Nearly 50,000 students secured places in the first phase of the national higher education access competition, filling 88.9% of available spots. The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI) reported this as the highest placement figure in the last decade, excluding 2020, with over half of candidates accepted into their first choice.
Record number of students placed in higher education
Friday, 21 August 2026AI summary
Context & Explainers
The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (Ministério da Educação, Ciência e Inovação, MECI) is Portugal's national ministry responsible for education policy from pre‑school through higher education and for national science and innovation policy. In this story MECI announced that public higher education will have 78,283 places for the 2026/2027 academic year, an increase of 1,465 from the current year, which affects university admissions and capacity planning for students and institutions.
7 sources
- Nearly 50,000 students placed in the first phase of higher education accessdn.pt ·
- Nearly 50,000 students placed in the first phase of the higher education access competitioneco.sapo.pt ·
- Higher education placements rise 14% to nearly 50,000cmjornal.pt ·
- Higher Education: Nearly 50,000 placed in the 1st phaseobservador.pt ·
- Almost 50,000 students placed in the 1st phase of higher education accesscnnportugal.iol.pt ·
- Almost 50,000 students placed in the 1st phase: it is the highest number in the last five yearsexpresso.pt ·
- Access to higher education: number of placements is the second highest of the decadepublico.pt ·
