The National Competition for Access and Admission to Higher Education is a competition organised, annually, at national level, by the Directorate General of Higher Education – DGES and is aimed at all students who wish to enter public higher education in Portugal.
-Hold a secondary education course, or legally equivalent qualification;
Have taken, or have taken within the last two years, the national exams corresponding to the entrance examinations required for the different courses and institutions to which they will apply;
-Perform the prerequisites if they are required by the institution for the course you are applying for;
-Not being covered by the international student statute regulated by Decree-Law no. 36/2014, of March 10, amended and republished by Decree-Law no. 62/2018, of August 6.
At the time of application you must have:
-ENES sheet. This document must be requested, annually, in the secondary school where the national final examinations were taken and contains information about the marks of the valid entrance examinations, as well as the conclusion and grade of secondary education;
-Pre-requirements sheet (if applicable) issued by the higher education institution where the course was taken;
-Civil Identification Document.
The application to higher education through the national competition is made through the portal of the Direção-Geral do Ensino Superior (DGES).
Yes, the PUC has an Office for Access to Higher Education to help with applications/validation of passwords. Find out more here.
To request a password, you should fill in the form from the Directorate-General of Higher Education (DGES) of the password request form and follow the instructions presented.
Find out more here.
After submitting the password request you will receive a confirmation message at the email address you previously indicated in the form. You should confirm the request by clicking on the link in the message received. The confirmation generates a receipt of the password request that you should print and deliver in the place indicated by you (secondary school or higher education access office), so that it can be certified. After certification, you will automatically receive the password at your email address. The password will only be sent to your email address.
In the application to public higher education through the national competition, each student may apply to a maximum of six institution/course pairs, that is, to six combinations of institutions and courses, indicated by order of preference, provided that he/she meets the conditions indicated in item 2 of these FAQs.
These are the exams required by Higher Education Institutions for admission to their degree courses. Currently, the entrance exams correspond to the national final exams of secondary education.
You can consult the Guia das Provas de Ingresso published annually by the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES), in www.dges.gov.pt.
Under the terms of Deliberation no. 1233/2014 of the National Commission for Access to Higher Education, the national final exams are valid as entrance exams in the year in which they are taken and in the following two years.
From 2022 onwards, the exams will be valid in the year they are taken and for the following four years, according to CNAES Decision no. 1043/2021, of 13/10.
Prerequisites are conditions of a physical, functional or vocational nature which are particularly relevant for access to certain higher education courses.
It is up to each higher education institution to decide if the candidacy to any of its courses should be subject to the satisfaction of prerequisites and to fix their content.
The prerequisites may, depending on their nature, be eliminatory, be intended for selection and seriation or only for the seriation of candidates.
You should carry out the enrolment and registration in the Institution where you have been placed, according to the procedures set by the Higher Education Institution.
Yes, you can. Please note that if you are placed in the next stages, the previous placement is automatically cancelled.
The Higher Education Institution where the candidate was placed and carried out his/her enrolment and registration shall forward to the Institution of last placement and registration of the candidate all relevant documentation, as well as the amount received as tuition and registration fees the amounts paid, to the institution of destination.
Special competitions are competitions of a specific nature aimed at a group of candidates with specific qualification situations who are looking for an alternative way of accessing higher education, namely:
– Students who pass specially appropriate tests designed to assess the ability of those over 23 years of age to attend higher education;
– Holders of a Technological Specialization Diploma;
– Holders of a Higher Professional Technician Diploma;
– Holders of Other Higher Education Courses;
– International Students (who fall under the International Student Status – regulated by Decree-Law No. 36/2014, of March 10, amended and republished by Decree-Law No. 62/2018, of August 6);
– Holders of dual certification courses at secondary level and specialized artistic courses;
To apply, you must register on the academic management platform Inforestudante and follow the steps indicated in the application guide.
All students from secondary level vocational courses (level 4 of the National Qualifications Framework), considering for this purpose the holders of:
– Professional courses;
– Learning courses;
– Education and training courses for young people;
– Sector-wide courses from the Tourism of Portugal network of schools;
– Specialized artistic courses with dual certification for secondary education;
– Specialized artistic courses in the area of music;
– Professional training courses within the scope of the Youth Integration Training Program of the Autonomous Region of the Azores.
With a view to promoting the return of Portuguese students living abroad, students who have completed secondary-level professional careers abroad may also apply, provided that they are equivalent to Portuguese secondary education.
Despite being a special competition, applications to Public Higher Education Institutions are made at a national level, on a platform managed by the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES), and not directly at the Higher Education Institutions, as is the case with other special competitions.
The evaluation and ranking of candidates is based on cumulative criteria, namely:
– Final course grade obtained by the student;
– Classification of the final exams of the respective courses and
– Classification of the knowledge and skills assessment tests required by the HEI to which they are applying, which can be organized at local, regional or national level;
Yes, as long as they meet the required conditions, namely:
– Hold a secondary education course or legally equivalent qualification;
– Take or have taken the national exams corresponding to the entrance exams required for the different courses and institutions to which they are applying;
– Fulfil the prerequisites, if required by the institution for the course they are applying for;
– Not being covered by the international student status, regulated by Decree-Law no. 36/2014, of March 10, amended and republished by Decree-Law no. 62/2018, of August 6.
Special regimes are a way of accessing higher education for candidates who meet certain specific conditions:
– Portuguese Diplomatic Mission Abroad;
– Portuguese Scholarship Holders Abroad and Public Servants on Official Missions Abroad;
– Officers of the Portuguese Armed Forces;
– National Scholarship Holders from Portuguese-Speaking African Countries;
– Diplomatic Mission Accredited in Portugal;
– High Performance Sports Practitioners;
– Natives and Children of Natives of East Timor.
Yes, the PUC has an office to support international student applications. Find out more here.
Enrollment is the formal act by which a student enters a higher education institution for the first time.
Registration is the act that allows the enrolled student to attend a specific curricular unit(s) of a course and is carried out every academic year.
To enroll/register, you must register on the academic management platform Inforestudante.
Changing the institution/course pair is not permitted in the academic year in which the student has been placed in a higher education institution/course pair under any access and entry regime and has enrolled and registered.
At the PUC, the application for changing institution/course pair is carried out on the academic management platform Inforestudante and is established in its own regulations.
Yes. Students may request to withdraw their registration without losing their enrollment. In this case, the training completed during the course will be considered in the student’s career path should they return to higher education.
Yes. The student is obliged to pay the tuition fees, according to the date of the withdrawal request, as established in the PUC’s Tuition Fees Regulation in force.
No, the amounts paid are non-refundable.
Accreditation is understood as the recognition of training, professional experience, with the consequent attribution of corresponding credit units (ECTS) in a study plan for a course taught at the Polytechnic University of Coimbra, in accordance with applicable legislation.
Yes, according to the Academic Regulations of the 1st Cycle of Studies of the PUC, part-time registration is understood as the registration, in each academic year, of up to 45 ECTS of the total number of ECTS that can be registered for in that academic year.
Yes. You must choose between the two regimes on the platform Inforestudante.
The tuition fee payable by a part-time student is a percentage of the tuition fee set for a full-time student:
30%, if the student has enrolled up to 15 ECTS (inclusive);
50%, if the student has enrolled between 15 ECTS (exclusive) and 30 ECTS (inclusive);
70%, if the student has enrolled between 30 ECTS (exclusive) and 45 ECTS (inclusive).
Tuition fees can be paid:
– In one go, at the time of registration or enrollment, in the total amount fixed or in installments, in accordance with the PUC’s Tuition Fees Regulation in force.
Yes, registration/enrollment involves paying the first monthly tuition fee.
It is an agreement entered into between the interested party and the Higher Education Institution in which the payment of the tuition fee debt is provided for in equal, monthly and successive installments, in accordance with the Tuition Fees Regulation in force.
National and international students enrolled and registered in study cycles leading to a degree or higher professional technician degree at the PUC can access this regularization plan.
Certificates cannot be issued for curricular acts from academic years in which tuition fees have not been paid, without prejudice to situations expressly provided for by law.
Diplomas or course letters cannot be issued to students who, at the time they request them, are in debt of tuition fees for the course or cycle of studies to which they relate, without prejudice to situations expressly provided for by law.
No, students who have completed their undergraduate degree and continue their studies at the PUC are exempt from paying this fee.
The application for a grant is submitted exclusively online, through the BeOn platform, available here.
More information on this story HERE.
If you are already attending higher education but have never applied for a grant, you should apply for your credentials at the Social Services or Social Action Office of your higher education institution.
If you have already applied for a grant through the BeOn platform in a previous school year, you can use your credentials (they are still active) directly through your personal page at https://www.dges.gov.pt/wwwbeon/.
The students of the Polytechnic of Coimbra have a vast support network at their disposal. The social assistants of the PUC’s Organic Teaching Units offer opening hours to support all issues related to grants.
Consult contacts HERE
Student worker status is requested by submitting an application on the Academic Management platform Inforestudante.
Yes, however, you should bear in mind that your income will be a factor in the assessment.
Yes, as with the bachelor’s degree, the master’s student can apply for a grant.
It is a complementary document to the diploma that:
– describes the Portuguese higher education system and its integration into the educational system at the time the diploma was obtained;
– characterizes the institution that provided the education and awarded the diploma;
– characterizes the training undertaken (degree, area, access requirements, normal duration, level) and its objective;
– provides detailed information about the training carried out and the results obtained.
It is a bilingual document, written in Portuguese and English. It is informative in nature and does not replace the diploma nor does it provide proof of ownership of the qualification to which it refers.
Yes, the PUC has an office to support international student applications. Find out more here.
InforEstudante is the support platform for students of the Polytechnic University of Coimbra, forming part of the NONIO system used in the Academic Management of the Polytechnic University of Coimbra. It allows for:
- Courses Applications;
- Enrollment and Registration;
- Consulting of assessment guidelines;
- Checking Classes, Timetables and Summaries;
- Consulting of Information about Courses and Subjects;
- Diploma Supplement obtainment.
The frequently asked questions (FAQs) listed above do not dispense with consulting the information available on the DGES and PUC websites and all legislation in force.
Contacts of the Academic Services of PUC’s Schools are available here.