ancona remains the area with the highest number of students: there are 59,828, about one third of the entire regional school population. Over three years the decline is 1,963 students, equal to 3.2%, going from 61,791 in 2024/2025 to 61,186 in 2025/2026, up to the current figure. Ascoli and Fermo, aggregated in the Regional School Office data, count 45,110 students, 1,510 fewer than the 46,620 three years ago (-3.2%). Macerata stands at 38,854, against 40,252 in 2024/2025: 1,398 enrollments lost, with a contraction of 3.5%. Instead, Pesaro and Urbino records the most significant decline: from 45,256 students three years ago to the current 43,455, a decrease of 1,801 students (-4%).
Data from Early Childhood to Secondary School
The demographic cut mainly affects the initial grades. Early childhood goes from 25,284 to 24,068 children (-4.81%), primary from 55,704 to 52,133 (-6.41%), while lower secondary drops from 39,269 to 37,706 students (-3.98%). More stable is upper secondary, which goes from 73,662 to 73,340 enrollments, just 0.44% less. The regional average number of students per class remains substantially unchanged: 18.40 in 2024/2025, 18.30 in 2025/2026 and 18.33 in the new year.
On the staff front, Marche can count on 20,953 teaching positions and 4,662 ATA. There are 1,188 permanent hires, of which 785 for teachers, including 100 support positions, and 403 for ATA staff. The total support positions are 3,302. In the crater territories, an additional 1,809.5 hours have also been assigned, of which 1,191.5 for teachers and 618 for ATA staff: 814 hours concern Ascoli Piceno and Fermo, 838.5 Macerata and 157 Ancona.
High school data
In high schools, lyceums remain the prevailing choice, with 37,170 students, equal to 50.7% of the total. Followed by technical schools with 22,691 enrollments (30.9%) and vocational schools with 13,085 (17.8%).
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However, the 4+2 technological-vocational pathway grows, going from 65 students in 2024/2025 to 394 in 2026/2027, more than six times as many (+506%).
Pesaro and Urbino records the highest incidence, with 1.23%. The Made in Italy Lyceum also increases: in Marche the locations have become four, for a total of 91 enrollments.
The year’s calendar
Looking instead at the calendar, classes start today, September 14. For primary and secondary schools they will end on June 5 next, while early childhood will continue until June 30. The regional calendar provides for 207 total days of teaching activity, which become 206 when the Patron Saint’s feast falls on a weekday.
Christmas holidays will run from December 23, 2026 to January 6, 2027, inclusive. Easter holidays will instead be from March 25 to 30, 2027. Among the mandatory holidays are December 8, Christmas, St. Stephen’s Day, New Year’s Day, Epiphany, Easter Monday, April 25, May 1 and June 2, as well as Sundays and the Patron Saint’s feast. October 4, St. Francis of Assisi, and November 1, fall this year on Sunday.
The Day dedicated to Marche: December 10
Schools can also decide on up to three additional suspension days, provided the minimum number of lessons and the required hours are guaranteed. Early childhood schools can anticipate the opening or postpone the conclusion until June 30, according to family needs. December 10, finally, will be the Day dedicated to Marche: schools are invited to organize initiatives on the topic, but classes will be held regularly. The new year thus starts with a two-faced snapshot: fewer students, but Invalsi results that reward Marche schools, even in territories where numbers continue to decline.
