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Schools in Portugal – Creche Feliz, pre-school at 3, enrolment dates and the €697 university fee

Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →

Schools in Portugal follow national rules, but the bill for lunch and after-school care depends on your câmara municipal. Here is how the free crèche scheme works, when to enrol for 2026/27, what a child from a foreign school goes through, and what a public university may charge.

Teacher helping pupils at their desks in front of a chalkboard
Photo: Pixel-Shot/Adobe Stock

Two recent changes shape a family move to Portugal. Since 1 January 2024 the free crèche scheme Creche Feliz has also covered crèches run by municipalities, public universities and public institutes. And since 19 May 2026 a minor born here to foreign parents is naturalised free of charge only if a parent has five years' legal residence and the child regularly attends compulsory schooling.

Schools in Portugal run on national rules, identical in Lisbon, Porto, Braga and Coimbra; the câmara municipal (town hall) decides meals, school social support and the fees for pre-school care outside teaching hours.

How does the school system in Portugal work?

Schooling is compulsory from age 6 to 18, years 1 to 12, and the Directorate-General for Education (DGE) says every child must attend, whatever their immigration status. Educação pré-escolar (pre-school) is optional from age 3; crèches for under-3s come under the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

StageAges or yearsCompulsory?Who pays
Creche (crèche)0–3NoFree under Creche Feliz if born on or after 1 September 2021
Educação pré-escolar3 to primary entryNoFive teaching hours a day free in public and non-profit schools; other hours charged by income
Ensino básico (three cycles)Years 1–4, 5–6 and 7–9YesFree, textbooks free; meals via the câmara municipal
Ensino secundárioYears 10–12YesFree, textbooks free

Source: DGE, DGEstE and the ePortugal service portal, read 24 September 2026.

Creche Feliz and pre-school – what is free, and what the câmara charges

Creche Feliz, phased in from 1 September 2022 under Lei 2/2022, pays the fee and meals – not optional activities, transport, nappies or uniforms – for every child born on or after 1 September 2021 in a solidarity-network crèche (IPSS – private social-solidarity institutions), with a Social Security childminder (ama) or, when the solidarity network is full, in a participating for-profit, municipal or public-university crèche; children born earlier qualify only in the first or second income bracket. The Social Security app Creche Feliz shows free places near home or work; if the solidarity network has none, choose a participating private crèche and ask Social Security for the exemption.

Pre-school is universal from the year your child turns 4: under Lei 65/2015 the State must guarantee a place and a free teaching component – five hours a day, groups of 20 to 25 – in public and non-profit schools; only for-profit private schools charge for it. Early drop-off, lunch, after-school activities and holidays (the AAAF) are charged by family income under a national formula, but the tables are local: Porto prices meals by social-support bracket on its Portal do Munícipe, Coimbra books lunches weekly on its SIGA platform by 15:00 the day before, and Lisbon's pages could not be read on 24 September 2026. Free pre-school at 3 is a Government objective, not a right.

When do you enrol for 2026/27?

Enrolment (matrícula) is online on the Portal das Matrículas with a Cartão de Cidadão (citizen card), a Chave Móvel Digital (the State's digital ID) or Portal das Finanças credentials, or in person at the escola sede (head school) of the agrupamento (school cluster) for your area, with a photo, the child's NIF (número de identificação fiscal – tax number), SNS (Serviço Nacional de Saúde – health service) user number and NISS (social security number) if they have them, and your own ID, NIF and address. You list five schools in order of preference; priority goes to children with special educational needs, then pupils already in the cluster, siblings, school-social-support families in the catchment area, then residence and workplace there, then age. Every child of compulsory-school age is guaranteed a public place in their area or the nearest school; Anna Andersson, arriving in Porto in October with a seven-year-old, still enrols at the cluster, ranked after those on time.

EnrolmentWhen (school year 2026/27)
Pre-school and year 122 April – 1 June 2026
Years 2, 3, 4 and 51 – 13 July 2026
Years 6, 7, 8, 9 and 1116 – 29 June 2026
Years 10 and 1215 – 22 July 2026
Age rulesYear 1 is compulsory for children who turn 6 by 15 September, conditional for birthdays up to 31 December; pre-school priority for children who turn 3 by 15 September
Renewal and transfersAutomatic into years 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 11; mid-year transfers by the fifth school day of the second term, except on a change of residence

Source: DGEstE and the ePortugal service portal, read 24 September 2026.

From a foreign school: equivalence and PLNM lessons

A child from a school abroad enrols on the same portal, but the place becomes definitive only once the equivalence of foreign qualifications is granted under Decreto-Lei 7/2025; request it at a school in your area (DGE itself decides for IB, Cambridge and international schools abroad). Equivalence is free and takes a reference 30 days once the file is complete: certificates legalised (consulate or Hague Apostille) and officially translated, showing years passed and grades. An equivalence granted in another country is not recognised.

Pupils whose mother tongue is not Portuguese take a placement test and join a PLNM level (Português Língua Não Materna – Portuguese as a non-mother tongue) from zero to B2/C1 in every public school; with at least ten pupils a separate group replaces the Portuguese lessons, and PLNM pupils sit PLNM exams in years 9 and 12 instead of the Portuguese ones. Brazilian pupils are not placed in PLNM. Schools can call AIMA's telephone translation service (AIMA – Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo, the immigration agency that replaced SEF) on 217 115 000.

The school year 2026/27

Term or breakDates
1st termBetween 11 and 15 September 2026 (21 September for scientific-humanistic secondary courses, Despacho 10430/2026) to 15 December 2026
Breaks16 – 31 December 2026; 8 – 10 February 2027 (Carnival); 22 March – 2 April 2027 (Easter)
2nd term4 January – 19 March 2027
3rd term5 April 2027 to 4 June (years 9, 11 and 12), 11 June (years 5–8 and 10) or 30 June 2027 (pre-school and years 1–4)

Source: Despacho 8368/2024 and Despacho 10430/2026 in the Diário da República, read 24 September 2026.

University in Portugal – the €697 cap and the international student contest

For 2025/26 the maximum annual fee (propina) a public institution may set for CTeSP, licenciatura (bachelor's) and integrated master's programmes stayed at €697, according to DGES (Direção-Geral do Ensino Superior); other master's, PhD and private fees are set by each institution. Under the international student statute, non-Portuguese applicants go through a special contest run by each institution – except EU and EEA nationals and their families, and non-EU nationals with more than two uninterrupted years of legal residence on 1 January of the year of entry, who apply like Portuguese students. What international-status students pay is not on the DGES pages read.

Non-EU students need a residence visa for study (€110, free with a Portuguese scholarship), then a residence permit from AIMA valid three years and renewable; they may work alongside their studies, with no hour limit in the law. Since 11 September 2026 (Lei 62/2026) a student who entered legally can no longer get the permit without the visa first – AIMA's page had not been updated on 24 September 2026. After a master's or PhD you can apply for a one-year job-search permit. EU students register for the CRUE (certificado de registo de cidadão da União Europeia) at the câmara municipal after three months.

What to do now

StepWhatWhen
1Under 3: search the Creche Feliz app for a free placeAs soon as you have an address
2From 3: enrol on the Portal das Matrículas, five schools in order of preference22 April – 1 June for September; any time mid-year
3Foreign certificates: legalise, translate, request equivalenceAt enrolment
4Ask the school or câmara municipal about meals and AAAF fees; request the free-textbook (MEGA) vouchersBefore term starts
5University: general or international contest?Three months before the institution's deadline

Source: DGE, DGEstE, DGES, Social Security and AIMA, read 24 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 24 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.