According to Article 20th of the Decree nr. 296-A/98, foreign secondary education graduates can request the substitution of the admission exams required for the course they are applying to by the foreign school-leaving exams that are equivalent to said admission exams, as long as:

– The foreign school- leaving exams are national exams or local exams recognized on a national level in the country where they are taken;
– They are equivalent to the Portuguese admission exams (albeit with different names, the exams have same level and similar goals and contents of the Portuguese admission(s) exams).
– The student obtained in the required school-leaving exams a minimum of 95 marks, in a scale of 0 to 200.

Note: The school-leaving exams can be used for the same period as the Portuguese national exams: the year they are taken and the two following years.

Documentation necessary to submit the request:

1. Foreign secondary education diploma or certificate with:
– the course’s final classification AND classification of the school-leaving exams that are equivalent to the Portuguese admission exams;
– authentication by the respective Portuguese diplomatic authorities or bear The Hague Convention stamp;
2. If issued in a language other than Portuguese, English, French or Spanish, the document must be translated by a officially recognized translator;
3. Proof of correspondence of foreign secondary education level (issued by the Portuguese secondary education school), with the course’s final classification (in a scale of 0 to 200).
The substitution request can be made:
– In person at a Higher Education Access Office of the Directorate-General for Higher Education;
– Online: at www.dges.mctes.pt
# Notwithstanding this online submission, students will still have to give the above identified documentation at a Higher Education Access Office. After submitting the request online, they will receive an email with a receipt (that confirms that the online form was duly filled in and that the request was submitted). This receipt must be given in at the Higher Education Access Office with the above identified documentation.

Last update: 01.03.2016