Your children's school in Portugal

Putting a child in school is, for many families, the first contact with the Portuguese administration outside immigration procedures. The system is public, has its own deadlines and depends on the parent or guardian (encarregado de educação), the person responsible for the pupil towards the school. This guide follows what gov.pt publishes for migrants and explains, in order, what happens from choosing the school year to the first day of classes. If you are also looking at higher education, see the guide on studying in Portugal.

Who can enter and in which year

gov.pt starts from a principle: everyone has the right to education in Portugal. Entry into the system only happens from the age of 3. For younger children, gov.pt points to its family support guide.

The structure is:

• Pre-school education, for children between 3 and 6, optional;
• 1st cycle of basic education, years 1 to 4;
• 2nd cycle, years 5 and 6;
• 3rd cycle, years 7 to 9;
• secondary education, years 10 to 12.

Basic and secondary education are compulsory between 6 and 18. A child who turns 6 by 15 September starts year 1. For a pupil who has already been to school in another country, the year they enter depends on the equivalence of their qualifications, covered below.

Applying for a place

The parent or guardian makes the request. gov.pt describes two routes:

1. Online, on the Portal das Matrículas;
2. In person, at the secretary’s office of the school in the child’s area of residence.

Ask the school secretary’s office which documents it requires for the application itself, and take identification for the pupil and for the guardian. If you arrive outside the portal’s deadlines, for example in the middle of the school year, dealing directly with the school secretary’s office is the safest route, because that is where placement is decided.

Deadlines for the 2026/2027 school year

School years	Enrolment applications
Pre-school and year 1	22 April to 1 June
Years 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11	16 to 29 June
Years 2, 3, 4 and 5	1 to 13 July
Years 10 and 12	15 to 22 July

These are the dates gov.pt publishes for 2026/2027. For other school years, check them on the gov.pt service before you plan, because each school year has its own window.

Renewal and transfer

After the first enrolment, there are years when you do not need to do anything. Renewal is automatic when moving into years 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 11, as long as there is no change of school, guardian or course and no need to choose subjects. It is also automatic after a pupil repeats a year, whatever the year. In other cases you need to apply again within the deadlines in the table.

If you want to move your child to another school during the school year, gov.pt states that the deadline for requesting a transfer is the 5th school day of the 2nd term, except where you have changed residence. The transfer request is a separate service on gov.pt.

Equivalence of foreign qualifications

For a pupil who has studied abroad, the central question is which year they will join. The answer comes from equivalence of studies, which gov.pt explains this way for basic or secondary level:

• it is requested at the school where the pupil is enrolled;
• enrolment only becomes definitive after equivalence has been granted;
• equivalence is based on the complete school years completed in the country of origin.

Documents for the request

gov.pt lists two documents:

• the equivalence application form, filled in, which is also available at the school;
• the official certificate of qualifications, authenticated by a Portuguese embassy or consulate in the foreign country, by that country’s embassy or consulate in Portugal, or by the Hague Apostille, for countries that joined the Hague Convention.

Secondary education records should show the subjects taken, the final marks or final average, and the grading scale used, with the minimum and maximum marks for a pass. Documents need an official translation into Portuguese.

Because authentication depends on the country and can take time, start with it if you are still abroad. For people coming from Brazil, the guide on documents from Brazil explains the apostille. For Angola and Cabo Verde, see documents from Angola and documents from Cabo Verde.

Without certificates

Some families left their country without bringing the school certificates. gov.pt provides that, without supporting documents, equivalence can be requested with:

• a declaration on honour from the pupil, the guardian or whoever legally replaces them, stating the period of schooling or the qualification completed in the foreign country; or
• a declaration from a competent body explaining the exceptional situation. The bodies gov.pt names include the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), the Portuguese Refugee Council and the High Commission for Migration (ACM).

Talk to the school secretary’s office before you submit the request, to understand which of the two options applies to you. Also ask how attendance works while the equivalence is being processed; the studying guide describes what the Directorate-General for Education says about conditional enrolment.

Portuguese at school

gov.pt explains that newly arrived pupils whose mother tongue is not Portuguese, or who were not schooled in Portuguese, can take Portuguese as a Non-Native Language (PLNM) instead of Portuguese.

To get access, each pupil takes a language assessment test. Based on the result, the school decides whether the pupil joins the subject and what support they can receive. The band can be:

• beginner (A1/A2);
• intermediate (B1);
• advanced (B2/C1).

Pupils of Brazilian nationality have Portuguese as their mother tongue and, according to the Directorate-General for Education cited in the studying guide, should not be placed in PLNM. PLNM is also planned for Education and Training Courses, Professional Courses and Specialised Artistic Courses. For parents, who also need Portuguese, the courses designed for adults are described in the guide on learning Portuguese.

Other routes for young people and adults

gov.pt lists dual-certification pathways, academic and professional, for those who prefer a more practical route:

• Education and Training Course, for those aged 15 or over who have completed the 2nd cycle; it lasts two years and gives basic level;
• Professional Courses, for those who completed year 9 or equivalent training, lasting three years;
• Specialised Artistic Courses and apprenticeship courses, which also allow basic and/or secondary level to be completed.

Courses and the schools that offer them can be searched on the Oferta Formativa portal. For adults aged 18 or over, gov.pt mentions EFA courses and RVCC at Qualifica Centres.

Communicating with the school

If the guardian does not yet speak Portuguese well, gov.pt reminds you of the High Commission for Migration’s telephone translation service, which joins the institution, a translator and the migrant in one call. It is available in 69 languages and dialects, on 808 257 257 (landline) or 218 106 191 (mobile), Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm and Saturday 9am to 5pm. Ask the school whether you can use it for a meeting.

Links with the rest of the process

• For the residence permit of minors born in Portugal who attend school, see the guide on children born in Portugal.
• When applying for family reunification, minors attending compulsory education is part of the integration measures. See the guide on family reunification.
• To get a NIF and a NISS, see the guides on the NIF and NISS.
• To find out whether a family benefit exists, see the child benefit guide.
• To see which steps come next, use the What is my path? assistant, and to find the right counter, the Where to be served page.

Quick checklist before going to the school

• Identification for the pupil and the guardian.
• School certificates from the country of origin, authenticated or with a Hague Apostille, and with an official translation.
• The equivalence application form, which the school also supplies.
• A clear idea of the year the pupil was in, so the secretary’s office understands the starting point.
• Ask the school about the language assessment test and Portuguese as a Non-Native Language support.