Replacement of Entrance Exams with Foreign Exams
Admission under Article 20A
Students from EU countries who hold non-Portuguese qualifications (legally equivalent to Portuguese secondary education)
General Information
- One of the conditions for applying for enrolment and registration in higher education is the possession of the entrance exams required to assess the capacity to attend the chosen course.
- For students holding a Portuguese secondary education qualification, the entrance exams are fulfilled by sitting the national final secondary education exams.
- For students holding non-Portuguese qualifications legally equivalent to Portuguese secondary education, entrance exams may be replaced by final exams in subjects from those courses, under the provisions of Article 20-A of Decree-Law no. 296-A/98, of 25 September, in its current wording.
Application Timetable
| Pre-Application Phases | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| From 5 January to 1 July 2026 | |||
| Phases | Application Submission Period | Publication of Placement Results | Deadline for Enrolment and Registration | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | Day | Day | |
| 1st | 05/01/2026 | 21/07/2026 | 23/07/2026 | 30/07/2026 |
| 2nd | 22/07/2026 | 11/08/2026 | 13/08/2026 | 20/08/2026 |
| 3rd | 12/08/2026 | 01/09/2026 | 03/09/2026 | 10/09/2026 |
| 4th | 02/09/2026 | 15/09/2026 | 17/09/2026 | 24/09/2026 |
| 5th | 16/09/2026 | 06/10/2026 | 08/10/2026 | 15/10/2026 |
Documents to be submitted
Candidates who, under the provisions of Article 20-A of Decree-Law no. 296-A/98, of 25 September, in its current wording, wish to request the replacement of entrance exams with final exams from non-Portuguese courses legally equivalent to Portuguese secondary education, must submit their application via the Application Portal and upload the following documents:
- A document issued by the legally competent authority of the foreign education system to which the non-Portuguese secondary education qualification pertains, indicating:
- The final grade of the course;
- The grades obtained in the final exams of that course which are intended to replace the entrance exams, the date they were taken, and the grading scale, including the minimum and maximum passing marks in the case of a numerical scale, or an indication of the passing brackets arranged in descending order of value in the case of an alphabetical scale;
- A document proving the equivalence of the foreign course to Portuguese secondary education, including the final course grade converted to the Portuguese scale of 0 to 200.
The documents referred to in point a) above must:
- Be issued by the education authorities of the country of origin;
- Be authenticated by the official education services of the respective country and recognised by the Portuguese diplomatic or consular authority, or bear the Hague Convention Apostille; the same applies to translations of documents whose original language is not Spanish, French, or English.
Application processes submitted under Article 20-A will only be assessed if the aforementioned documentation is submitted and the fixed administrative fee is paid.
The services have 10 working days to assess the request after verification of the requirements mentioned above.
Should the candidate fail to submit all documents or fail to make the payment within 10 days following the submission of the request, it will be invalidated by the competent service.
Métodos de Pagamento
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