Portugal - Educational System—overview

The educational system as it was established by the Law 46/86 has a number of divisions:

1. preschool education;
2. basic education with three cycles; the first cycle is four years, the second cycle is two years, and the third cycle is three years, with the first six years of basic education being compulsory and free;
3. Secondary education lasts three years, with a choice among general courses, technological courses, vocational courses, and courses of specialized artistic education;
4. higher education is divided into university education and polytechnic education, and the student can graduate with a bacharelato (bachelor's degree) or licenciatura (license to teach);
5. Mestrado (master's degree), and
6. Doutorado (doctorate degree).

The school year runs from October through July. Schools have double and even triple shifts in some cases (morning, afternoon, and evening). The curricula are formulated by the Ministry of Education. In addition to public schools, there are also private ones, mainly Roman Catholic. There is also indirect education in remote and peripheral zones with the use of television, although the government is trying to make the whole system direct. The school year is divided into two semesters of 15 to 16 weeks each. There is an effort to have classes no larger than 25 pupils. Each teacher is responsible for one subject.