Secondary school classes in Portugal have a later start this school year, on September 21st, to align the beginning with the extraordinary National Exams period and the grading process that follows. In pre-school and the three cycles of basic education, the calendar remains with the start of classes between September 11th and 15th.
One of the main changes relates to the use of mobile phones in schools. Portugal has decided to extend, in the 2026-2027 school year, the ban on mobile phone use to the 3rd cycle of basic education, until now only subject to restrictions. Schools have the first term of the school year to adapt and implement the measure, which becomes mandatory from January 1st, 2027.
In the Citizenship and Development subject, the structure of eight essential domains introduced in the previous school year remains: four mandatory across all school years (Human Rights, Democracy and Political Institutions, Sustainable Development and Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship) and four flexible ones (Health, Media, Road Risk and Safety, and Pluralism and Cultural Diversity). The review of Essential Learning for the remaining school years is still underway.
The article also presents the detailed school calendar for 2026-2027, with the three school terms, as well as the Christmas, Carnival, Easter and summer breaks for the different school years.
