Applications for the 1st phase of the national competition for access to higher education begin on July 20th. The calendar for the national competition for access and entry into public higher education was published this Monday in Republic Gazette. It is through this competition that the majority of young people who finish secondary education this year enter. For the 2026/27 competition, students will have 56,790 vacancies in public higher education institutionsto which they can apply and through the general access regime: 34,841 in universities and 21,949 in polytechnic institutes.
To these are added another 21,493 in competitions and special access regimes, which have different application dates, set by the higher education institutions themselves, and also different rules than those that exist for the national competition. This includes, for example, international students, those over 23 years old, those who already have a professional higher technical diploma or a degree.
Regarding the national competition for 2026/27, there are more places for students who want to enter a Basic Education degree at public universities and polytechnics: there will be 1344 places, 147 more places than in the previous competition. The same happens in Medicine: 1656 vacancies — 62 more compared to 2025/26. The University of Coimbra has reinforced its offer with an additional 22 places and a new course at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), which will be able to receive 40 students.
It should be remembered that, last year, the number of people placed in the 1st phase of the national access competition fell 12% compared to 2024/25 — around six thousand fewer placements — and there was a decrease of close to 10% in the total number of new enrollees in the system as a whole. Although there are several causes that may have contributed to the decrease in candidates and placements, the changes to the secondary completion model and the minimum requirement of two entrance tests have been identified as the main reasons for the drop: based on data from the national access competition between 2015 and 2025, the Ministry of Education estimates that this requirement was responsible for approximately 46% of the drop in those placed in the 1st phase from 2025/26.
For this reason, the guardianship ended up, at the beginning of the year, revoking the minimum requirement of two entrance tests for access to higher education, opening up the possibility for institutions of require only one proof. It is one of What’s new about this year’s competition.
These are some of the most important dates:
July: on July 20th, applications for the 1st phase of the national competition for access to higher education begin. Candidates included in the priority contingent for emigrants, family members who live with them, Portuguese descendants and candidates requesting the replacement of entrance exams with foreign exams can apply until July 27th. Everyone else has a few extra days to submit their candidacy, with the deadline only ending on August 6th.
August: the results will be known at the end of the month. The calendar now released stipulates that, on the 22nd, higher education institutions will receive the placement lists for this 1st phase of the national competition, which will be released to interested parties and the general population on the following day, August 23rd.
Registration takes place immediately afterwards, over three days, between the 24th and 27th of that month. The deadline for submitting complaints regarding the results of the 1st phase of the national competition is between 24 and 28 August. The 2nd phase of applications also starts on the 24th, which will last until the 2nd of September. Even before the month ends, on August 28th, higher education institutions inform the new Institute for Higher Education, which absorbed the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES), of the vacancies that remained unfilled in the courses they made available, if any.
September: on the 1st, available vacancies are announced because those who would occupy them have not registered or enrolled. On September 13th, the placement lists for the 2nd phase of the competition are published and from the following day registration and registration for these placed candidates begins (until the 16th) and also any complaints that exist (until the 18th).
On the 17th of September, the Institute for Higher Education is given an indication of the existing vacancies because the students who occupied them in the 1st phase obtained a new placement in the 2nd phase and also those who were free because they were placed in the 2nd phase did not complete their registration or enrollment. The total number of places available for the 3rd phase of the national competition is announced on September 21st and the submission of applications for this phase begins on the following day, ending on September 24th. On September 30th, the results of the 3rd phase are known.
October: registration of candidates placed in the 3rd phase of the national competition will take place until October 2nd.
