Portugal - Questions and answers

Secondary Education national final examinations are taken in account for the final grade obtained in Secondary Education. In what concerns the grade for entry in Higher Education, that Secondary Education final grade will have a weight of not less than 50%. But Higher Education institutions demand that one or two subject matters in those national final examinations should be validated as "entry exams". They may also demand that students sit for special tests, called "pre-requisites", in certain areas as, for instance, the artistic area. These pre-requisites, in case of need of selection of candidates, cannot have a weight of more than 15% in the grade for entry in Higher Education. This means that Secondary Education national final examinations to be validated as Higher Education entry exams may have, in the grade for entry in H. Education, a maximum weight of 50% (when no pre-requisites for selection exist and the final grade in Secondary Education has a weight of 50%).