Overview

Last update: 12 April 2025

Key features of the education system

Governance

Education in Portugal is organised according to the democratic principles established by the Constitution of the Republic (1976), particularly the freedom to teach and learn (Art. No 43), as well as citizens’ rights and duties of the state in this area (Art. No 73-77). These same principles were the foundation of the Education Act (1986), which defines educational objectives, structures and modes of organisation.

Pre-primary education, basic, upper secondary and higher education, as well as out-of-school education, are the responsibility of the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI). As such, it is responsible for defining, coordinating, implementing and assessing national policy with regard to the education system, as well as articulating education policy with qualification and vocational training policies.

MECI is also responsible for designing and formulating policy in the areas of science, higher education and science- and technology-based innovation, as well as forms of organisation, funding, implementation and assessment.

Both vocational education and training, as well as adult education and training are the joint responsibility of the MECI and the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security (Ministério do Trabalho, Solidariedade e Segurança Social – MTSSS). The duties of these ministries are undertaken by departments that are part of direct state administration, indirect state administration bodies, advisory bodies, and other organisations and entities within state-owned enterprises.

The school network is organised into school clusters and non-clustered schools, which have with their own administration and management bodies. They are made up of pre-school establishments, plus one or more teaching levels and cycles that share a common pedagogical project.

The MECI is responsible for managing the network of pre-school establishments, as well as basic and upper secondary schools. School clusters enjoy some autonomy in terms of pedagogy, curriculum and managing teaching schedules and non-teaching staff. A number of recently implemented reforms have extended cluster autonomy to curriculum management (Decree-Law No 55/2018, 6 July), promoting decentralisation, assigning responsibilities to municipalities regarding investment, equipment and the maintenance of school buildings, provision of meals in establishments and management of non-teaching staff (Decree-Law No 21/2019, 30 January).

Higher education institutions enjoy statutory, scientific, pedagogical, cultural, administrative, financial, patrimonial and disciplinary autonomy (Law No 62/2007, 10 September).

In the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira, education administration is the responsibility of the regional governments, via the Regional Directorate of Education and the Regional Secretariat of Education, which adapt national education policy to a regional plan and to the human, material and financial resources available.

Organisation and structures

According to the Education Act, approved by Law No. 46/86, 14 October, the Portuguese education system is divided into three levels: pre-school education, basic education and upper secondary education.

It begins with pre-school education, with an optional attendance cycle from 3 to 6 years of age, and continues with basic education, which comprises three sequential cycles:

1) the 1st cycle of 4 years and the start of compulsory schooling (expected age group 6 - 10 years old)

2) the 2nd cycle of 2 years (expected age group 10 - 12 years old)

3) the 3rd cycle lasting 3 years (expected age group 12 – 15 years old).

Basic education has the same track for all students. However, in some schools there is artistic education, which adds complementary training in an artistic area to the general curriculum (specialised artistic courses).

Upper secondary education involves a cycle of three years of schooling [grades 10, 11 and 12, expected age group 15 - 18 years old] and aims to provide students with diversified training and learning, according to their interests. This is done with a view to pursuing further studies and/or entering the labour market. The courses are the following:

1) Science-humanities courses

2) Vocational courses

3) Specialised artistic courses

4) Own-school-curriculum (scientific-technological courses).

Compulsory education lasts 12 years, between the age of six and 18 or until the conclusion of upper secondary education (ISCED 3). Public education is free and universal from the age of four, including the final years of pre-school.

Currently, there is an educational measure underway that seeks to strike a yet-to-be-achieved balance between the demand for and supply of places at this level of education (for 3-year-olds), particularly those living in more densely populated areas of the country.

The National System of Qualifications (Sistema Nacional de Qualificações - SNQ) includes structures, mechanisms and types of vocational education and training (Ensino e Formação Profissional - EFP) that, in articulation with the European Qualifications Framework (Quadro Europeu de Qualificações - QEQ), promotes upper secondary level as a minimum qualification for the population through greater EFP provision or the recognition, validation and certification of formal, informal and non-formal learning competences. In the case of adults, it aims to extend educational and qualification levels via the 'Qualifica' Centre network.

Evaluation in the Portuguese educational system is both formative and summative, as well as internal and external.

Important challenges

In recent decades, Portugal has made great efforts to improve the population’s level of qualifications, resulting in substantial progress in education:

providing universal access
reducing the number of school dropouts
achieving the goals set by the EU and
significantly improving Portuguese students’ performance in international comparative tests.

That said, the country continues to face certain demographic challenges, regarding an ageing population, low birth rates and migratory movements, like all other countries in the European Union. Governments are being left with the task of designing and developing public policies to combat this shortage and integrating immigrant children and young people, ensuring that all foreign pupils who do not master the Portuguese language can learn it by taking the subject of Portuguese as a second language.

Change in the number of students in public and private education, by cycle of education

	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23
Total	1. 607.435	1.575.820	1.568.700	1.546.693	1.533.262	1.518.330	1.495.395	1.511.692	1.532.256
Pre-school education	250.535 (16%)	246.178 (16%)	240.896 (15%)	227.938 (15%)	231.327 (15%)	238.618 (16%)	238.618 (16%)	246.235 (16%)	252.198 (16%)
Basic education	981.180 (61%)	955.178 (61%)	944.445 (60%)	933.684 (60%)	918.077 (60%)	900.902 (59%)	878.030 (59%)	882.218 (58%)	898.933 (59%)
Secondary education	372.410 (23%)	369.982 (23%)	378.548 (24%)	380.370 (25%)	378.583 (25%)	373.140 (25%)	373.859 (25%)	377.827 (25%)	376.263 (25%)
Post-secondary, non higher education	3.310	4.482	4.811	4.701	5.275	5.670	4.888	5.412	4.862

Source: Direção-Geral de Estatísticas da Educação e Ciência.

Between 2018-2019 and 2023-2024, the number of foreign students rose by 158 %, from 55,390 to 142,741, corresponding to 16.4 % of the total number of students in public education in the 2023-2024 school year. Around half of these foreign pupils have entered the Portuguese education system in the last two school years. There are over 180 nationalities, with around 28 % of these students being from outside the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP). The integration of these students is crucial to their social and human development, the success of immigration policies, and for the country's development and social cohesion.

In 2024, to meet these challenges, Portugal introduced measures to support the inclusion and learning of foreign students, particularly for those who don’t speak Portuguese.

In addition to this, many students have been without teachers in at least one subject for very long periods of time, having with serious consequences for their learning and their achievements at school. Those most affected by such situations are from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, jeopardising equal opportunities to access quality education and the chances of successful academic pursuits. To this end, an urgent plan is being developed to significantly reduce the number of students without classes, thus recovering learning and resolving the shortage of teaching staff.

Like other societies, new thinking is emerging that raises ethical, pedagogical, technological and educational questions about the development of new ways of teaching and learning using artificial intelligence (AI). AI has enormous potential to affect and improve the ways children and young people learn and how teachers teach and assess.

Teaching profession

There is only one professional career for teachers of all non-higher education levels (from pre-school to upper secondary education), which requires a second-cycle degree (ISCED 7 - Master).

Stages of the education system

The Portuguese education system is divided in pre-school education (from the age of three until the start of basic education), basic education (six to 15 years old) and upper secondary education (15 to 18 years old). Measures are being taken to include creches in the education system.

Pre-school education (ISCED 0)

Pre-school education covers children from three years old up to the age of compulsory schooling (six years old). Attending pre-school education is optional, recognising the primacy of families’ role in children’s education, and is universal for children from the year they celebrate their third birthday. The network of establishments has been expanding as part of a policy of providing widespread availability.

Provision for children under three years old, with a special focus on childcare (CITE 010) (crèche), is not part of the education system and is the responsibility of the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security (MTSSS).

Basic education (ISCED 1 and 2)

Basic education is universal, compulsory, free and lasts nine years. It is divided into three sequential cycles; each should complete and build upon the previous one from a global perspective:

the first cycle (CITE 1) corresponds to the first four years of schooling (grades one to four).
the second cycle (CITE 1) corresponds to the next two years (grades five and six).
the third cycle (CITE 2) lasts for three years and corresponds to lower secondary education (grades seven to nine).

The guiding principles of curriculum organisation and management aim to ensure a common general background education for all citizens, via the acquisition of fundamental knowledge and skills that allow further study.

Upper secondary education (ISCED 3)

Upper secondary education lasts for three years and corresponds to grades 10, 11 and 12 of upper secondary education. Upper secondary education aims to provide students with diverse training and learning, with a view to pursuing further studies and/or entering the labour market. Educational and training programmes are geared towards further studies, others for dual certification (academic and vocational), the latter combining general, technical and work placement training. The permeability between the different paths is guaranteed, as is access via all of them to higher education through national exams.

Post-secondary non-higher education (ISCED 4)

Post-secondary non-tertiary education provision can lead to an NQF level 5 qualification and involves high-level technical training, geared towards integration in the job market, as well as the continuation of higher education studies. It usually lasts a year and is designed for young people over 18, who have concluded the 12 years of compulsory school.

This level can be obtained the following ways:

a) specialised technological courses (STC)

b) apprenticeship + courses

c) certified modular training

d) recognition, validation and certification of competences.

Higher education (ISCED 5 – 8)

Higher education is structured according to the principles of the Bologna Process to ensure solid scientific and cultural preparation, plus technical training that qualifies students for professional and cultural life, while developing their capability to innovate and apply critical analysis.

Portuguese higher education is a binary system that includes the university and polytechnic systems.

Adult education and training

There are various modes of adult education and training with specific aims and target groups, encompassing a system of recognition, validation and certification of skills acquired throughout life. The key competences reference frameworks that support the academic and professional RVCC processes are part of the National Qualifications Catalogue.

Provision in this area is mainly included in the National Qualifications System/Catalogue and organised by a national network of "Qualifica" Centres, which cover the whole country, providing a guidance system for adults, while coordinating a vast network of training bodies overseen by the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation or the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security. These programmes allow participants to obtain school certification or dual certification, combining school and professional qualifications.

Recurrent education is designed for young people of 15 or over or adults who have not completed their basic or upper secondary education at the usual age. It follows a study plan based on the official curriculum and leads to the attainment of a qualification and the award of a diploma or certificate, equivalent to those conferred by daytime education.

For a more detailed description of these and other topics regarding the national education system, please see:

Chapter 1- Political, Social and Economic Background and Trends

Chapter 2 - Organisation and Governance

Chapter 3 - Funding in Education

Chapter 4 – Early Childhood Education and Care

Chapter 5 - Basic Education (Primary and Lower Secondary Education)

Chapter 6 - Upper Secondary and Post-Secondary Non-Tertiary Education

Chapter 7 - Higher Education

Chapter 8 - Adult Education and Training

Chapter 9 - Teachers and Education Staff

Chapter 10 – Management and other educational staff

Chapter 11 - Quality assurance