The Enrico Mattei school was founded in 1962 to serve children of Italian nationals working with the ENI/Agip oil operations in Nigeria. Today it accepts Nigerian and other nationalities alongside Italian students. Curriculum blends the Italian national curriculum with Cambridge IGCSE options. Small enrolment (fewer than 200 students) allows highly individualised teaching.
Fee breakdown
Tuition range
₦3.0M–5.0M
/yr · 2025/2026
First-year total estimate
₦5.0M
tuition + extras
L
Lagos.Cool Editorial
2 May 2026 · 2 min read
About dis school — Italian International School Enrico Mattei
The Enrico Mattei school was founded in 1962 to serve children of Italian nationals working with the ENI/Agip oil operations in Nigeria. Today it accepts Nigerian and other nationalities alongside Italian students. Curriculum blends the Italian national curriculum with Cambridge IGCSE options. Small enrolment (fewer than 200 pupils) allows highly individualised teaching. Lekki campus. Day-only.
The school was named for Enrico Mattei, the Italian executive who built ENI (Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi) into a global oil major in the 1950s and negotiated oil concessions across Africa including Nigeria. When ENI/Agip opened its Nigerian operation in the early 1960s, Italian engineers and geologists came with their families, and the school was established in Lagos in 1962 to educate their children in the Italian national curriculum. Over the decades, the Italian expatriate population in Nigeria has ebbed and flowed with oil-industry cycles, but the school has adapted — accepting Nigerian nationals from the 1970s, then wider international nationalities from the 1990s. Today the pupil roll (fewer than 200) is roughly one-third Italian, one-third other European (French, German, Dutch), and one-third Nigerian or dual-national. Class sizes are extraordinarily small — some senior secondary classes run at 6-8 pupils — which allows for highly individualised teaching that no other Lagos school can match at scale.
Strengths & trade-offs
✓ Strengths
✓Founded 1962 (one of oldest international schools in Nigeria)
✗Italian curriculum less recognized than British/American
✗Compact urban campus
Facilities & campus
●Compact Lekki campus
●Science laboratories
●Assembly hall
●Small sports court
●Library
Curriculum & exam pathway
Accreditations
• Italian Ministry of Education
• Cambridge International Assessment
• Federal Ministry of Education Nigeria
University destinations
Italian universities (Bologna, Milan, Rome)UK universitiesUS universitiesNigerian universities
Admission process
Rolling admission via Italian Consulate reference or direct application. Application fee ₦50,000. Italian nationals receive priority.
Admission is via rolling application — no fixed intake windows. Italian nationals receive priority admission consistent with the school's founding mandate. Nigerian and other-nationality applications are considered subject to space and academic fit. The application process includes a formal interview with the Head of Admissions and, for Year 7 and above, a written English + Mathematics assessment. Italian-language proficiency is not required at Reception through Year 2 — the school provides intensive Italian instruction for non-Italian pupils. From Year 3 upward, Italian language is a core subject and is expected to reach conversational proficiency by Year 6. The application fee is ₦50,000 (equivalent to €25). The Italian Consulate in Lagos may assist Italian-national applications through direct reference channels.
Extracurricular
FootballBasketballMusic ensembleItalian cultural activitiesArt club
School fee na only part of the bill. See wetin family dey actually pay:
School bus₦250,000–₦500,000/yr
Uniform₦50,000–₦100,000
Books + IGCSE entries₦80,000–₦200,000/yr
Lunch₦180,000–₦300,000/yr
Campus & facility
Compact Lekki campus with academic blocks, science laboratories, assembly hall, small sports court, and library. Small-school infrastructure. Day-only.
The compact Lekki campus is one of the smaller international-school estates in Lagos. Facilities are appropriately scaled to the small cohort: 12 classrooms (some running as small tutorial groups for senior secondary), two science laboratories (biology-chemistry combined, physics), a music room used for Italian orchestral instruction, a small library featuring both English and Italian-language collections, a computer room, an art studio, and a small outdoor sports court. The school has no swimming pool but uses partner facilities at nearby Lekki Phase 1 clubs for weekly PE swimming. Italian cultural instruction is embedded — Italian holidays (Republic Day 2 June, Ferragosto 15 August, All Saints 1 November) are observed, and the school year includes an annual Italian-culture week with Italian-language performances, food, and history projects.
No — the school accepts Nigerian and other nationalities. Italian nationals receive some admissions priority as the school's original mandate is Italian expatriate education.
Italian national curriculum for younger years plus Cambridge IGCSE at senior secondary. Dual certification possible.
Founded 1962 — one of the oldest continuously-operating international schools in Nigeria.
Fewer than 200 pupils across all stages. One of the smallest premium schools in Lagos.
Yes — Italian is a core subject for all pupils. Italian-national pupils sit Italian-ministry examinations; other pupils learn Italian as a foreign language.