Applying To Portuguese Universities

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APPLYING TO PORTUGUESE UNIVERSITIES
Eduardo Botelho – St Dominic’s International School

Agenda
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 Studying in Portugal
 Timeline
 Requirements
 Subjects equivalence
 Conversion to Portuguese grading scale
 Calculating the application grade
 Appendix
 Conversion tables
 Example of how to calculate the application grade
Studying in Portugal
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 Good and well-ranked universities
 Public universities are cheap: 697 € per year.
 No application fees. Very simple process.
 However, most universities have their programs in Portuguese. Exceptions

are:
 Business and Economics at Nova SBE and Católica.
 Medicine at Católica
 Universidade Europeia: Hospitality and Tourism Management, Design Global;
Games Development; Creative Technologies; Psychology, Management
Studying in Portugal
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All students that complete the IB Diploma are given equivalence to the
Portuguese High School.
 Just need to fill in a form requesting it (in the end of the Diploma)
 No need to take any Portuguese exams, just the regular IB ones, done in our school.
But students must do the full Diploma (6 subjects + TOK + Extended Essay) in
order to apply to Portuguese universities.
Doing only IB courses is not considered equivalent to grade 12 of the
Portuguese system.
Timeline
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Public universities
April to June:
- Ask for the Senha de Acesso, in order to be able to login to the online platform)
- Ask for the equivalence. Fill in a form and hand it to Mr. Botelho.
End of July: Applications are made online. Everything is done online in the same
platform, at www.dges.gov.pt.
September: Results are published
Private universities
 Private universities set their own calendar. In most cases it coincides with the
applications for public universities, as they all wait for the results of the Portuguese
exams to be published.
 An exception is Católica that starts welcoming applications since January.
Selection Process
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Public universities
 Students choose up to six bachelor’s degrees according to their preferences
 All candidates are ranked according to their application grade. For example, Nova
SBE offers 195 places for Gestão. The 195 candidates with the highest application
grades get the places.
 No interviews, no CVs, no recommendation letters. Only the grades matter.
Private universities
 Private universities decide their own application methods. In most cases, it will also
be based mostly on grades.
Requirements
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Subject requirements
Each bachelor’s degree requires one or more specific subjects (“Provas de Ingresso”).
Students need to verify if they have the specific subjects. Go to

www.dges.gov.pt/guias/?plid=593 and use the menu on the left to search for the
different bachelor’s degrees
The subjects required are the ones that exist in the Portuguese system. Then, you have to
confirm which IB subjects are considered equivalent to those in the Portuguese system.
(next slide)
Subjects equivalence (deliberação 606/2022 – may 20th 2022)
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Subjects equivalence
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Matemática A – is equivalent to Mathematics AA HL/SL or Mathematics AI HL. Maths

AI SL is not enough.
Física e Química – In the Portuguese system there is a subject called “Física e

Química”. In the IB, we have two separate subjects: “Physics” and “Chemistry”.
For Medicine, students need both Physics and Chemistry. For most degrees Physics is
enough (as for Engineering degrees). But this needs to be confirmed case by case.
Economia A – is equivalent to Economics HL/SL or Business Management HL/SL in

the IB. If you do both, you will apply using the one in which you had the highest mark.
Desenho – equivalent to Visual Arts SL/HL or Design Technology SL/HL. If you do
both, you will apply using the one in which you had the highest mark.
→ Note: It is indifferent whether students take a subject as SL or HL. (With the

exception for Maths AI SL that is not equivalent to Matemática A)
Subjects equivalence
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Most frequent subject requirements per area:
→ Architecture: Desenho
→ Economics/Management - Matemática A. Some universities also accept Matemática
A + Economia
→ Engineering: Matemática A or Matemática A and Física e Química (in most cases only
Physics is required).
→ Law: Português and/or História
→ Medicine: Matemática A and Biologia e Geologia and Física e Química (both Physics
and Chemistry are required).
→ Psychology – Biologia e Geologia or Portuguese
→ Pharmacy – Biologia e Geologia
Specific requirements (pré-requisitos)
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Students applying to areas like Sports and Music or Arts may need to do
some specific test requirements
- Physical Aptitude
- Musical Aptitude
Calculating the application grade
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The grade for application to a Portuguese university will be the weighted average of
 the grade of subject requirements
 the grade 12 average
Each course uses different weights (you can check the information here:
www.dges.gov.pt/guias/?plid=593). Normally it is 50%/50% or close.
Before calculating the application grade, it is necessary to convert the IB grades (from
1 to 7) to the Portuguese scale (from 1 to 200).
Conversion to Portuguese grading scale
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To convert the subject requirement grades, use the following table:

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Finding Grade 12’s average

1) Convert additional requirements (TOK and EE) to a scale of 0 to 7.
TOK and EE together are counted as if they were one subject.
2) Sum all subjects points (the six subjects + EE and TOK)

3) Divide by 7
4) Use the tables in the appendix to see the converted grade 12 average
Or just enter your grades in the Excel worksheet I will share with you and your Grade
12 is automatically calculated.
Example: Gestão at Nova SBE
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At www.dges.gov.pt/guias/?plid=593 you can check the number of places for each
course, the subject requirements and the grade of the last student who got a place
there in the previous years. Example, Gestão at Nova in 2019, in the 1st phase:
- there were 195 places.
- Of those that got a place, the student with the lowest application grade (Nota de
candidatura) was 179,8.
Applying to Portuguese Universities - Key take away
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 Must complete the Diploma (IB courses is not considered equivalent to Portuguese
high school)
 No need for any additional exams
 It is indifferent whether students take a subject as SL or HL. (With the exception

for Maths AI SL that is not to Matemática A)
 Confirm what are the subject requirements for the degrees you are applying to.
It doesn’t matter what are the other 5 subjects you take.
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Appendix
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Diploma points matrix
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Example: Student 1
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Example: Student 1 application grade
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Student 1 had an average of 162 (slide 11).
Different scenarios:
1) Applying to Economia at Nova SBE:
Subject requirements: Matemática A
The application grade is 50% average G12 + 50% subject requirements
The grade in Mathematics SL was 3, which is converted to 95 (table on slide 13).
Application grade: 0,5 x 162 + 0,5 x 95 = 128,5

Example: Student 1 application grade
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Student 1 had a grade 12 average of 162 (slide 11).
Different scenarios:
1) Applying to Economia at ISEG:
Subject Requirements: Matemática A or Matemática A + Economia or Matemática A +
Português
The application grade is 60% average G12 + 40% subject requirements
Both Business Management and Economics are considered equivalent to Economia. So,
the student will use the subject in which he/she had a higher mark. In this case, it’s
Economics HL (7, which is converted to 200).
He/she also needs to use the Mathematics SL grade (3, which is converted to 95).
Application grade: 0,6 x 162 + 0,4 x [ (200+95)/2] = 156,2

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Eduardo Botelho – St Dominic’s International School

 Good and well-ranked universities

 Public universities are cheap: 697 € per year.

 No application fees. Very simple process.

 However, most universities have their programs in Portuguese. Exceptions

Students need to verify if they have the specific subjects. Go to

Matemática A – is equivalent to Mathematics AA HL/SL or Mathematics AI HL. Maths

Física e Química – In the Portuguese system there is a subject called “Física e

Economia A – is equivalent to Economics HL/SL or Business Management HL/SL in

→ Note: It is indifferent whether students take a subject as SL or HL. (With the

Most frequent subject requirements per area:

To convert the subject requirement grades, use the following table:

Finding Grade 12’s average

2) Sum all subjects points (the six subjects + EE and TOK)

 No need for any additional exams

 It is indifferent whether students take a subject as SL or HL. (With the exception

Student 1 had an average of 162 (slide 11).

The grade in Mathematics SL was 3, which is converted to 95 (table on slide 13).

Application grade: 0,5 x 162 + 0,5 x 95 = 128,5

Student 1 had a grade 12 average of 162 (slide 11).

The application grade is 60% average G12 + 40% subject requirements

Application grade: 0,6 x 162 + 0,4 x [ (200+95)/2] = 156,2

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