Portugal news, in English, every morning. Free.

Subscribe

The Portugal Brief
Subscribe
Guides

Enrolling Your Child in a Portuguese Public School

Researched and written with AI tools from official sources. How we make our guides

How to enrol a child in public preschool or school: the Portal das Matrículas, the spring windows, documents, priority rules, and arriving later.

The Portugal Brief 8 min read

Enrolling Your Child in a Portuguese Public School

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You are putting a child aged 3 to 18 into a Portuguese public preschool or school.
  • You are arriving mid-year, or your child has school records from another country.
  • You are an EU or non-EU family, with or without a residence card yet.

Not for you if: you are still choosing between creche, public, private, or international school. Read Schools and Childcare in Portugal first.

You enrol your child online on the Portal das Matrículas, or in person at the local school cluster. Enrolling is free, and public school is free. Places for the next school year are given in fixed windows each spring and summer. Preschool and year 1 come first, from late April. The 2026/2027 windows have closed. If you arrive now, during the school year, you can still enrol a child of school age at any time.

The paperwork for records from abroad takes about 30 days, and your child attends school while it is processed.

When to enrol

The Ministry of Education sets the windows each spring. For 2026/2027 they were:

WhoWindow for 2026/2027
Preschool and year 122 April to 1 June 2026
Years 6, 7, 8, 9, and 1116 to 29 June 2026
Years 2, 3, 4, and 51 to 13 July 2026
Years 10 and 1215 to 24 July 2026 (extended from 22 July)

All of these have closed. If your child already attends a public school, the enrolment renews automatically each year. You only need to act if your child changes school, moves to a new cycle, changes course options, or gets a new guardian.

For 2027/2028, no calendar has been published yet. In 2026 the calendar was published in early April, and the preschool and year 1 window opened on 22 April. Check the Portal das Matrículas from March 2027.

If you arrive after the windows, see "If you arrive mid-year" below.

Who must be enrolled, and at what age

These rules apply in mainland Portugal.

  • Preschool. A child who turns 3 by 15 September enrols in preschool that September. A child who turns 3 between 16 September and 31 December can enrol on a conditional basis and gets a place if one is free. Children who turn 3 later can enrol during the year if there is room.
  • Year 1. Enrolment is compulsory for a child who turns 6 by 15 September. A child who turns 6 between 16 September and 31 December may start if you ask and a place is free.
  • Compulsory schooling runs from age 6 to age 18, or until your child finishes year 12.

What you need

You give these details for your child:

  • an identity document: Portuguese citizen card, residence card, or passport
  • proof of your address
  • a recent colour passport photo with a plain background, as a digital file
  • the tax number (NIF), if your child has one
  • the health service number (número de utente)
  • the social security number (NISS)
  • school reports from the last school, including any from abroad

You also need, for yourself as parent or guardian:

  • your identity document and NIF
  • your address, phone, and email
  • a way to log in to the portal (see the next section)

Your tax household matters. The system uses the household that the tax office (Finanças) last confirmed for you. It uses it to check siblings. Before you enrol, make sure your tax address is current and your children are listed in your household.

If your child has no NIF, NISS, or health number yet, start those now. See Getting a NIF (Tax Number) in Portugal, Getting a Social Security Number (NISS) in Portugal, and Registering with the SNS in Portugal. The rules ask for the NIF only if your child has one. Ask the school how to go ahead while the other numbers are pending.

How to enrol online, step by step

The Portal das Matrículas (portaldasmatriculas.edu.gov.pt) is the main channel.

  1. Log in with one of these: your Portuguese citizen card and a card reader, the Digital Mobile Key (Chave Móvel Digital), or your Portal das Finanças username and password.
  2. Choose a new enrolment, and pick preschool or the school year.
  3. Enter or check your child's details.
  4. List five schools in order of preference. In towns with fewer schools, list all of them.
  5. For basic and secondary school, choose the course and any options.
  6. Say which priority criteria apply, such as a sibling at the school or your home or work address.
  7. Upload the photo and any documents asked for.
  8. Submit, and save the receipt.

If your child has special educational needs, say so. It is the first priority for a place.

How to enrol in person

If you cannot use the portal, go to the school for your home address. Its office enrols the child and records it in the same system, whatever schools you choose. Take the same documents and ask for a receipt.

Public schools are grouped into school clusters (agrupamentos de escolas). To find yours, ask your parish council (junta de freguesia) or town council.

How places are given

When more children apply than there are places, the rules rank them in a fixed order.

Preschool. Children who turn 5, then 4, by 31 December come first. Next come children who turn 3 by 15 September, then those who turn 3 by 31 December. Ties are broken by special needs, children of parents who are students under 18, siblings, school social support with a local home or job, home address, work address, and finally age.

Years 1 to 9:

  1. children with special educational needs
  2. children who were at preschool or school in the same cluster last year
  3. children with a brother, sister, or other child of the same household at the cluster
  4. children receiving school social support whose parents live in the school's area
  5. children receiving school social support whose parents work in the area
  6. children whose parents live in the area
  7. children who went to a preschool run by a social institution in the area
  8. children whose parents work in the area
  9. older children first for new enrolments, younger children first for renewals

Years 10 to 12. The order is similar: special needs, the same cluster, siblings, and school social support come first, then home address.

Your address counts only if it can be proved. Keep your Finanças address up to date. A certificate of residence from your parish council can help. See Getting a Proof of Residence (Atestado de Residência) in Portugal.

If you choose a school outside your home area while your local school has room, you may pay any extra costs, such as transport.

When results come out:

  • preschool and year 1: by the first working day of July
  • all other years: by the last working day of July

If your first choice is full, the next school on your list with a place is tried.

If your child studied abroad (equivalence)

Children with school years completed abroad need an equivalence (equivalência) to place them in the right Portuguese year. It is free.

Who decides. The public school where you enrol, for basic and secondary education. You ask for it when you enrol.

What you need:

  • the official request form, from the school
  • official certificates or reports showing each year passed and the marks or average
  • legalisation of those documents: an apostille for countries in the Hague Convention, or authentication by a consulate for others
  • an official translation into Portuguese of anything in another language, done after the legalisation

How long it takes. The reference time is 30 days after the school has every document. Complex cases take longer.

Your child does not wait at home. They join school on a conditional enrolment while the equivalence is processed. A child on a conditional enrolment can move up a year at the end of it if they meet the usual rules. In secondary school, the enrolment becomes final only when the equivalence is granted.

A year below. If your child will struggle, you can ask for a place one year below the year the equivalence gives, within the same cycle. You explain the integration difficulties, and the head of the cluster decides.

For university degrees, see Getting a Foreign Degree Recognised in Portugal.

If your child does not speak Portuguese (PLNM)

Children whose first language is not Portuguese can take Portuguese as a non-native language (Português Língua Não Materna, PLNM) in place of the normal Portuguese class.

  1. The school assesses your child's Portuguese. Newcomers with almost none are placed at level zero.
  2. The school places your child at a level: beginner (A1 or A2) or intermediate (B1), and later B2.
  3. Beginner and intermediate pupils get a support plan. They learn in a PLNM group or with support in the normal class.
  4. Newcomers at level zero or beginner level can get extra measures to help them access the rest of the curriculum.

Ask each school on your list how it runs PLNM before you rank them.

If you arrive mid-year

The windows are for next year's places. They do not stop a child from joining school later.

  • School age (6 to 18). Go to the school or cluster for your home address, or use the portal. If your child's records are from a foreign school, the rules let you enrol outside the windows. The school accepts the child where there is room in an existing class, so ask which schools nearby have space.
  • Preschool. You can apply during the year. Your child gets a place if one is free.

If your child has no residence permit. You can ask AIMA, the immigration agency, to add your child to the register of foreign minors. AIMA issues a credential that you show at the school cluster and the health centre, so your child can use both. You need your child's passport, birth certificate, your own identification, and a recent photo.

Madeira and the Azores

Madeira and the Azores run their own school systems. The stages are the same, but the calendar, the enrolment channel, and some rules differ. Check the regional education department's website before you enrol. See our guide to living in the Azores and Madeira.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules change each school year; check the Portal das Matrículas and your school cluster before you act.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

Read next