Portugal will make maths compulsory to Year 12. Humanities students can drop it after Year 9 today
Education minister Fernando Alexandre told parliament on 4 November that all upper-secondary students will share a common core with maths in Years 10 to 12, in every course, from the 2028/2029 school year. The new curriculum framework goes to public consultation first.
Every upper-secondary student in Portugal will study maths in Years 10, 11 and 12, whatever course they take. Education minister Fernando Alexandre announced it on Wednesday 4 November, opening the parliamentary hearing on the 2027 education budget, and Diário de Notícias laid out the new curriculum plan: a common core with maths all the way through, then more freedom to choose. It applies from the 2028/2029 school year.
Searches for “escolaridade obrigatória” (compulsory schooling) climbed on Google in Portugal this week. For parents of children now in Year 7 or 8, this is the change that lands on them.
Who skips maths in Portuguese secondary school today?
Mostly students on the Languages and Humanities track. Under the current rules, set by Decree-Law 55/2018, that course’s three-year subject is History A, and Mathematics Applied to the Social Sciences (MACS) is just one of the two-year options. Pick Geography A and a language instead, and a student can finish Year 12 without seeing an equation since Year 9.
On the Science and Technology and the Socio-economic Sciences tracks, Mathematics A is already compulsory for all three years, so little changes there.
When does Portugal’s new secondary curriculum start?
In 2028/2029, for students starting Year 10 that autumn. Before then, the framework (which subjects each course has, and for how many hours) goes to public consultation by the end of 2026. The minister has not yet given weekly hours or explained how maths will work on vocational courses, which he also promised more flexible paths.
What else is changing in Portuguese schools?
Primary school, for a start. The government wants to merge the first two cycles into a single path from Year 1 to Year 6, also out for consultation, with a pilot in some schools in 2027/2028. The national learning standards will be revised in 2027 and will build digital and AI skills into every subject.
The same hearing brought less cheerful numbers. On 2 November there were 255 unfilled teaching timetables, 62% of them in Greater Lisbon, though the ministry stressed that does not necessarily mean pupils without lessons. It is an awkward backdrop for a reform that asks for more maths teaching from a system still looking for people to do it.
Students already in secondary school are not affected. Everyone else may want to note the consultation alongside the 2026/2027 school calendar, because that is the moment to have a say.
Illustrative · Photo: Monstera Production / Pexels
