The Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, announced this Friday, December 19, that the Government will propose the reduction, from two to one, of the mandatory entrance tests for the overwhelming majority of higher education courses.
Speaking in Barcelos, at the inauguration of Luís Loures as the new president of the Coordinating Council of Higher Polytechnic Institutes (CCISP), Fernando Alexandre admitted that he never noticed the decision taken in 2023 by the PS Government to set the mandatory entrance tests to at least two.
“The Government will propose to change this decree-law, to be, in fact, just a test of entry, at least”he said, receiving an ovation from the audience, made up essentially of those responsible for polytechnic institutes and universities in the country.
The minister stressed that each institution will have autonomy to set the number of entrance tests, which could be up to three.
He added that there are courses, particularly in the area of engineering, in which two entrance tests will be mandatory, and others, such as medicine, with three tests.
“There are special rules for certain areas. But it is up to the institution, from the moment we have validation through secondary education and national exams, to define the entry conditions”he added.
But the general rule will be that only one entry test is mandatory.
The minister said he understands the argument for increasing requirements to ensure that students entering higher education have the necessary requirements, but recalled that the issues are students who have completed secondary education.
“It doesn’t seem to me that someone who has completed secondary school in Portugal is not in a position to access higher education”he defended.
For Fernando Alexandre, the introduction of the two entrance tests resulted in a “still significant” decrease of over 2,000 candidates in higher education this year.