Bachelor’s Applications

Bachelor’s Applications

There are different ways for applying to a bachelor’s programme in Portugal.

If you meet all application requirements of the National Call, you must apply via DGES (Portuguese Directorate General for Higher Education). If not, there are also special application regimes and calls available within the Portuguese higher education system.

Here you’ll find out which one fits you better.


Special call for International Students

If you’re a non-EU national applying to a bachelor’s degree at Politécnico de Leiria, you can benefit from the International Student Status when submitting your application.

For more information, please contact the Academic Services but first visit our page.


National call

Upon completing secondary school education, students who wish to study a bachelor’s programme in Portugal must apply through the National Call for Admission to Higher Education (CNAES).

The whole application process, including the selection, is managed by DGES (Portuguese Directorate General for Higher Education) and not by higher education institutions.

You have three opportunities/phases (deadlines) to apply within this call.

Each year applications via CNAES open from the end of the academic year (June).

For more information, visit DGES.

Who can apply

To apply, you must, cumulatively:

  • hold a Portuguese secondary school education certificate, or a legally equivalent certificate with your final grade average;
  • hold secondary school leaving exams in the subjects required for the course you wish to apply to, performed in the last two years;
  • complete any prerequisites specified by the higher education institution for the course you wish to apply to;
  • hold an overall application score average equal or higher to the minimum application score set by the higher education institution;
  • not be covered by the International Student Status.

Special admission regimes

Students within a certain professional, social or economic context can benefit from one of these special admission regimes.

Special regimes are managed by DGES (Portuguese Directorate General for Higher Education) and not by higher education institutions. For more information, visit DGES.

Who can apply

A – Diplomatic mission from Portugal
B – Public employees in an official mission abroad
C – Officials of the Portuguese armed forces
D – Applicants that hold scholarships from Portuguese-speaking countries
E – Accredited diplomatic mission in Portugal
F – Professional sports players
G – East Timor nationals or their children


Special call: Applicants over 23 years old

This Special Call is managed by Politécnico de Leiria. For more information, please contact the Academic Services.

The application is done online via the Applications Portal.

Who can apply

To apply, you must, cumulatively:

  • complete 23 years until the 31st of December of the year preceding the application;
  • not have been admitted to any Portuguese higher education programme before;
  • not hold a degree or have previously studied a higher education programme.

Special call: Holders of middle level and higher education programmes

This special call is managed by Politécnico de Leiria. For more information, please contact the Academic Services to discuss your application.

The application is done online via the Applications Portal.

Who can apply

  • Applicants with a degree/middle level/post-secondary certificate.

Special regime: Change of study programme or institution

If you are already registered in a higher education study programme or institution but have changed your mind, you can still apply to a different programme in the same school/institution or in a different higher education institution – regardless of whether the registration process was interrupted or not.

This regime applies to students registered in a Portuguese or foreign higher education institution.

To change of study programme or institution, you must meet the new programme entry requirements.

If you have been admitted to higher education in the previous academic year through the ‘applicants over 23 years old’ regime, to change course or institution, you will have to sit admission exams at Politécnico de Leiria. Please request these exams until 20 July 2021.


Special regime: Re-entry

Re-entry is when, after interrupting the studies for a degree in higher education, the student registers again in the same school it was previously registered in for the same degree or a degree that succeeded the previous one.

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