IB Diploma and University Admission in Portugal: Exams, Subjects and Two Contests

Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.

Portugal has no single IB rule. What matters is which of the two admission routes you use. EU citizens, and non-EU citizens who have lived legally in Portugal for at least two years, go through the national access contest, where your IB exams can stand in for the Portuguese entrance exams. Most other applicants use the contest for international students, where each institution judges the IB Diploma under its own call. The difference between the two is explained in how to get into a university in Portugal.

Route 1: the national contest and the entrance exams

In the national contest every programme requires one or more entrance exams (provas de ingresso) in set subjects. Applicants with a foreign secondary qualification can replace them with final exams from their own system, under article 20.º-A of the access law. Each year the national access commission (CNAES) publishes a table of foreign exams it accepts. For the 2026/27 contests it is Deliberação n.º 619/2026, and it lists IB subjects by name:

The same deliberation also lists IB Visual Arts, Design Technology and history subjects for the drawing and history exams. Physics and Chemistry is covered by the final exams of the countries and systems in its annex II, which include the IB. For integrated master's degrees in Medicine, the Physics and Chemistry grade is the average of your physics and chemistry exam results.

Two details catch IB students out:

• Mathematics A, which most engineering, science and economics degrees require, is replaced by Applications and Interpretation only at Higher Level. Analysis and Approaches counts at either level.
• Portuguese is replaced only by Portuguese A at Higher Level. The deliberation names Portuguese A: Literature SL, Portuguese A: Language and Literature SL and Portuguese B (SL and HL) among the exams that do not qualify.

Foreign exams taken since 2022 can be used for five years: the year you sit them and the following four. Minimum grades for the exams and for the overall application score are set by each institution and pair of programme and institution, not by CNAES.

Your application score then combines your secondary school result with the entrance exam grades, on the 0 to 200 scale described in the national contest guide. For a foreign diploma you first need its equivalence to Portuguese secondary education. Ask the access office of your first-choice institution how your IB results will be converted before you apply.

Route 2: the contest for international students

Here there is no national table. Each institution publishes a call stating which qualifications it accepts and how it ranks applicants. Two examples from official pages:

• Nova School of Business and Economics names the IB in its call for international students. For the 2026/27 intake the BSc in Economics and the BSc in Management asked for at least 36 points, with at least 6 in Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches HL or Applications and Interpretation HL. Proof of English was IELTS 6, TOEFL iBT 80 or equivalent, unless English is your mother tongue or your schooling was in English.
• The Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon ranked international applicants for 2026/27 by their final secondary school grade, on a 100 to 200 scale, with a minimum of 100. Applicants had to show results covering the subjects of the Portuguese entrance exams for the chosen degree, and Portuguese at B1, or commit to a one-year Portuguese course.

Timing: earlier than your results

International contests often open in winter. At the Faculty of Sciences in Lisbon the first phase for 2026/27 ran from 2 January to 6 February 2026, and the second from 6 April to 22 May. IB results for the May session come out in early July. In practice you apply with predicted grades or school reports, and the institution tells you which documents it accepts at application and which at enrolment. Check this in the call before you apply, and keep your school ready to send official documents quickly.

The national contest runs over the summer in phases, so its first phase fits the July results better.

Language

Most bachelor's degrees in Portugal are taught in Portuguese. Our catalogue lists 2 programmes in English out of 1,438. For the Portuguese certificates institutions accept, see Portuguese language exams.

Where to look next

• How to get into a university in Portugal
• How much it costs to study in Portugal
• Document recognition for Portugal
• IB Diploma and universities in continental Europe
• All programmes and cities in Portugal

Official sources

• DGES: replacing entrance exams with foreign exams (in Portuguese)
• Deliberação n.º 619/2026 of CNAES: table of accepted foreign exams for 2026/27 (in Portuguese)
• Nova SBE: bachelor's admission for international students
• Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon: call for international students 2026/27 (in Portuguese)

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