Fernando Alexandre
Photo: Agência Lusa, CC BY 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons, cropped)
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- 6d ago
Students block two Lisbon schools in protests over housing, education and fossil fuels
Students blocked the entrances of Liceu Camões and Escola Artística António Arroio on the morning of 23 October 2026, citing housing costs, education funding and a 2030 deadline to end fossil fuel use.
- Oct 17
Portugal admits 52,008 students to higher education, 92.5% of seats filled
The third phase of Portugal's national access competition placed 1,168 new students, bringing the three-phase total to 52,008. Results go online at 00:01 on Sunday, 18 October, and enrolment runs until 20 October.
- Oct 16
Portugal's draft AI rules for schools bar autonomous pupil use before 5th grade
The education ministry's guidelines keep pre-schoolers from using AI on their own and reserve autonomous pupil use for the second cycle. The final version is due in schools from 4 January 2027.
- Oct 1
Portuguese unions schedule eight strikes in October ahead of 2027 State Budget delivery
Portuguese public sector and transport workers will stage eight strikes across October to demand salary increases and career restructuring before Prime Minister Luís Montenegro submits the 2027 State Budget on 9 October.
- Sep 12
Montenegro opens school year in Setúbal as unions dispute teacher shortage figures
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro inaugurated the Barbosa du Bocage School Centre in Setúbal on Friday, defending government staffing incentives while trade unions protested outside over unfilled teaching posts.
- Sep 12
Portuguese parents sue education ministry as 550 Lisbon pupils lack school spots
Hundreds of pupils in Greater Lisbon started the new school year stranded at home without assigned public school places, prompting an organized group of families to launch legal action against the state.
- Sep 1
Portuguese prosecutors open inquiry into digital exam grading as education minister defends process
Portugal's Public Prosecutor's Office has launched a criminal inquiry into the digital grading of secondary school exams following union complaints over missing answer sheets and contradictory instructions.
- Aug 14
Portugal authorizes €2.674 million for teachers who graded national exams, first payment since 2010
Portugal's government authorized €2,674,705 for teachers who graded 2026 secondary school exams, the first such compensation since 2010, but unions and teachers' movements say the amounts are insufficient.
- Aug 7
Portuguese exam results to be posted Friday after troubled first phase
Second-phase national exam results and first-phase re-evaluation outcomes will be posted in Portuguese schools on Friday, August 7, after a first phase marked by delays and criticism over the digital classification process.
- Aug 3
Portuguese education minister says 97% of second-phase exams graded and 70% of regrade requests lifted marks
Fernando Alexandre told the Permanent Committee on Monday that 97% of the roughly 90,000 second-phase exams were classified by early afternoon and that 70% of over 20,000 regrade requests resulted in higher grades. Higher education application deadlines remain unchanged.
- Jul 30
Portugal extends smartphone ban to 9th grade, overhauls teacher hiring and delays secondary school start
The Portuguese government approved a ban on smartphones for all students up to 9th grade starting January 2027, alongside a new continuous teacher recruitment model and a one-week delay to the secondary school year.
- Jul 27
Portugal’s national exam review requests double to 15,000 after digital grading overhaul
The Portuguese Ministry of Education has received 15,000 requests to review national exam grades, more than double the 6,200 lodged in the entire first phase of 2025, after a switch to a multi-grader digital system left thousands of students fractions of a point below the 9.5 out of 20 pass mark.
- Jul 12
PS leader Carneiro says PM Montenegro failed national exams, gave "frivolous answers" at music festival
Socialist Party chief José Luís Carneiro demanded on Sunday that Prime Minister Luís Montenegro explain what went wrong with national exam corrections and restore confidence for over 350,000 students, after results were delayed.
- Jul 9
Portugal's exam correction crisis: Minister says 65% done, results due July 17
Portugal's Education Minister Fernando Alexandre says 65% of national exams have been corrected and results will be published on July 17, after technical failures in the first digital correction process forced a delay. The minister also used a parliamentary seminar to criticize past investment decisions and announce higher education reforms.
- Jul 1
Portuguese education minister grilled over exam grading crisis, calls most reports false
Portugal's Education Minister Fernando Alexandre faced a tense parliamentary committee on Wednesday, admitting software glitches in the new digital grading system but insisting a "majority" of reported failures are false. Teachers' groups immediately pushed back, saying all testimonies are verified and demanded a return to paper marking.
- Jun 29
Digital grading of Portugal's national exams stumbles as teachers report chaos, deceased teacher summoned
Portugal's first nationwide digital grading of secondary-school exams triggered a wave of complaints, with teachers reporting mismatched subjects, a deceased teacher called to grade, and 59 documented failures, while the education minister insisted no student will be harmed and the deadline will be met.
- Jun 18
Portugal orders audit of exam institute after identical cartoon appears in national test and prep manual
The Portuguese Ministry of Education has ordered an audit of the exam-setting institute EduQA after a 12th-grade Portuguese exam used a cartoon that had already appeared in a commercial preparation manual, raising equity concerns among 80,000 students.
- Jun 15
Portugal shifts national exam grading to digital, mobilises 5,000 security agents to escort the papers
More than 166,000 students sit their national exams starting Tuesday, while behind the scenes a new digital platform takes over correction of over 300,000 papers for the first time.
