The Portuguese education system is divided into different levels of education.

It begins with pre-school education, an optional cycle for children from three to six years old, followed by basic education, which comprises three sequential cycles:

• the first cycle of four years (expected attendance ages: from six to nine years old).
• the second cycle of two years (expected attendance ages: from ten to 11 years old), corresponding to ISCED1.
• the third cycle of three years (expected attendance ages: from 12 to 14 years old), corresponding to ISCED 2 (lower secondary education).

Basic education includes the following courses: 

• General education courses
• Specialised artistic courses
• Education and training courses
• Education and training courses in the area of music
• Integrated education and training programme

Upper secondary education is a three-year cycle (expected attendance ages: from 15 to 17 years old) (corresponding to ISCED 3) and includes five types of courses:

• science-humanities courses
• vocational courses
• specialised artistic courses
• own-school-curriculum courses
• apprenticeship courses

ISCED 4 corresponds to post-secondary non-higher education and includes the Specialised technological courses (CET), while ISCED 5 corresponds to short cycle higher education programes with vocational and technical higher education courses (CTeSP).

Higher education is structured according to the principles of the Bologna Process and is designed for students who have successfully completed a upper secondary education course or obtained a legally equivalent qualification.

ISCED 6 comprises the Licenciatura (or equivalent) programmes, and ISCED 7 the Master programmes (or equivalent). Lastly, ISCED 8 corresponds to a doctoral programme (or equivalent).

For further information on the structure of the Portuguese education system, please consult the publications The Structure of the European Education Systems  e Compulsory Education in Europe – 2023/24.

Home education

The Portuguese education system boasts different types of education schemes that are intended for families who, for reasons of professional mobility or other personal circumstances, wish to take on greater responsibility for their children’s education, choosing to teach them outside of school.

Decree-Law No 70/2021, 3 August approves the legal framework for individual tuition and home schooling and is designed for students covered by compulsory schooling who intend to learn the Portuguese curriculum (general basic education and upper secondary education science-humanities courses).

The abovementioned decree defines the rules and procedures regarding enrolment and attendance, as well as monitoring and certification of learning, considering the Exit Profile of Students Leaving Compulsory Education and referring to the curriculum documents being used for each subject, namely the essential learning for each school cycle in basic education and science-humanities courses in upper secondary education.

Students being educated via home schooling or individual tuition are subject to evaluation and certification of learning, in accordance with the Exit Profile of Students Leaving Compulsory Education and the regulations in force (Decree-Law No. 55/2018, 6 July, Ordinance No. 223-A/2018, 3 August, and Ordinance No. 226-A/2018, 7 August, both in their current wording).