Latest news and stories about university admissions in Portugal for expats and residents.
The government wants entrance exams for special admissions to be more demanding. However, these admissions have been important for the survival of some institutions.
The draft decree-law sent by the Ministry of Education to partners outlines new requirements for admission to higher education courses. However, in clarifications to journalists, it is now guaranteed that the “proposal does not, in practice, alter existing access regimes.”
The new proposal for the Legal Regime of Higher Education Degrees and Diplomas leaves me completely perplexed, even considering the ministry's penchant for innovation. Opinion by Alberto Amaral
The assessment was “consensual”. The opinion from the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities states that the draft decree-law, which provides for the definition of minimum levels of literacy, numeracy, and English for entry into higher education, is “incoherent”, “disproportionate”, and “without justification”.
The new Legal Regime for Degrees and Diplomas has been submitted to representatives of educational institutions.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI) has presented a draft decree-law to representatives of universities and polytechnics that introduces new entry requirements for higher education. According to Público (paywalled), these include having 'adequate levels of literacy and numeracy to operate in a knowledge-based society' and 'a level of proficiency' in English.
The final version of the app is expected to be released in June, just before the national university admissions process.
The application cross-references exams, fields of study, interests, locations, and estimated costs.
Faced with a decrease in applicants and placements last year, the Ministry decided to restore the rule that was in effect until 2024, which allowed universities and polytechnics to require only one national exam as an entrance requirement. Students have never had so many choices.
The Ministry approved in January the requirement of only one entrance exam for higher education, as it considered that the two-exam requirement in the previous competition had left out 2800 students.
Portugal’s public higher education system is set to expand in next academic year, offering 78,283 places in the 2026/2027 academic school year, an increase of 1,465 vacancies compared with the The post Portugal boosts public higher education with 1,465 extra places for 2026/2027 appeared first on Portugal Resident.
Higher education institutions will no longer have to require candidates to sit at least two entrance exams. The Government approved on Thursday at the Council of Ministers the option for schools to set the number of tests between one and three, thus reversing the decision taken in 2023 by António Costa's government. “O ...
The approved decree-law removes the requirement for higher-education institutions to hold at least two exams. The measure, justified by a decline in the intake of first-year students, will come into effect in the 2026/2027 academic year.
The Council of Ministers approved on Thursday a decree-law allowing universities and polytechnics to return to requiring only a single entrance exam.
The selectivity of Medicine tends to reproduce socioeconomic inequalities rather than overcome them. The University of Beira Interior (UBI) is the one that draws students from further away, 'acting as a point of attraction in the country's interior'.
Some students say that distinguishing candidates based solely on the result of a single exam is not the best approach. For others, it is a way to concentrate efforts solely on the intended objective.
The change concerns reducing the number of mandatory admissions tests from two to just one.
The reduction from two to one higher-education entrance test has not been finalised. The National Commission for Access to Higher Education warns about deadlines and says the change would involve a time-consuming process.
If we want an inclusive, competitive and socially relevant higher education, the solution is not to lower the bar but to raise the quality of the entire educational pathway. Opinion by Luís Ferreira
In August the minister said it made no sense 'to change the rules again'. The polytechnics say it was the evidence that made him change his mind. There will be only one exam. Rectors are not opposed.
The Porto Administrative and Tax Court has ruled in favour of the university's rector. Thirty students had been admitted to the Medicine master's by exceptional admission and with marks below the minimum required.
