Sharp Drop in University Placements Raises Concerns over Higher Education Access
Lisbon, Portugal – A significant decrease in university placements following teh first phase of the national contest is sparking debate and calls for investigation, with 43,899 students placed – a 12.1% drop compared to 2024. The decline coincides with projections of a 6,000-student decrease in the 2025/2026 school year and a noted reduction in demand for digital skills programs.
This year’s contest saw 16.4% fewer candidates prompting concern from presidential candidate Luís Marques Mendes, who stated on Sunday night that “Less young people in higher education is bad news” and urged clarification of the underlying reasons.
Despite the overall decrease, competition remains fierce for popular programs. Of the 23 management degrees offered across Continental Portugal, Madeira, and the Azores, 16 have already reached full capacity, including FEP, Nova SBE, UMinho, ISEG, UAveiro, ISCTE, the Coimbra Faculty of Coimbra, Lisbon Polytechnic, UTAD, UBI (two locations), the Polytechnics of Castelo Branco, Coimbra and Leira, the University of Algarve, the Polytechnic of Madeira, and Faro.
However, 150 management vacancies remain open and will be carried over to the second phase of the contest, distributed among seven institutions: UALG (Portimão) with four vacancies, Guarda Polytechnic with 44, the University of the Azores with four, Portalegre Polytechnic with 25, Bragança Polytechnic and Santarém Polytechnic each with 25, and Castelo Branco Polytechnic with 39.
Entry grades for management programs have also seen a slight decline. The highest grade nationally was achieved at the Faculty of Economics of Porto (FEP), with a score of 17.80, down from 18.35 in 2024. Nova SBE followed with 17.76, and the University of Minho with 16.88. other institutions’ entry grades included ISEG (16.71), University of Aveiro (16.53), ISCTE (16.45), and the University of Coimbra (16.15). Polytechnics in Bragança, Santarém, and Castelo Branco had the lowest entry grades, ranging from 9.60 to 10.20.In economics, Nova SBE surpassed FEP as the top choice. The last student placed at Nova SBE scored 17.46, a decrease from 18.00 in the previous year, while FEP’s entry grade was 17.23, down from 17.83. The University of Minho again secured a place in the top three for both disciplines, with 16.45 in Economics and 16.88 in Management.
Six of the 14 economics courses available in Portugal did not fill all their vacancies in the first phase, leaving 74 places for the second phase. These vacancies are at the University of the Azores (12), the University of Madeira (33), UTAD (18), UBI (18), the university of Évora (6), and the Faculty of Economics of the University of Algarve (4).
Candidates have until September 3rd to finalize their choices.