Despite appearing “concerned”, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa promulgated the Government diploma that changes access to higher education. In a note published this Saturday, February 7, the President of the Republic admitted this concern, despite having given the Executive the green light.
The head of state fears that there are “some effects of an understanding of higher education institutions in a minimalist and facilitative sense, taking into account the flexibility and freedom of choice of the adopted formula”. The change was approved by the Council of Ministers on January 29th.
The main change It now allows each university to set between one and three entrance tests for each institution/study cycle pair. The Government states that this measure guarantees autonomy to universities and polytechnic institutes in defining these criteria.
According to the Executive, the decision “comes after analyzing the impact of the change approved in 2023, which increased the minimum number of entrance tests to two and which came into force for access to higher education in the 2025-2026 academic year”. This analysis “concluded that the increase in the minimum number of entrance tests caused a reduction in the number of students accessing higher education in the current academic year”.
The objective is “strengthen the flexibility of the access system” and “contribute to increasing the population’s qualifications, in line with the goal of exceeding 50% of graduates between the ages of 25 and 34 by 2030”.
Another diploma promulgated by the President concerns the Social Security Institute. Also in this case, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stated that “specific doubts remain regarding the adequacy of some solutions”.
amanda.lima@dn.pt
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