{"id":558,"date":"2022-12-07T13:37:32","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T13:37:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/?page_id=558"},"modified":"2026-10-28T21:36:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T21:36:41","slug":"education","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/where-to-seek-help\/education\/","title":{"rendered":"Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Primary and secondary education<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Education for children aged 6-18 is obligatory in Portugal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asylum-seeking and refugee children have access to public education under the same conditions as nationals and third-country nationals whose mother tongue is not Portuguese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Enrolment in schools (primary, lower and upper secondary education levels) requires a procedure for the recognition of foreign academic qualifications or a placement based on available information related to academic record, but <strong>children must be granted immediate access to schools and classes while that procedure is pending<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In order to enroll children in school at primary, lower, and upper secondary levels, the following conditions apply:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>1. Placement through recognition of academic qualifications \u2013 if documents on previous academic records are available.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In order to obtain recognition\/equivalence, you need to present the <strong>documents certifying academic qualifications <\/strong>of your children to the school in your area of residence. Asylum seekers and refugees are <strong>exempted <\/strong>from the requirement of translating them as well as authenticating them through the Portuguese embassy in the country that issued the document, or through the embassy of that country in Portugal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Upon presenting relevant documentation, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dge.mec.pt\/\">General Directorate for Education (DGE)<\/a> is responsible for granting the equivalence of academic qualifications.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>While the analysis is pending, children must be conditionally enrolled in school enabling them to attend school activities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2. Placement without recognition of academic qualifications \u2013 in the absence of documents on previous academic records:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In order to request placement of a child in school you need to present:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A <strong>sworn statement<\/strong> issued by the parents\/legal guardian specifying the number of school years completed;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A <strong>statement<\/strong> by a competent entity (such as the Immigration and Borders Service (SEF), the Portuguese Refugee Council (CPR), the High Commission for Migration (ACM) or your hosting institution) <strong>confirming the exceptional individual circumstances <\/strong>of the applicant;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Any available document concerning previous qualifications of the applicant, so that it can be added to the process.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>While the analysis is pending, children must be conditionally enrolled in school enabling them to attend school activities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information on the measures related to education at the primary, lower and upper secondary level, <a href=\"http:\/\/dge.mec.pt\/criancas-e-jovens-refugiados-medidas-educativas#3._FAQ\">visit a dedicated website of the General Directorate for Education (DGE)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Higher education<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you are an asylum seeker, refugee or a beneficiary of subsidiary protection, you are entitled to apply for a <strong>status of student in an emergency situation for humanitarian reasons<\/strong>. The application should be made directly at the university where you are enrolled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Students with such status <strong>pay the same university fees as national students<\/strong> and have <strong>access to social support<\/strong> available for national students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Universities can also establish specific procedures of evaluation and access of students in this situation, when documents on previous academic records are not available. The assessment is made on a case-by-case basis and different criteria may apply by each university.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t<div\n\t\t\tclass=\"content-block content-block__list-wrap wp-block-help-unhcr-content-block\"\t\t\tstyle=\"background-color:#E5E5E5; padding:30px 12px;\"\t\t>\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"content-block__heading\"  >See also<\/h2>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"content-block__description\" ><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block__row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block__item help-unhcr-buttons\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block__button btn btn-info w-100 mb-12 fw-bold text-start btn-has-right-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/rights\/\" >Rights &amp; Responsibilities<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/wp-content\/themes\/help-unhcr\/images\/icons\/blue\/Right_Arrow.svg\" class=\"help-topic-svg-icon button-icon-right\" alt=\"Right_Arrow icon\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block__item help-unhcr-buttons\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block__button btn btn-info w-100 mb-12 fw-bold text-start btn-has-right-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/where-to-seek-help\/language-training\/\" >Language training<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/wp-content\/themes\/help-unhcr\/images\/icons\/blue\/Right_Arrow.svg\" class=\"help-topic-svg-icon button-icon-right\" alt=\"Right_Arrow icon\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block__item help-unhcr-buttons\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block__button btn btn-info w-100 mb-12 fw-bold text-start btn-has-right-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/where-to-seek-help\/\" >Where to find help and services<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/wp-content\/themes\/help-unhcr\/images\/icons\/blue\/Right_Arrow.svg\" class=\"help-topic-svg-icon button-icon-right\" alt=\"Right_Arrow icon\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block__item help-unhcr-buttons\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block__button btn btn-info w-100 mb-12 fw-bold text-start btn-has-right-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/information-for-people-fleeing-ukraine\/\" >Information for people fleeing Ukraine<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/wp-content\/themes\/help-unhcr\/images\/icons\/blue\/Right_Arrow.svg\" class=\"help-topic-svg-icon button-icon-right\" alt=\"Right_Arrow icon\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Primary and secondary education Education for children aged 6-18 is obligatory in Portugal. Asylum-seeking and refugee children have access to public education under the same conditions as nationals and third-country nationals whose mother tongue is not Portuguese. Enrolment in schools (primary, lower and upper secondary education levels) requires a procedure for the recognition of foreign [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":335,"featured_media":0,"parent":811,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"topics":[20],"audiences":[],"class_list":["post-558","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","topics-education"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/335"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1295,"href":"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/558\/revisions\/1295"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=558"},{"taxonomy":"audiences","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/help.unhcr.org\/portugal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/audiences?post=558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}