The Portuguese education system for newcomers: public, private, international

How the system is built

Schooling is compulsory from 6 to 18 or until the secondary diploma. Public schools are free (books included in basic education); families pay for meals (means-tested), transport and extracurricular activities. School is allocated by the home address — the fiscal address registered with Finanças — with priority rules for siblings and parents’ workplace.

• 6–18 compulsory; public and free
• 22 April–1 June 2026 enrolment window for pre-school and year 1; other years in June–July
• Outside the calendar for pupils arriving from foreign schools — you enrol on arrival
• PLNM: Portuguese as a non-mother tongue, taught in public schools to foreign pupils

Enrolling a child who arrives from abroad

Enrolment is online on the Portal das Matrículas by the person responsible for the child, with the Chave Móvel Digital or the Cartão de Cidadão — or at the school’s secretariat for families without them. The 2026/2027 windows: pre-school and year 1, 22 April–1 June; years 2–5, 1–13 July; years 6–9 and 11, 16–29 June; years 10 and 12, 15–22 July. Renewals are automatic in most years unless the school, the guardian or the course changes. Pupils coming from a foreign school — and home-schooled children — enrol outside these periods, at any time, which is what most relocating families do in August or September.

Documents: the child’s identity (passport, residence card or the visa file), the parents’ identity and NIF, proof of address, vaccination record (the Portuguese schedule is checked at the health centre), the previous school’s records with an official translation, and the equivalence of the foreign schooling, granted by the receiving school on those records (a simple procedure for EU curricula, a formal one for others).

Foreign pupils who do not speak Portuguese are placed in the year matching their age and receive PLNM lessons (Português Língua Não Materna) in levels A1–B2 until they can follow the class; the school is obliged to provide them.

Private and international schools

Portugal has a dense network of private schools following the national curriculum (many Catholic), with fees that the schools publish, and international schools in Lisbon, Cascais, Porto, the Algarve and Madeira teaching the British, American, French, German or International Baccalaureate curricula in English or the home language. Fees range widely and change yearly; we do not print figures the schools have not confirmed to us this year — the office keeps a current list of schools, waiting lists and fees for clients, because the popular Lisbon and Cascais schools fill a year ahead.

Public schools also host bilingual sections and some secondary schools offer IB programmes. For a family staying more than a few years, the public school with PLNM support is the route that turns children into Portuguese speakers; for a two-year posting, an international school keeps the curriculum continuous.

Higher education

Public universities and polytechnics charge tuition set by law for Portuguese and EU students and higher, institution-set fees for international students under the Estatuto do Estudante Internacional (non-EU nationals without long residence). Admission for international students is by a separate contest run by each institution on the basis of the foreign secondary diploma or specific exams; the DGES coordinates the general access. A non-EU student needs a D4 visa on the admission letter; students may work alongside their studies. Recognition of foreign degrees for further study or for regulated professions follows Decreto-Lei n.º 66/2018 (automatic, level or specific recognition through the DGES platform).

Adults: learning Portuguese

Free, certified PLA courses (Português Língua de Acolhimento) are run by public schools, IEFP training centres and Qualifica centres for residents aged 16 and over; an A2 certificate from them proves the language for permanent residence and citizenship. Details on learning Portuguese.

Questions