Kindergartens are primarily private, though there are a very small number of public schools run by churches or municipal governments, which mainly cater to children from low-income families. These schools charge fees based on household income. If the per capita family income is below the national standard, it is completely free of charge. Due to limited spots, public kindergartens do not accept children from high-income families. Monthly fees for private kindergartens range from 300 to 600 Euros. Their advantage lies in the fact that student attendance hours are 2-3 hours longer than public ones (school hours: 7:00-20:00), and they provide transportation services. For dual-income families with good financial conditions, private kindergartens are a relatively good choice.
Portugal mandates that children under 15 years old must attend school; since 2008, this compulsory education age has been raised to 18 years old. Some families send their children to private elementary schools and public middle schools. This is mainly not due to concerns about teaching quality, but to save time and ensure peace of mind. Among private schools, there is a special category: various language schools, such as English schools run by Americans and British, or German and French schools run by Germans and French, respectively. Teaching at these international schools is synchronized with Portuguese schools, which is conducive to cultivating children's foreign language skills. If financial conditions permit, this is also one of the better choices. However, these schools charge 600-1200 Euros per month, which is twice the fee of Portuguese private schools of the same level. Overall, the education quality of private schools is slightly better than that of public ones. In fact, many public schools also offer high teaching quality.
Please keep the following points in mind when attending school in Portugal:
1) Children who turn 6 by September 15 of the current year must attend a public or private school. If there are remaining spots, children who turn 6 between September 16 and December 31 may also be accepted into public schools. Private schools are not subject to this restriction and usually accept children who turn 6 by the end of the year. However, some public primary schools have pre-school classes that accept children who have turned 5 but are not yet 6, free of charge.
2) Public schools do not charge tuition from primary school to high school; universities charge tuition. Public university tuition is approximately 500-900 Euros per year.
3) Students under 10 years of age (i.e., students in primary school grades 1-4) cannot go to school alone; they must be accompanied by parents or adults designated by parents when going to and from school. School hours are usually from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM to 5:30 PM. Students can have lunch at school, and most public primary schools charge a lunch fee. During school hours, students are not allowed to leave the school without parental accompaniment. If you want to extend your child's time at school, you can entrust your child to the school's "Free Time Management Center" and ask them to look after your child after school. This way, you can drop them off at 8:00 AM and pick them up at 7:00 PM. The supervision fee is usually around 100-150 Euros per month (paid for 11 months per year). This is much cheaper than the private schools mentioned above.
4) Since 2008, the country has implemented 12 years of compulsory education, meaning that children cannot drop out of school before they turn 18.
5) In Portugal, primary and secondary schools are managed in groups by region: several schools form a school cluster, with one of them exercising administrative power. Parents can only send their children to schools near their place of residence. When registering, you must go to the office of the school with administrative power. You can choose 5 schools near you and rank them according to your preference. When registering, you need to provide: copies of ID cards, medical cards, proof of residence (utility bills, etc.), and you must present the originals.
6) Changing schools: You can transfer from a private school to a public school, and vice versa. You can transfer in the same grade at any time. If you want to move to a higher grade after transferring, you must apply at the end of the school year. When transferring, you can also choose 5 schools near you.
7) The Portugal school year starts from mid-September and ends in mid-June of the following year. There are two short holidays in between (two weeks each during Christmas and Easter), and three examination periods. The total score for exams is 20 points. Moving from middle school to high school requires a national unified exam. The unified exam usually covers only three subjects, and the score accounts for less than 50% of the total. Regular examination scores account for more than 50% of the total. Similarly, attending university also requires participating in the national unified exam, and regular examination scores also account for a certain proportion. In addition, the most difficult university to get into in Portugal is medical school, which requires students to have an average school grade of around 19 points.
