After year 9 in Portugal: exams, choosing a track and getting into university
A guide for families whose child is finishing 9.º ano (year 9) in Portugal or moving here after year 9 at a Russian school. You will sort out the documents, choose a programme for years 10–12 and match school subjects to university requirements in good time.
Work out what stage your child is at
In Portugal, 9.º ano (year 9) completes ensino básico (basic education), and ensino secundário (upper secondary school) covers years 10–12. After year 9 a child chooses not just a new school but a track of study.
If your child already attends a Portuguese school, their marks and exam results are in the school system. If year 9 was completed abroad, you will first need their school documents and, as a rule, equivalência de habilitações estrangeiras (recognition of foreign schooling).
“My son went to an ordinary school, Escola Básica das Olaias, and there were no places in our area, so they gave us one in the next area. The school itself isn’t wow, but the teachers were mostly very engaged and supportive. To be honest, I wanted to move him after year 7 (he started in February), but in that time he’d made friends with some of the kids, so we decided he’d finish year 9 there and go somewhere else for year 10. I can’t really recommend it as a school, the area around it isn’t great. But at the time it did its job, my son settled in, picked up Portuguese, made friends. Now he’s going into year 10 at a different one”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal03.09.2025
Prepare the documents from a school abroad
Get the certificate or letter confirming completion of year 9, the full sheet of end-of-year marks and a document that states plainly that your child has been moved up or admitted to year 10. Russian documents usually need an apostila (apostille) and a certified translation into Portuguese; it is best to confirm the exact form of certification with the receiving school in advance.
The application for equivalência (equivalence) is usually made at a state or private school authorised to deal with it — where you live or where your child is going to study. The school checks the length of schooling, the subjects, the marks and the rules for the country that issued the document. Do not count on a certificate alone, without marks and a note about moving up, always being enough.
If you later plan to use a Russian 11-year school certificate instead of the Portuguese year 12, apply for equivalence in advance. Without proof of the final state exams, the schooling may not be recognised as Portuguese year 11 or year 12.
“For the older one, apart from the certificate of completing year 9, you also need to get a letter with the marks, and it should say ‘moved up to year 10’.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatalgarve05.08.2026
Arrange language support
Ask the school to carry out a language assessment and decide whether your child can study PLNM — Português Língua Não Materna (Portuguese as a non-native language). The school decides the level and form of support; PLNM is not given automatically for a fixed number of years.
In year 9, language affects not only communication but also understanding problems in maths and other subjects. School PLNM is sometimes not enough: it helps to work separately on school vocabulary, written answers and text analysis. After moving on to ordinary Português (Portuguese), the demands are noticeably higher.
“my eldest started at a local school in the middle of year 7, now it’s the middle of year 9. luckily we gave up the parallel online school in russia this year, the child has B2 in portuguese. A year and a half with a tutor and now she’s swimming on her own, goes to regular portuguese at school and will take the exam in it too.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal11.12.2025
“When we moved, my son was the same age as yours. He started lessons with a tutor, and at the same time we applied to a school. School PLMN (Portuguese for foreigners) is more of an add-on to the tutor, extra practice, revision and so on. But in our case PLMN wouldn’t have replaced the tutor. Now he’s gone into year 10, he’s no longer entitled to PLMN because he passed the B1 exam, and he still works with the tutor because the topics are hard, the terminology, the specifics of individual subjects, and Portuguese that isn’t for foreigners is hard too.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal09.10.2025
Prepare for the year 9 final exams
At the end of 9.º ano (year 9), pupils sit provas finais (final exams) in Português (Portuguese) or the assigned PLNM option, and in Matemática (maths). Check with the school the exam codes, eligibility, the dates of the first and second rounds and the materials allowed: these details are published for each school year.
Usually the prova final (final exam) result makes up 30% of the final mark in the subject and the school mark 70%. Marks in other subjects also matter for completing year 9: the school has to check whether the conditions for moving up have been met.
It is best to prepare with the official papers from IAVE — Instituto de Avaliação Educativa (the education assessment institute), their marking criteria and timed mock exams. Knowing the maths itself does not always make up for not understanding the Portuguese wording.
“2 years ago the maths exam was easy and the Portuguese one was hard. I did the maths with no trouble at all just out of interest afterwards, when my daughter brought the papers home. Even though I finished school in 1998. But the A2 Portuguese was tough. I didn’t understand the text at all, even though I was B1 at the time.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkHigherEducationPortugal16.06.2025
Choose a track for years 10–12
For going on to university, families most often choose cursos científico-humanísticos (academic programmes): Ciências e Tecnologias (science and technology), Ciências Socioeconómicas (socio-economic sciences), Línguas e Humanidades (languages and humanities) or Artes Visuais (visual arts).
There are also cursos profissionais (vocational programmes), cursos artísticos especializados (specialised arts programmes) and other options. A vocational programme gives a secondary education and a level 4 qualification, but the route to university has to be planned separately: national exams or a special admissions competition may be needed.
First pick a few possible university programmes and check their provas de ingresso (entrance subjects). Then compare the requirements with the subjects of the chosen school track. If your child goes straight into year 11, part of the year 10 specialist programme may have to be covered on their own.
“Well yes, you have to look for a secundária in advance. When we were renting, we found out straight away what the upper secondary schools were like. In the end, between two good secundárias, we got into one of them (at the higher-ranked one, which was our higher priority, they offered to change the choice of extra subjects, my son didn’t want to). All the same, with secundárias there are far fewer problems applying for year 10 than for some random year in the middle of the cycle.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal08.10.2024
“After 2 years at a Portuguese school it will be the A2 level PLNM exam. Also, the specialist subjects of the track are taught for 2 years — years 10 and 11. The year 10 material will already have been missed and will have to be learnt somehow on your own. Or else go into year 10 rather than 11, but that will lower the certificate grade even more.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkHigherEducationPortugal04.06.2025
Apply for matrícula in year 10
The application is made through the Portal das Matrículas (school enrolment portal) or through the school’s secretaria (school office) if the portal will not accept the details or the foreign documents have not yet been entered into the system. To log in, a parent usually needs a Chave Móvel Digital (digital mobile key), a Cartão de Cidadão (citizen card) or their Portal das Finanças (tax portal) login.
List several schools in order of priority and only the tracks your family is really prepared to accept. A place depends on more than the school’s ranking: the yearly priority rules, your address, whether the programme is offered and free places all count. A popular school may offer a different track or place your child at another school.
The matrícula dates are set afresh for each school year. For 2026/27 the main window for year 10 enrolment was in July; after it closes, still contact your current school, the school you want and the Portal das Matrículas, but the choice of places and tracks may already be smaller.
“let me share my experience — I applied for matrícula at the end of November last year for year 12 — they found a place within a week. This is Vila Nova de Gaia.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal16.01.2026
“They can refuse all right. Portimão. We applied in summer through the website during the application period. Then went to the agrupamento in person twice before the allocation. No places. We wrote to the head and to the Ministry. Didn’t care. They gave us a place at the other end of town after we went to the Ministry in person. Year 9. Kindergarten — only a private one, and we barely got in, with the other child.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatalgarve29.12.2024
Plan subjects and exams for years 10–12
Do not leave the choice of exams until year 12. On the DGES — Direção-Geral do Ensino Superior (Directorate-General for Higher Education) website, open the pages of the programmes you want and note down: the provas de ingresso (entrance exams) accepted, the minimum scores, the compulsory pré-requisitos (prerequisites) and the formula for the admission score.
Under the current rules for completing academic upper secondary school, Português (Portuguese) is part of the compulsory set of national exams, and the pupil chooses two more exams within the set rules; at least one of them belongs to the specialist part of the programme. Matemática A (Maths A) is not automatically needed by everyone, but it is often required for engineering, science and economics programmes. The rules and transitional arrangements have changed, so check for your year of entry on EduQA (from 2026 the work of DGE — Direção-Geral da Educação is moving there), IAVE and DGES.
For a subject whose national exam is used to complete school, the result affects the final subject mark. For admission, the same exam can be counted separately as a prova de ingresso. Usually at least 95 points out of 200 are needed in an entrance exam, but a university may set a higher threshold.
“At the end of year 12, after the exams, they’ll give you a sheet with your average mark. The exam result will have a big effect on it. And another thing: lots of my daughter’s classmates, with an overall average mark of 15-16, got a fail in the exam and weren’t allowed to apply to university. You need to pass the exam with at least 10.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkHigherEducationPortugal20.05.2025
“You can buy the book ‘preparing for Maths A year 12’ in any bookshop — it has sample problems. I don’t know if the papers are online — for Portuguese as a national language they are. Again, it’s all in the curriculum, what exactly will be in the exam — nobody knows. This year maths was taken off the list of compulsory exams, so you can expect it to get harder. The funny one was philosophy, when the content of the exam didn’t match either the textbook or the school course programme at all.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkmyptaxes10.04.2026
Get the Ficha ENES and apply to university
After year 12, ask the school for the Ficha ENES (a statement of marks and exam results). For the Concurso Nacional de Acesso (national admissions competition), the application is made online through DGES, listing programmes and universities in order of priority.
The admission score is not always simply 50% school certificate and 50% exams. Each university publishes its own formula: the secondary school mark usually counts for at least 50%, the provas de ingresso (entrance exams) for at least 35%, and the rest may depend on prerequisites.
Check the admission route separately. For some foreigners the concurso especial para estudantes internacionais (special competition for international students) applies rather than the general DGES competition. This depends on nationality, family status and how long you have lived here legally; a Portuguese school or a residence permit alone is not enough to decide the route automatically.
“I’ve had this experience) my daughter applied. You don’t have to upload the residence card there, just give the card number and its expiry date. Everything else — marks, exam codes, school number and place of residence — loads automatically through your personal account on the DGES platform. All the data is there. And a personal password to log in to the platform.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkHigherEducationPortugal30.07.2025
What it costs, according to community conversations
| maths, year 10 | €35 for a new textbook that was not in the school set | source |
| year 10 maths textbook | €35 | source |
What changed
- 28 August 2026 — added a link to the guide on getting into university
- 26 August 2026 — added readers' stories
What to bring
- your child’s passport or other identity document
- the parent’s or legal guardian’s identity document
- proof of relationship or guardianship
- the child’s and parent’s NIF, if already issued
- proof of address
- certificate or letter confirming completion of year 9
- sheet of marks for the last school year
- letter stating that the child has moved up to year 10
- apostille or other required legalisation
- certified translation of the documents into Portuguese
- the equivalence decision, if you already have it
- vaccination certificate and medical information
- reports on special educational needs
- login details for the Portal das Matrículas
- list of schools and tracks in order of priority
Where people most often trip up
- year 9 completes ensino básico, and upper secondary school only starts in year 10
- the certificate may have no marks and no note about moving up to year 10
- an apostille on a document does not replace a certified translation into Portuguese
- equivalence for years of schooling abroad sometimes drags on for months
- the school assigns PLNM after an assessment, not just because the family asks
- a popular school may have no places on the exact track you need
- the chosen track may not include the exam the university requires
- a vocational programme does not close the route to university, but it changes how you prepare
- years 9 and 12 have different exams and different scoring rules
- the admission formula depends on the university programme and is not always 50/50
- a foreign applicant needs to work out their admission route in advance
- a Russian 11-year school certificate without proof of the final exams may not be recognised as equivalent to Portuguese year 12
How it went for people
Enrolling twins in year 10
In May a woman was enrolling her twins, who had finished year 9 in Russia, in Setúbal. The documents had been translated and certified in advance, but the school certificates only arrived just before they left — in Portugal nobody even asked for them, but the report with marks and moving up to year 10 was checked carefully. The equivalence took about 4–5 weeks. After that both children were enrolled in year 10, and each chose their own specialism.
Exams after a vocational school course
A son was on a vocational IT course and in years 10–11 spent from 8:00 to 17:00 at school, sometimes until 18:40, combining lessons with work placements. He prepared for the year 11 national exam on his own, and on the morning of the exam found he was not on the lists; his registration was restored with the help of the course leader. In year 12, after persistent requests to the new form tutor, the family began to receive exam information centrally. Two classmates who planned to go to university went back to the science and economics tracks after a year on the vocational course, so they could prepare properly for admission.
Children settling in without Portuguese
Two children were sent to a Portuguese school with almost no knowledge of the language: one into year 5, the other into year 9. Lessons with tutors achieved almost nothing because there was no practice. After 5 months the son was already speaking Portuguese, studying the year 5 programme and only occasionally using an English translation; the daughter made slower progress because she spent more time with English-speaking classmates. Neither child’s marks fell, and the teachers helped them settle in.
Kept back twice in year 9 — and still made it to year 11
The storyteller’s husband’s son, who is Portuguese, was kept back twice in year 9: he failed both maths and Portuguese. The ordinary school refused to move him up to year 10, and he moved to a school offering vocational courses. There they look above all at results in the specialist subjects: with a steady nine out of twenty in maths he still finished year 10 and moved up to year 11. He still had two more years to go — at nineteen, when people his age were already in their first year at university.
Speaking Portuguese after four months, living alone
A mother left her seventeen-year-old son on his own in Porto in November: he knew no Portuguese at all and remembered a little English from school. Having dropped out of year 11 at a Russian school, he went to an ordinary Portuguese secondary school, and she found him a place in a student residence and left in December. He was speaking Portuguese after four months, finished year 10 successfully, and in June his Portuguese teacher was planning to help him get a transfer to a stronger school. His parents only came in May — by then their son had become quite independent.
Retold in our own words from messages in open chats. The link leads to the full original message.