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Applying to a Public University in Portugal

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

How the national access contest for public universities works: who can apply, the exams, your six choices, the three phases, and enrolling on time.

Applying to a Public University in Portugal

Last verified: September 2026.

Who this is for

  • Families whose teenager is finishing secondary school in Portugal and wants a public university or polytechnic place.
  • Residents with a foreign secondary diploma who want to use their own exams instead of Portuguese ones.
  • Adults with a secondary diploma who want to understand the three phases and the deadlines.

Not for you if: you are applying under the international student statute, or you need money to study. Read "Applying for a University Grant (Bolsa de Estudo) in Portugal".

Most places at Portugal's public universities and polytechnics are filled through one national contest (Concurso Nacional de Acesso). The state higher education institute runs it online at the end of each school year, in three phases. You list up to six choices of course and institution, in order of preference. Each choice needs the right entrance exams and minimum grades. In 2026, the optional third phase takes applications from 10 to 12 October. If you are placed, you must enrol within a few days, or you lose the place.

Who runs the contest

The contest is run by the higher education institute (Instituto para o Ensino Superior, IES). It used to be called the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES), and its website is still dges.gov.pt. Every page, form, and result lives there.

Private universities are different. Each one runs its own contest for its own places, under the same general rules. This guide covers public institutions only.

Who can apply

To apply through the national contest, you need all of these:

  • a Portuguese secondary school diploma, or a foreign one that is officially equivalent;
  • the entrance exams (provas de ingresso) that each course asks for, with at least the minimum grade;
  • any pre-requisites (pré-requisitos) the course sets, such as a fitness test or a medical certificate;
  • an application grade at or above the course's minimum.

The rules also limit who can use this route. You can apply if you are one of these:

  • a Portuguese citizen;
  • a citizen of an EU country, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein;
  • a family member of a Portuguese or EU or EEA citizen, whatever your nationality;
  • a non-EU citizen who, on 1 January of the year you apply, has lived legally in Portugal for more than two years without a break;
  • the child of that non-EU resident, if you live with them;
  • a person with equal rights status under a treaty between Portugal and your country.

If none of these fits you, you count as an international student. Each university then runs its own special contest for you, outside the national one.

The entrance exams

The entrance exams are the national secondary school final exams. Each course sets between one and three of them. Some courses accept one of several exams for the same subject.

Every institution sets a minimum grade for each exam. It is at least 95 points out of 200, and many courses ask for more. An exam below the minimum cannot be used for that course.

Exams taken from 2022 onwards stay valid for the year you take them and the next four years. So a student who sat an exam in 2023 can still use it in 2027.

To check which exams and minimum grades a course needs, use the course index and the yearly application guide (Guia da Candidatura) on dges.gov.pt. Contact the institution directly for details about the course itself.

How your application grade is worked out

Each course ranks applicants by an application grade (nota de candidatura) from 0 to 200. It mixes two or three parts:

  • your final secondary school grade, weighted at 40 percent or more;
  • your entrance exam grades, weighted at 45 percent or more;
  • a pre-requisite grade, if the course uses one, weighted at 15 percent or less.

Each institution chooses its own weights inside those limits. Your secondary grade on the 0 to 20 scale is multiplied by 10 first.

Here is the example the institute gives. A course weights the secondary grade at 50 percent and two exams at 25 percent each. The student has 14.6 in secondary school, 172 in one exam, and 180 in the other. That gives 73 plus 43 plus 45, which is 161 points.

The institution also sets a minimum application grade. You need to reach it as well as the exam minimums.

Getting your password

You apply online with a password (senha) from the institute. Old passwords do not work: you need a new one each year. The same password works for every phase of that year.

  1. Fill in the password request form on dges.gov.pt. Give your ID number, name, and email, and choose where you will hand in the receipt.
  2. Open the email you receive and click the confirmation link.
  3. Print the receipt. If you are under 18, a parent or guardian signs it.
  4. Take the receipt to your secondary school or to an access office (Gabinete de Acesso ao Ensino Superior, GAES).
  5. Once the school or office checks it, the password arrives by email.

The institute asks you to request the password while you register for the national exams. You can still ask for one until the application deadline of each phase. If the email goes missing, use the password recovery tool, no more than once a day.

Instead of the password, you can log in with your Citizen Card and PIN or with the Chave Móvel Digital (the state's mobile digital key).

Your exam record (Ficha ENES)

You also need a Ficha ENES for this year. It is the official record of your secondary diploma, your final grade, and your exam results. You ask for it at the school where you sat the exams, after the results are posted.

It carries an activation code that you type into the online form. The code is not your password. Without one, you cannot apply, unless you use the foreign exams route described below.

If you finished secondary school earlier and sit no exams this year, you still ask for a new Ficha ENES. You do this on the national exam registration platform (PIEPE), filling in only the Ficha ENES request. There is no exam registration fee in that case.

How to apply

  1. Log in to the application system on dges.gov.pt.
  2. Enter the activation code from your Ficha ENES, and from your pre-requisite record if a course needs one.
  3. List up to six pairs of institution and course, in order of preference. Your first choice goes first.
  4. Tick any special quota or regional preference you qualify for, and upload the proof.
  5. Submit, and print the report. It is your receipt.

You can change your choices freely until the deadline. Only the last form you submit counts. After the deadline, you cannot change or cancel it.

The form is your responsibility. A mistake or a missing document can cost you a quota, or get your application excluded. Choices where you do not meet the conditions are rejected without notice.

The student can apply, or a person with a legal power of attorney. For a student under 18, a parent or guardian can apply.

How places are given

The institute ranks everyone who applied to each course by application grade, highest first. It then works down your list of choices. You get the highest choice where your grade is good enough for a place. You can only get one place in each phase.

If applicants tie for the last place, the course adds as many extra places as it needs to take them all.

Special quotas (contingentes)

In the first phase, part of each course's places go to priority groups. The rules set these shares:

  • applicants from the Azores: 3.5 percent;
  • applicants from Madeira: 3.5 percent;
  • Portuguese emigrants, their family members who live with them, and people of Portuguese descent: 7 percent;
  • some military personnel: 2.5 percent;
  • applicants with a disability of 60 percent or more, shown on a multi-purpose disability certificate: 4 percent, or at least two places;
  • students on the lowest school support band (escalão A of ação social escolar): 2 percent, or at least two places.

Each quota has its own conditions. If you do not qualify, you still compete for the general places.

The second phase keeps only two quotas: disability and emigrants. The third phase has one single pool of places.

Some polytechnic courses also give priority to local applicants in the first phase, for up to half their places. Some give priority to students from vocational secondary courses, for up to 30 percent. The application guide shows which courses do this.

The three phases

First phase. This is the main round. In 2026, most applicants applied from 20 July to 6 August. Applicants using foreign exams, or applying for the emigrant quota, had to apply by 29 July. Results came out on 23 August, and enrolment ran from 24 to 27 August.

Second phase. It uses the places left over from the first phase, plus places not taken up. You can apply if you were not placed, did not enrol, did not apply before, or only now meet the conditions. You can also apply if you were placed and enrolled. In 2026, results came out on 30 September 2026, and enrolment runs from 1 to 3 October 2026 at the institution.

Third phase. This one is optional. Each institution decides, course by course, whether to open it and with how many places. In 2026:

  • the third phase places are published on 9 October;
  • you apply online from 10 to 12 October;
  • results come out on 18 October;
  • enrolment runs from 18 to 20 October.

The dates change every year. Check the calendar on dges.gov.pt before you plan.

Applying again when you already have a place

You can take part in more than one phase. Think before you do.

If you enrolled in one phase and are placed in a later one, your earlier place and enrolment are cancelled automatically. You cannot go back to them. The fees you paid move to the new institution.

If you apply again and are not placed, you keep your earlier place, as long as you enrolled on time. If you are placed again on the same course at the same institution, nothing changes.

Enrolling (matrícula)

A place is only an offer. You must enrol (matrícula e inscrição) at the institution within the dates set for your phase. You pay your tuition fees (propinas) and enrolment charges to the institution, not to the contest.

If you miss the enrolment dates, you lose the right to the place. You can then try a later phase, if one is open. A place is only valid for the year you won it.

At enrolment, bring proof of any documentary pre-requisite, such as a medical certificate, if your course asks for one. Without it, the institution cannot enrol you.

Within 15 days of enrolling, two students can ask to swap places. Each must meet the other course's conditions, and both institutions must agree.

If you hold a foreign secondary diploma

If you live in Portugal with a foreign diploma, you can apply through the national contest. You may use exams from your own school system in place of the Portuguese entrance exams. You can also sit the Portuguese exams instead.

First, get your diploma made equivalent. Ask a Portuguese secondary school for an equivalence certificate. Some cases go to the Directorate-General for Education (DGE). The certificate must show your final grade on the 0 to 200 scale. A certificate showing only one school year is not enough.

Your foreign exams must:

  • be national exams, or exams recognised nationally, in your country;
  • match a Portuguese entrance exam, on the official list of matching exams;
  • have been taken in 2022 or later.

The national access committee publishes the list of matching foreign exams by 31 May each year. Your grades are converted to the 0 to 200 scale with a set formula.

Then apply like this:

  1. If you have no Portuguese ID number, ask a GAES for an internal number (número interno).
  2. Request your password, as above.
  3. If you sit no Portuguese exams, ask a GAES for an activation form (ficha de ativação), in person or by email. It replaces the Ficha ENES.
  4. In the online form, use the foreign exams assistant to ask to substitute your exams. Do this again in every phase you apply to.
  5. Upload your documents before the deadline.

Documents to upload:

  • proof you finished your foreign secondary course, with the final grade;
  • proof of your foreign exams, with grades and dates;
  • your equivalence certificate, with the final grade on the 0 to 200 scale;
  • any other document you think helps.

The proof of your course and exams must come from the official body in that country. Foreign documents must be authenticated by a consulate or embassy, or carry a Hague apostille. Documents not in English, French, or Spanish need a translation into Portuguese by an official translator.

If you forget the substitution request in the form, or fill it in wrongly, you lose the substitution. Mixing exams has one limit: if you use a foreign exam for a subject, you cannot swap in a Portuguese exam for that subject, even a better one.

What it costs

The institute's pages list no fee for the online application itself. Tuition and enrolment fees are paid to the institution after you are placed; check its own website for the amount. Official documents proving your application results carry a fee set by the government.

For state help with fees and living costs, read "Applying for a University Grant (Bolsa de Estudo) in Portugal".

If something goes wrong

If you think your result is wrong, you can make a complaint (reclamação) within the set dates. Use the form on dges.gov.pt and send it through the institute's electronic counter. For the second phase of 2026, complaints run from 1 to 6 October. If a complaint gives you a place, you have seven days to enrol after you are told.

If a regrading of a national exam changes your grade after the deadline, you get three days to apply or change your choices.

If the institute made a mistake that cost you a place, it must place you where you should have gone, even by adding a place.

Where to get help

Every district has an access office (GAES), usually at a public university or polytechnic. The Azores and Madeira have one each in their regional education departments. Phone or email before you go: some only see people by appointment. The list, with emails and phone numbers, is on dges.gov.pt.

You can also contact the institute's access department. It is at Avenida Duque d'Ávila, 137, 1069-016 Lisbon. Email [email protected] or phone 213 126 000, Monday to Friday, 09:30 to 12:30.

Other routes exist outside the national contest. They include special contests for people over 23, holders of technical and vocational higher diplomas, graduates, and international students. See the special contests page on dges.gov.pt.

This guide is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

This guide is written from official Portuguese and EU sources and, for prices and contact details, the providers' own websites.

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

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