Studying in Portugal

Studying in Portugal involves three different routes: putting children in school, entering higher education and learning Portuguese as an adult. Each has its own body and its own documents, described below. The enrolment and equivalence steps have a guide of their own, your children’s school, and so do the Portuguese courses, learning Portuguese.

School for children and young people

gov.pt states that everyone has the right to education in Portugal. The system is organised as follows: pre-school (ages 3 to 6, optional), 1st cycle (years 1 to 4), 2nd cycle (years 5 and 6), 3rd cycle (years 7 to 9) and secondary (years 10 to 12). Attendance of basic and secondary education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 18. Children who turn 6 by 15 September start year 1.

How to enrol

The request is made by the parent or guardian (encarregado de educação), on the Portal das Matrículas or directly at the secretary’s office of the school in the child’s area of residence. For the 2026/2027 school year, gov.pt gives these dates:

School years	Enrolment requests
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

The dates change from one school year to the next, so check the ones that apply to the year you need. For families arriving mid-year, gov.pt says enrolment can also be requested directly at the secretary’s office of the school in the child’s area of residence. Re-enrolment is automatic when moving into years 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 11, provided there is no change of school, of guardian or of course, and no need to choose subjects.

In the 2025/26 edition of the portal’s manual, three ways to log in were described: Tax Authority credentials, the Digital Mobile Key (Chave Móvel Digital) or the Citizen Card. With the Digital Mobile Key or the Citizen Card, the guardian’s details were filled in automatically, and the manual listed as a starting point the guardian’s identity document, the child’s identity document and a digital passport-style photograph of the child. Check on the portal itself, because the steps may change.

As for consents, the 2025/26 manual explained that if you authorise use of the pupil’s NISS for consultation with Social Security, the NISS field becomes compulsory, and if you authorise sending the NIF to the school textbook platform, the NIF becomes compulsory. To change those consents, you go back to the first step and withdraw the authorisation, which can only be done before the request is first submitted. To obtain those numbers, see the NIF and NISS guides.

Equivalence of foreign qualifications

The Directorate-General for Education (DGE) explains the regime under Decree-Law 227/2005:

• Who can apply: Portuguese and foreign citizens holding foreign school qualifications.
• Where: at public basic and secondary schools, or private and cooperative schools with pedagogical autonomy for the level concerned. People who do not live in Portugal send the request to the DGE by post.
• When: at any time of year. To continue studying in basic or secondary education, when enrolling.
• Cost: none. The certificate is free.
• Reference time: 30 days after all documents are received, which may be longer.
• Conditional enrolment: while the process is under way, pupils in compulsory schooling get conditional enrolment, which only becomes final once equivalence is granted.

The documents must be official, show qualifications completed with a pass, and be legalised by a Portuguese embassy or consulate in the country of origin, by that country’s embassy or consulate in Portugal, or carry the Hague Apostille in the countries that are party to the Convention. They must state the year or cycle completed, the final marks and the marking scale, including the minimum pass mark (for a qualitative scale, with the numerical equivalent). Documents in a foreign language need an official translation. The guide on documents from Brazil explains apostilles on the Brazilian side.

Equivalence is granted taking into account the school years completed with a pass and the course. The DGE also allows, in case of difficulty adapting, a request to enrol in the year immediately below, within the same cycle; the decision lies with the head teacher.

Portuguese language at school

Newly arrived pupils whose mother tongue is not Portuguese may take Portuguese as a Non-Native Language (Português Língua Não Materna, PLNM) instead of Portuguese, after a language assessment, according to gov.pt. The DGE clarifies that pupils of Brazilian nationality, having Portuguese as their mother tongue, should not be placed in PLNM.

Higher education

Special competition for international students

Decree-Law 36/2014 created the international student status and a special access competition, which the DGES page (DGES was merged into the Instituto para o Ensino Superior, I.P., in 2026) describes as follows:

• it is held every year, with the institution the student chooses, in the programmes where it decides to open it;
• it can be used for public or private higher education, except the Open University (Universidade Aberta) and military or police higher education schools;
• it is for bachelor’s degrees and integrated master’s degrees, and institutions may set places for international students in all cycles;
• the institution sets the places, ranking and tie-break criteria and the documentation in its own regulations;
• the application deadline is set by the institution at least three months ahead and published on its website.

To be covered, you need a qualification that gives access to higher education in the country where it was obtained, or Portuguese secondary education or its equivalent. You are not an international student if you are a national of Portugal, of another European Union Member State or of a State party to the European Economic Area Agreement, a family member of nationals of Portugal, the European Union or the European Economic Area, someone who has lived legally and continuously in Portugal for more than two years on 1 January of the year of entry (and the children living with them), someone who on that date holds the status of equal rights and duties, or someone applying through the special access regimes. Time spent on a study residence permit only counts while the student is attending secondary school in Portugal. See the guide on the equality status.

The former DGES’s pages do not mention the ENEM as a route into higher education. Whether foreign qualifications or exams are accepted depends on each institution’s regulations. Study & Research in Portugal is a platform that lists Portuguese institutions for people who want to study here.

Foreign secondary education and entrance exams

Anyone applying through the access competitions with foreign secondary education needs, according to the DGES page (now IES, I.P.), an equivalence certificate, issued by secondary schools in Portugal or, where applicable, by the DGE, with the final mark on a scale of 0 to 200. Foreign final exams can only replace entrance exams if they are counterparts of them, and the list is set by the CNAES by 31 May of the application year. Anyone without a Portuguese identification number requests an internal number from a Higher Education Access Office (Gabinete de Acesso ao Ensino Superior).

Visa and residence permit for study

According to the AIMA (article 91 of Law 23/2007), a student with a residence visa who proves admission to an institution and sufficient resources is granted a residence permit. It may also be granted without that visa to someone who entered legally. The specific documents include proof of enrolment, proof of payment of tuition fees (where applicable) and health insurance or coverage by the SNS. The permit is valid for three years, renewable, or for the length of the programme if shorter. Holders may take up paid or self-employed work in addition to their studies (article 97). See the visas guide.

If you finish your course or research in Portugal and want to work, the qualified work guide covers the permits available after your studies.

Portuguese for adults

Português Língua de Acolhimento (PLA) courses are for foreigners resident in Portugal aged 16 or over whose mother tongue is not Portuguese or who lack Portuguese skills, according to the ANQEP. They run in schools, IEFP centres and Qualifica Centres, and certify levels A1+A2 and B1+B2. The AIMA says they are free in the vast majority of cases, and that a certificate at level A2 or above proves knowledge of the language for nationality, permanent residence and long-term residence, exempting the holder from the Portuguese Language Test. To enrol you need a residence permit or one of the proofs the AIMA lists (a pending residence application, a protection application or an NISS). gov.pt also mentions Adult Education and Training courses (EFA) and RVCC at Qualifica Centres, for people aged 18 or over. See the citizenship guide.