Futurely guides students through their academic choices, making school guidance more accessible, equitable, personalised and informed.
Every year, thousands of young people in Italy face choices that can change the course of their lives: which secondary school to attend? Which path to take after graduation? These are decisions that come too soon and are often made without the right support, without clear information, and without the awareness needed to envision one's own future. It is precisely to fill this gap that Futurely was born — a digital platform founded by Elisa Piscitelli. Through an approach that integrates technology, human coaching and interactive content, Futurely accompanies students in the discovery of themselves and in the construction of a life plan that is consistent with their own aptitudes and aspirations.
The need that Futurely addresses is far from marginal. Even today, the Italian school system struggles to provide structured support at such pivotal moments — and this shortcoming is clearly reflected in the data. According to the latest Istat report, updated to 2023, the school dropout rate in Italy stands at 10.5 per cent: a figure still far from the European target of reducing it below 9 per cent by 2030. The causes are multiple and interconnected: socioeconomic inequality, lack of educational resources, and family and regional fragility.
But one aspect that is often underestimated, despite being central, is that school dropout does not only mean explicitly leaving school: it also encompasses those educational paths pursued passively, in a misaligned or demotivated way. According to some estimates, for example, nearly one in two secondary school graduates reports being dissatisfied with their choice of secondary school, a decision made at just fourteen years of age.
In recent years, institutions have finally recognised the value of effective and structured school guidance: from the 2023–2024 academic year, schools are required to guarantee thirty hours per year dedicated to supporting students through the transition after middle school and after graduation. This is an important step forward that, however, is not sufficient on its own. Consider that every school tutor must support between thirty and fifty students, and that the commitment required of teachers exceeds five hundred hours. A significant effort that, without adequate tools, risks proving scattered and ineffective.
This is where Futurely comes in, redefining the concept of guidance and turning it into an engaging, personalised and genuinely accessible experience. The aim is to support students in exploring their own inclinations and help them develop awareness about their educational choices, while at the same time offering useful tools for the tutors who work alongside them.
Futurely combines digital technologies, gamification and experiential pedagogy to bring a motivating and structured environment to life: not a simple aptitude test nor top-down guidance, but a journey in which young people become the protagonists. The programme is structured into online modules accessible from any device. Each one addresses key themes such as self-knowledge, exploration of the school and university system, introduction to the professions, and the development of soft skills.
The content alternates between videos, quizzes, interactive scenarios and real-life testimonials, integrated with self-assessment tools, maps of educational pathways, individual coaching sessions and the support of mentors who help young people engage with concrete experiences.
To date, Futurely has already supported over 23,000 students. More than one hundred schools across Italy have integrated the platform into their guidance activities. But the value of Futurely extends beyond the school walls as well. More than fifty companies have chosen it as a welfare tool dedicated to employees' children, incorporating it into their parenting support and work-life balance programmes.
At a time when the risk of remaining trapped in one's starting circumstances is still far too high — especially for those born into disadvantaged contexts — tools like Futurely represent a precious ally in restoring to young people the right to choose with clarity and freedom. Because every young person deserves the same chance to "reach where they could", preventing a lack of support, information or confidence in one's own abilities from becoming an insurmountable obstacle.
