Eurydice

Academic guidance

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have the autonomy to decide on the provision of academic and career guidance for their students, as well as psychological counselling.

Most HEIs have services to support students in several areas, such as adapting to higher education, changing academic pathway, such as cycle transition, change of course and/or HEI, professional placement, careers advice and psychological support, amongst others.

Definition of the target group(s)

The state guarantees an academic social support system in higher education to improve access and academic success with positive discrimination for economically underprivileged students with suitable educational attainment.

Academic guidance

The recent publication of curricular norms has created new opportunities to help schools face challenges in education, namely:

• Exit profile for students leaving compulsory schooling – Despatch No 6478/2017, 26 July.

• Basic and upper secondary education curriculum – Decree-Law No 55/2018, 6 July, in its current wording.

• National Strategy for Citizenship Education (Estratégia Nacional de Educação para a Cidadania - ENEC).

Definition of the target group(s)

With regard to their own autonomy, there is a set of organisational and curricular options that allows schools to adopt appropriate solutions to all their students’ specific contexts and needs, improving learning, combining flexible management of basic curricular matrices of basic and upper secondary education and training provision (Decree-Law No 55/2018, 6 July) with the provisions included in the Legal Framework for Inclusive Education (Decree-Law No 54/2018, 6 July in its current version). 

Definition of the target group(s)

Inclusive education: a new vision of education for all

General context and legislative framework

Law No 85/2009, 27 August, extends the age of compulsory education to 18 years old and establishes widespread pre-school education for children from five years old onwards. Subsequently, the universality of pre-school education for children from the age of 3 was established by Law no. 22/2025 of 4 March.  

In 2017, the Portuguese government requested support from the European Commission for the implementation of an adult education and training quality assurance model via the Structural Reform Support Programme.

Following this request, the European Commission appointed the OECD, in liaison with national government bodies, to identify and help employ strategies to implement a quality assurance model, considering good practices and lessons learned from other countries facing similar challenges.