Foreign School Diplomas in Portugal: Equivalence and Entrance Exams

Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.

What you have to do with a foreign school diploma in Portugal depends on the admission route. The international student contest needs the least paperwork. The national contest needs two things: equivalence of your diploma and a solution for the entrance exams.

The international student contest

Most non-EU applicants use this route. Each institution runs it under its own regulations and checks directly that:

• your diploma gives access to higher education in the country that issued it, or you hold a Portuguese secondary diploma or its equivalent
• you have the academic preparation for the course, shown by your school results, national exams of your country, or a test set by the institution
• you meet the language requirement

No formal equivalence is needed for this route in most institutions: you upload the diploma and transcript, legalised and translated as the institution specifies. Many accept documents in English, Spanish or French without translation.

The national access contest

EU citizens, and non-EU citizens who have lived legally in Portugal for more than two years, compete in the national contest with Portuguese students. For this you need:

• Equivalence of your secondary diploma to Portuguese secondary education. It is requested from a Portuguese secondary school or school grouping, or through the education directorate's online service. The decision converts your final average to the Portuguese 0 to 20 scale, using published conversion tables for each country.
• Entrance exams. Each course names the national exams it requires. Applicants from foreign systems can ask for those exams to be replaced by final exams of their own secondary system in the same subjects, if the institution accepts this substitution. The institution's rules list the accepted exams.

Students who cannot use the substitution sit the Portuguese national exams as external candidates, in Portuguese, in June and July.

Documents

• the diploma and the transcript with the grades of each year
• the curriculum or a declaration of the subjects studied, when asked
• an identity document

Documents must carry an apostille or consular legalisation, unless they come from a system exempt from it, and be translated into Portuguese where required. In Portugal a translation is certified by a notary, a lawyer or a consulate. See apostille and legalisation and sworn translations.

Timeline

• Winter and spring: request the equivalence; it can take weeks to months.
• Spring: international student contests open at most institutions, often in several phases.
• Summer: national exams and the first phase of the national contest.

If you already hold a university degree

Recognition of foreign higher education degrees is a separate procedure handled by the higher education directorate and the universities. It is not needed to start a bachelor's degree.

Where to look next

• How to get into a university in Portugal
• Student visa for Portugal
• All programmes and cities in Portugal

Official sources

• DGES: access contests and substitution of entrance exams
• Directorate-General for Education: equivalence of foreign qualifications
• Study in Portugal

Always check current information on the official website of the university before you apply.