School rankings 2025: the top 37 places go to private schools. State schools in the Lisbon and Setúbal districts fare worst
On 30 October newspapers published school rankings based on the 2025 national exams. The Ministry of Education's data usually comes out in spring; this time it was released more than a year after the exams. A school's place in the ranking depends on its students' average mark in the first round of secondary school exams (secundário, years 10–12). The Lusa news agency's ranking includes schools where more than 100 exams were sat: 479 state schools and 91 private ones (Jornal Económico).
The top places again went to private schools in and around Porto: Grande Colégio Universal with 16.93 out of 20, Colégio Nossa Senhora do Rosário with 16.59 and Colégio Efanor in Matosinhos with 16.32. The best school in the Lisbon area is the private Academia de Música de Santa Cecília, in fourth place. The highest-placed state school is only 38th: Conservatório de Música do Porto, with 14.01. Three of the top ten state schools are arts schools. Lisbon's entries on the list include Escola Secundária D. Filipa de Lencastre (second among state schools) and Colégio Militar.
Average marks rose at both state and private schools, but comparisons with the previous year need care: since 2025 the Portuguese exam has been compulsory for all students finishing school, and it now makes up almost a third of all exams in the ranking, compared with 16% before. Of the 223 state schools with an average above the national average, 61.9% are in the north. And of the 60 state schools with an average below 10 out of 20, almost the same share, 61.7%, are in the Lisbon and Setúbal districts. This is also where the teacher shortage is worst. Among the weakest are the secondary schools in Baixa da Banheira in the municipality of Moita, in Odivelas and in Camarate, and the Gil Vicente school in Lisbon.
The results of the year 9 exams (provas finais) in Portuguese and maths, marked on a five-point scale, were analysed separately. The national average fell from 2.91 to 2.87. Only 25.2% of the 1,043 schools have an average of at least 3, down from 32.5% a year earlier. Among state schools, 83% have an average below 3, while 82% of private schools are above it. The best state schools in these exams are in the big cities, in the neighbourhoods with the most expensive housing: Parque das Nações, Telheiras and Alvalade in Lisbon, and Foz in Porto (Notícias ao Minuto).
You can find your school's place in the Observador table. Our guide How to choose a school in Portugal explains how to weigh the ranking against a school's other features.
