Main trends in young people's participation in education and training

In recent years Portugal has continued to improve its educational performance, moving closer to European strategic objectives and consolidating positive trends across several core indicators.

Early school leaving (ESL)

In 2024, the early school leaving rate in Portugal fell to 6.6%, down from 8.1% in 2023, keeping the country below the EU 2030 target of 9%. 

Eurostat confirms that Portugal recorded one of the largest reductions in ESL in the EU between 2015 and 2024. 

Long‑term data compiled from INE and Eurostat by the Science and Technology Foundation (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia- FCT) show a fall from 14.7% in 2007 to 6.2% in 2023. 

NEET (young people not in employment, education or training)

In 2024, 8.7% of young people aged 15–29 in Portugal were NEET, placing the country among those already meeting the EU target of <9% by 2030. 

The EU average was 11%, confirming Portugal’s comparatively strong position, also reflected in Eurostat’s NEET dataset.

Educational attainment and youth qualification levels

Among 25–34‑year‑olds, the percentage without upper secondary education fell from 24% (2019) to 16% in 2024, approaching the OECD average of 13%, as reported in OECD Education at a Glance 2025.

In 2024, 43% of adults aged 25–64 in Portugal held a tertiary qualification, surpassing the OECD average (41%) for the first time.

INE data indicate that the higher education enrolment rate reached 43.4% in 2024/2025. 

Adult learning and lifelong participation

In 2022, 44.2% of adults aged 25–64 engaged in education or training, close to the EU average of 46.6%.

Data from DGEEC’s “Education in numbers 2023” (Educação em Números 2023) reveal continued growth in adult learning pathways, including increases in RVCC and EFA processes between 2020 and 2023. 

Persistent challenges

Portugal’s teaching workforce remains ageing, with more than half of teachers over the age of 50 (OECD 2024). 

Territorial disparities in educational attainment and retention persist, reflected in national datasets synthesised by FCT (2007–2023 series). 

The State of Education 2023 report highlights the need to strengthen digital competencies and reduce structural inequities in the system. 

Organisation of the education and training system

Portugal’s education and training system is organised into several education levels, aligned with European and international classification frameworks:

• Pre‑primary education;
• Non‑compulsory provision for children aged 3–6, designed to support early development and prepare learners for basic education;
• Basic education (first, second and third education levels).
• A nine‑year compulsory stage (ages 6–15), comprising:
• first education level (four years);
• second education level (two years);
• third education level (three years).

These levels build progressively on learners’ knowledge and skills.

Upper secondary education (ISCED 3)

A three‑year stage offering multiple pathways:

• scientific‑humanistic programmes;
• vocational/professional programmes;
• specialised artistic education;
• alternative and flexible programmes.

All pathways permit progression to higher education or entry into the labour market.

Higher education

A unified subsystem under the Ministry of Education, which now holds responsibility for both university and polytechnic institutions. The system includes:

• bachelor’s degrees;
• master’s degrees;
• doctoral degrees (universities);
• and short-cycle higher technical professional programmes.

Adult education and training

Integrated within the National Qualifications System and delivered through:

• Education and Training for Adults (EFA) courses;
• modular certified training;
• RVCC (Recognition, Validation and Certification of Competences);
• higher technical vocational courses (CTeSP);
• ensuring opportunities for lifelong learning and qualification.

Governance 

The governance of the entire education system — from pre‑primary to higher education — is now unified under the Ministry of Education, which holds responsibility for education policy, curriculum, qualifications, higher education institutions, and teacher careers.

Vocational training continues to involve shared competence with the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, particularly regarding professional training, apprenticeships, and certification pathways.

Main concepts

Compulsory education: 12 years of schooling for children and young people between the ages of 6 to 18, divided into nine years of elementary education and three years of secondary education.

School groups: organisational units consisting of educational establishments from different levels of education, ranging from preschool education to basic education and secondary education. They possess a common pedagogical project and their own administration and management bodies.

Education charter: instrument for planning educational buildings and equipment to be placed in the municipality, in accordance with the necessary education and training offers, under the demographic and socio-economic development of each municipality, while considering the best use of educational resources.

Dual certification: double certification, including school and professional certification.

Recognition, Validation and Certification of Competencies (RVCC): a process where skills that adults have acquired throughout their life, in contexts likely to generate learning, outside the formal systems of education and training, are recognised.

Early school leaving: students between the ages of 18 and 24 that have left school early and that have concluded, at the most, the lower secondary education (which, in Portugal, corresponds to basic education) and that are not currently enrolled in the education or training systems.