Portugal's universities just logged their busiest application round in three decades
60,391 students applied in the first round of the national higher education contest, up 21.8% on last year. Ministry figures published Friday, a day after the deadline closed.
60,391 students filed an application in the first round of Portugal’s national higher education admissions contest. That is 21.8% more than in 2025 and, setting aside the distorted pandemic years, the highest figure in thirty years. Fernando Alexandre’s ministry released the count on Friday, the day after the deadline closed.
It may still creep up. Applications sitting in validation when the platform shuts are added later, so the published number is a floor rather than a ceiling.
A rough run-up
The increase lands after a school year in which the digital marking system for national exams misfired badly enough that the standing parliamentary committee had to meet about it. Plenty of candidates spent weeks not knowing what grade they were competing with. Demand rising anyway says something about how strongly this cohort wants a place now rather than next September.
Demography is part of it too. The children born around 2008 are a larger group than the one before them, and they are all reaching university age together.
Where the squeeze lands
More applicants does not mean more places. It means higher entry marks on the contested courses, a harder second round for anyone who misses out, and more students needing a bed in a city that is not their own. The University of Lisbon tried to take the edge off that with 1,018 extra beds in its halls, enough for roughly 3% of its students.
Then comes the money. Grant applications for 2026/2027 run on their own calendar and do not follow placements automatically. Official guidance on the national admissions contest sits with the Directorate-General for Higher Education.
Image: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
