The second phase of the national higher education access contest began on Monday, August 24, with 6,639 available places, 42.3% fewer than in the second phase of last year. Of the 56,228 places put out to tender, 6,639 places remained for this phase. In the first seven days, the number of candidates is 17.9% below that recorded in the same period of last year, equivalent to 2,302 fewer candidates, totaling 10,587, according to data from the Directorate-General for Higher Education.
Almost 50,000 students were placed in the first phase of the contest, a record value representing an increase of 13.9% compared to last year, reversing the reduction recorded in 2025. The Aerospace Engineering course at FEUP had the highest entry grade in the first phase, with 19.5 points, while Management and Computer Science in Lamego closed with 9.7 points. Of the 1,170 courses included in the contest, 412 have remaining places for the second phase, whose results will be announced on September 30.
The Minister of Education, Fernando Alexandre, considered that the success of the second phase of the exams demonstrated that the external assessment digitization process was well-designed, in a message published on Facebook on the day the placements were announced.
The secretary-general of the PS, José Luís Carneiro, accused on Sunday the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, of trying to whitewash the chaos in national exams and the problems in preparing higher education access. The socialist leader also accused Montenegro of being afraid of the Portuguese people and advised him to listen to the country.
