Portuguese Educational System

Erasmus+ In-Service Training Course “Action Methods Improving Motivation and Quality in Learning Environments”
24.- 30.4.2016, Lisbon, Portugal
Education in
Portugal
Henrique Santos
(Preschool teacher at EB1/Ji de S. Miguel, Enxara do Bispo
Mafra, Portugal)

Education in Portugal is free and compulsory until
the age of 18, when students complete the 12th
grade.
The education is regulated by the State through the
Ministry of Education. There is a system of public
education and also many private schools at all levels
of education.
The educational system is divided into preschool (for
those under age 6), basic education (9 years, in three
stages), secondary education (3 years), and higher
education (university and polytechnic).

According to INE (Portuguese
Institute for National Statistics), only
3.7 million Portuguese workers (67%
of the working active population)
completed basic education (81% of
the working population attained the
lower basic level of education and
12% attained the intermediate level
of education).

According to the OECD's Programme for
International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009,
the average Portuguese 15-years old student,
when rated in terms of reading literacy,
mathematics and science knowledge, is placed
at the same level as those students from the
United States, Sweden, Germany, Ireland,
France, Denmark, United Kingdom, Hungary
and Taipei, with 489 points (493 is the
average).

However, by the end of the 19th century
the illiteracy rate was over 80 percent and
higher education was reserved for a small
percentage of the population. 68.1 percent
of Portugal's population was still classified
as illiterate by the 1930 census.
Despite its gradual modernization and
relative expansion since the 1960s, the
educational system remained
underdeveloped until the 2000s when it
finally reached some of the developed
world's best practices and trends.

Some Facts
In the beginnings of the Portuguese nationality,
the Christian clergy was the main player in the
educational endeavour.
Portuguese universities have existed since 1290.
Within the scope of the Portuguese Empire, the
Portuguese founded in 1792 the oldest
engineering school of Latin America (the Real
Academia de Artilharia, Fortificação e Desenho), as
well as the oldest medical college of Asia (the Goa
Medical College) in 1842.

From the 1960s, the country made public
education available for all children between the
ages of six and twelve, expanded a robust network
of industrial and commercial technical schools
aimed at intermediate education of future skilled
workers (ensino médio), recognized the
Portuguese Catholic University in 1971, and by
1973 a wave of new state-run universities were
founded across mainland Portugal (the Minho
University, the New University of Lisbon, the
University of Évora, and the University of Aveiro.)

From the 1960s to the 1974, secondary and
university education experienced the fastest
growth of Portuguese education's history.
After 1974 the number of basic and
secondary schools as well as of higher
education institutions, increased until the
end of the century, sometimes without the
necessary allocation of quality material and
qualified human resources.

Education more than basic (4th or 6th
grade) wasn't affordable for most
Portuguese families, the real
democratization of education, specially
secondary and higher education, only
happened in the 1980s.
After mid-2000s programs of
modernization of schools (basic and
secondary) and the construction of new
elementary schools called "educational
centres" are being held.

Structure
The educational system is divided into preschool
(for those under age 6), basic education (9 years, in
three stages), secondary education (3 years), and
higher education (university and polytechnic).
Portuguese universities have existed since 1290.
Institutes and schools are also common
designations for autonomous subdivisions of
Portuguese higher education institutions, and are
always used in the polytechnical system. The
Bologna process has been adopted since 2006 by
Portuguese universities and polytechnical
institutes.

Doutoramento (PhD)
Mestrado (Master)
Universitary
Education
6
Licenciatura
Polytehcnic
Education
5
4
Licenciatura
3
Bacharelato2
1
Secondary
Education 17 12º
General
Courses
Technological
Courses
Vocational
Courses
ArtisticEducation
Recurrent
Apprenticeship
16 11º
15 10º
BasicEducation
14 9º
3rd cycle
Artistic
Recurrent
Apprenticeship
13 8º
12 7º
11 6º
2nd cycle10 5º
9 4º
1st cycle
8 3º
7 2º
6 1º
Preschool
Education
3.5 Jardim de Infância (Kindergarden)
0-3 Infantário/Creche (Nursery)
Age

School Year Calendar
Each school year starts in mid September and ends in mid
June. There are three holiday breaks during the year:
Christmas break (2 weeks), Carnival break (3 days) and Easter
break (2 weeks). The school year is divided in three terms,
usually limited by the following dates:
1st term - from 15-21 September to 15 December
2nd term - from 3 January to two weeks before Easter
3rd term - from the Tuesday after Easter to 15 June
After the end of the 3rd term, there are national exams
during June and July for students in 9th, 11th and 12th years,
and measurement exams in 2th, 5th and 8th years.

Pre-primary education
Nursery
Children from four months (the usual maternity
leave) until they are three years old may frequent
a nursery (Infantário or Creche). The large majority
of nurseries are private. Other nurseries are run by
the Portuguese Social Security and are partly
financed by the state. In these nurseries parents
pay according to their income.

Kindergarten
Pre-primary education is optional from the ages of
three to five, and is provided in both state-run and
private kindergartens schools. State-run
kindergartens provision is free of charge. The
schools are known as Jardins de Infância
(Kindergartens).
There are “Orientações Curriculares para a
Educação Pré-Escolar” (Curriculum Guidelines),
that are a standard to all the preschool teachers
(state-run and private)
(actually in public discussion)

Basic education
In Portugal, Basic Education consists of nine years of
schooling divided into three sequential cycles of education
of four, two and three years.
Children aged six by 15 September must be enrolled in their
first school year in that calendar year.
In addition, children who reach the age of six between 16
September and 31 December may be authorized to attend
the first stage of education, provided a request is submitted
by their parents or guardians to the school nearest to their
residence (or place of work) during the annual enrollment
period.
State-run schools are free of charge; private school tuition is
refunded by the State in part or fully, when state-run schools
in the area are filled to capacity.

The first cycle of basic mandatory education covers years
1st-4th, the second cycle years 5th-6th and the third cycle
years 7th-9th. The curriculum contains only general
education until the 9th year at which point vocational
subjects are introduced.
At the end of each cycle, students take national evaluation
exams for the subjects of Portuguese Language and
Mathematics. Schools do not give (or sell) any books or
materials; financial assistance is available for poorer families.
The school books are chosen at school's level every four
years.
1st Cycle State-run schools are owned by the municipalities;
all other State-run schools are owned by the State.
At State-run schools, 1st Cycle students and kindergarten
students get free mid-morning or mid-afternoon snacks
(milk, bread, fruit)

Access to Secondary Education is made through the
Certificate of Basic Education. There are three types of
programmes: general programmes, technical/vocational
programmes, and artistic programmes, providing instruction
in technical, technological, professional fields and in the
Portuguese language and culture. Permeability between the
programmes is guaranteed. The teaching and practice of
technical, technological or artistic programmes are provided
by vocational schools and special schools for education in
Arts.
Programmes are sanctioned by the Certificado de
Habilitações do Ensino Secundário/Diploma de Ensino
Secundário (Secondary School Credential/Diploma), which is
the prerequisite for access to higher education through
national access examination.

Secondary education
It is only after the 9th year of basic schooling that the Portuguese
General Education system branches out into different secondary
programmes, a higher education-oriented (general secondary
programmes), a work-oriented (technological secondary
programmes) and an artistic-oriented programme.
The conclusion of secondary education (general, technological or
artistic programmes) with passing grades confers a diploma, which
will certificate the qualification thus obtained and, in the case of
work-oriented programmes the qualification for specific jobs. All
General and Technological programmes share the following
subjects known as General Formation:
Portuguese Language (10th, 11th and 12th years)
Physical Education (10th, 11th and 12th years)
Philosophy (10th and 11th years)
Foreign Language (10th and 11th years)
Catholic (or other confessions) Moral and Religious Education (10th, 11th
and 12th years - facultative)

Other types of school education
There are also special modalities of school
education. The programmes offered by vocational
schools, those of the apprenticeship system and
those of recurrent studies are considered as a
special modality of school education. These
programmes are not regular, because they are not
included in the mainstream regular progression of
the education system to which they are an
alternative given that they were designed to
respond to specific educational needs of different
target-groups of the population.
All of these programmes offer initial vocational
and education training, although the recurrent
studies also offer general education.

Recurrent education consists of non-regular programmes of study or
modular or single units because they are not complete training cycles and
they are not included in the regular progression of the education system.
The recurrent education provides a second opportunity of training for those
who did not undertake training at the normal age or who left school early.
Recurrent education covers the three cycles of basic education and the
secondary education.
The recurrent education is characterized by the flexibility and adaptability to
the students’ learning cycle, availability, knowledge and experiences.
The recurrent secondary education branches into two types of courses: the
general course for those who want to continue their studies and the
technical courses that are work-oriented and confer a level III vocational
certificate, although they also permit the access to higher education.
Any of the secondary courses, vocational courses, apprenticeship courses
(level III), recurrent courses and others (artistic and those of technological
schools) share a three-dimensional structure (although the importance of
each dimension could vary according to the specific course):
a) general / socio-cultural
b) specific / scientific
c) technical / technological / practical / vocational

Access to higher education
At the end of 11th grade, students have national exams in
the two specific subjects of their course. At the end of the
12th grade, the exams are in Portuguese language and the
main subject of the course. The access to higher education
is made through a national online process, where the
students enter the college by priority based on their grades.
The average of grades obtained in all subjects (except
Physical Education) represents a part of the application
grade to enter college. The other part is based on the grade
of the specific exams that the college requests, which are
related with the course the student is applying for. The
average of both averages is the application grade to college.
That number is between zero and 20; the higher it is, the
better the chance to enter the college.

Higher education
Higher education in Portugal is divided into two
main subsystems: university and polytechnic. It is
provided in autonomous universities, in university
institutes, in polytechnic institutes and in separate
university or polytechnic schools. The previous
institutions can be either public, concordat or
private. The university subsystem is intended to
have a strong theoretical basis and to be highly
research-oriented. The polytechnic subsystem is
intended to provides a more practical training and
is profession-oriented.

Degrees in some fields such as medicine, law,
natural sciences, economics, psychology or
veterinary are only offered in the university
system. Nursing, preschool education, accounting
technician or health care technician degrees are
only offered in the polytechnic system.
The other fields, including engineering,
technology, management, education, agriculture,
sports, or humanities are found both in university
and polytechnic systems.

Thanks for
listening.
Henrique Santos
henriquehsantos@gmail.com
http://hen.no.sapo.pt
www.facebook.com/henriquehsantos

1º Ciclo - 1st Cycle
1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th years
General subjects:
Portuguese Language
Environment Study
Mathematics
Enrichment Activities:
English
Artistic Education
Physical Education
Musical Education
Verbal Education
Facultative:
Catholic (or other confessions) Moral and
Religious Education

2º Ciclo - 2nd Cycle
5th and 6th years
Portuguese Language
Mathematics
History and Geography of Portugal
English (levels 1 and 2)
Natural Sciences
Visual Education (Arts)
Technological Education (Crafts)
Physical Education
Musical Education
Facultative:
Catholic (or other confessions) Moral and
Religious Education

3º Ciclo - 3rd Cycle
7th, 8th and 9th years
Portuguese Language
Mathematics
English (levels 3, 4 and 5)
2nd Foreign language - French, Spanish or German (levels
1, 2 and 3)
Natural Sciences
Physics and Chemistry
History
Geography
Physical Education
Visual Education (Arts)*
Technological Education (Crafts)*
Drama/Music*
Computer and IT / an alternative of the school (only in 7th
and 8th years)
Facultative~:
Catholic (or other confessions) Moral and Religious
Education
(*) In the 9th year the student has to choose between Visual Education, Technological
Education, Music and Drama, according to the school's availability.

General Programmes
Sciences and Technologies
Main subject - 10th, 11th and 12th years -
Mathematics A
Specific subjects - 10th and 11th years -
Biology and Geology, Descriptive
Geometry, Physics and Chemistry (two of
these)
Optional subjects - 12th year - Biology,
Geology, Physics, Chemistry, Psychology or
others (two of these)

Social and Human Sciences
History A
Geography, Foreign Language II (or III),
Portuguese Literature, Math Applied to
Social Sciences (two of these)
Optional subjects - 12th year - Law,
Sociology, Latin, Geography, Psychology,
Philosophy, Economics or others (two of
these)

Socio-Economic Sciences
Mathematics A
Economics, History B, Geography (two of
these)
Optional subjects - 12th year - Economics,
Geography, Sociology, Psychology, Law or

Visual Arts
Drawing A
Descriptive Geometry, Mathematics B,
History of Culture and Art (two of these)
Optional subjects - 12th year - Art Atelier,
Multimedia Atelier, Materials and
Technologies, Psychology, Philosophy or

Professional Programmes
Sport
Architect Technician
Civil Construction
Electronics
Computing
Equipment Design
Multimedia
Administration
Marketing
Environment and Territory Order
Social Action
Social Animation
others
Specialized Artistic Programmes
Music
Dance
Drama and Cinema
Visual and Audiovisual Arts
others

Portuguese Educational System

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