August is already here, can September be far behind? It is another back-to-school season. Are you worried about your children's schooling after just immigrating to Portugal or preparing to immigrate to Portugal?
Kindergartens in Portugal are primarily private, though there are a very small number of public schools run by churches and municipal governments, which mainly cater to children from low-income families. These schools charge fees based on family income. If the per capita family income is below the national standard, it is completely free. Due to limited capacity, 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 longer school hours compared to public ones (school hours: 7:00-20:00), and they provide transportation for children. For dual-income families with good financial conditions, private kindergartens are a better choice.
Portugal mandates that children under 15 must attend school, and since 2008, this compulsory education age has been raised to 18. Some families send their children to private primary schools and public secondary schools. This is mainly not due to concerns about teaching quality, but to save time and for 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. These international schools follow a curriculum 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 between 600 and 1,200 euros per month, which is twice the fee of a Portuguese private school of the same level. Overall, the educational level of private schools is slightly better than that of public ones. In fact, the teaching quality of many public schools is not low.
Please keep the following points in mind when attending school in Portugal:
1) Children must attend a public or private school if they turn 6 years old by September 15 of the current year. If there are vacancies, children who turn 6 between September 16 and December 31 may also be accepted by public schools. Private schools are not subject to this restriction and usually enroll children who turn 6 by the end of the year. However, some public primary schools have preschool classes that enroll children aged 5 to under 6, free of charge.
2) Public schools do not charge tuition from primary to secondary school, but universities do. Tuition for public universities is approximately 500-900 euros per year.
3) Students under 10 years old (i.e., students in grades 1-4 of primary school) cannot go to school alone; they must be accompanied by parents or an adult designated by the parents to and from school. School hours are usually 9:00-12:30 in the morning and 1:30-5:30 in the afternoon. Students can have lunch at school, and most public primary schools charge for lunch. 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" to look after them 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 children cannot drop out before the age of 18.
5) In Portugal, primary and secondary schools are managed in groups based on regions: several schools form a school cluster, with one of them exercising administrative management. 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 authority. You can choose 5 schools closer to you and rank them according to your preference. Registration requires copies of ID cards, medical cards, proof of residence (utility bills for water, electricity, or gas), etc., and the originals must be presented.
6) Transferring schools. You can transfer from a private school to a public school, and vice versa. Transfers within the same grade can be made at any time. If you want to advance a grade after transferring, you must apply at the end of the school year. You can also choose 5 schools closer to you for transfers.
7) The school year in Portugal runs from mid-September to mid-June of the following year. There are two short holidays (two weeks each for Christmas and Easter) and three examination periods. The total score for exams is 20 points. The transition from junior high to high school requires a national unified examination. The unified exam usually covers only three subjects, and the score accounts for less than 50% of the total grade. Regular exam scores account for more than 50% of the total grade. Similarly, entering university also requires taking a national unified exam, and regular exam scores also account for a certain proportion. In addition, the most difficult university to get into in Portugal is medical school, where students need an average school grade of around 19 points.
