Latest news and stories about education system in Portugal for expats and residents.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation has published the official enrollment calendar for the 2026/2027 school year. With foreign students now accounting for one in every six pupils in basic and secondary education, the ministry has established clear deadlines for all families to complete the registration process.
The school year began March with about 250 fewer active teachers as a wave of retirements worsens staffing gaps, hitting areas previously less affected such as the north. School directors report classes and final‑year groups running without permanent teachers, raising concerns about continuity of lessons and exam preparation. Local education authorities will need rapid redeployment or substitute measures; parents and students should check with schools about temporary arrangements. Families with school‑age children should monitor notices from their local school or municipality.
Portugal is seeing a rise in teacher retirements and localised shortages that are starting to affect regions that were previously less impacted, creating staffing problems for regular school functioning. Compared with the EU, Portugal's shortages tend to be regional and subject-specific (often in STEM and certain secondary grades), while countries like Spain and the UK face similar problems at a larger or more widespread scale; parents and local education staff should watch regional recruitment and temporary staffing measures.
The official enrolment calendar has been published in the Diário da República, beginning on 22 April for pre-school and the first year of primary school. The schedule covers various year groups through to July. Most renewals are automatic, though some require manual submission. Foreign students may enrol outside these periods subject to vacancy. School attendance is mandatory for children aged 6 to 18, with enrolments primarily processed via the online portal.
The enrolment calendar has been published, covering everything from pre-school to secondary education. In April, it is the turn of the youngest students; in July, those in the 10th to 12th grades.
The registration period for the first phase of the national secondary school exams began on Friday, 6 March, and ends on 19 March. Registrations are also open for students who are self-proposed for the 9th-grade tests. According to the instructions for registration for basic and secondary education exams published by the Directorate-General for Education, registration is mandatory for both internal students and self-proposed students. Students must take an exam in Portuguese and choose two additional tests from their specific course subjects, as well as any subjects they select for university admission. Registration is done online at jnepiepe.dge.mec.pt, and the deadline is 19 March. The first phase of the national exams starts on 16 June with the Portuguese and Economics A tests and ends on 26 June with Drawing A and Philosophy. The General Exam Guide 2026, also published today, states that during the registration period for the first phase of the national exams, students can also request a password for online access to the national higher education admission system. For university admission, it is also necessary to request the ENES form, which contains information about valid entrance exams, completion, and classification of secondary education, required for application. The ENES form must be requested at the school where students took their final exams after the results of the first phase are posted. The first phase of the national admission competition is expected to take place between 20 July and 6 August, followed by the second phase from 24 August to 2 September, and a third and final phase from 22 to 24 September. This Friday also marked the start of the registration period for self-proposed students for the final tests of the 3rd cycle, which will take place on 17 and 22 June for Portuguese and Mathematics, respectively. Registration is done on the same online platform, with the deadline also on 19 March. Internal students are automatically registered, similar to students in the 4th and 6th grades who take the learning monitoring tests. Find out the calendar for basic education tests and national secondary exams for 2026. Universities and polytechnics want national exams to have less weight in access to higher education.
