Education in Portugal for Indian students

Capital: Lisbon
Currency: Euro
Time zone: UTC +0

Main language of study: Portuguese (free and paid programs)
Second language of study: English (only paid programs)
Structure of education system: pre-school education (up to the age of 6), basic level – school (9 years), intermediate school (vocational training), higher education (Bachelor’s program, Master’s program, Doctor of Science, Agregação)
The most popular cities among entrants are: Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra

Portugal is a very colorful country taken by Indians as a resort for no reason. It is known for its famous university of Lisbon founded as early as in XIII century. Competition between Indian entrants in Portugal is not that big yet, because many parents want to follow the advertisement and send their children to study in the most popular universities of Europe, while Portuguese education programs are not worse.

Higher education – special aspects

Education in Portugal can be received in several types of educational institutions, namely: universities, polytechnic institutes, colleges, tertiary schools. However, Master’s or higher degree is possible to get only at universities. Basic Bachelor’s degree is offered by all educational institutions and the period of preparation takes only three years.

Those Indians who want to get a higher doctorate degree in future, have to study another 1-2 years to get Licenciatura course diploma, since it is the only way to participate in a competition for further education at Master’s program, which takes about 2 years. It is interesting that there is no time limit in Portugal for taking preparation for doctoral programs. Indian graduate can take as much time for preparation for getting a degree as you need.

The highest academic degree is Agregação and it is awarded to Doctors of Science, who either conduct teaching activities or participate in research programs. However, they will still have to pass exams to get a degree officially.

Advantages of education in Portugal

• Equal possibilities for Indian students and native citizens when entering.
• Availability of preparatory courses that enable to improve the level of Portuguese.
• The most affordable cost of basic education for Indians and prices get higher depending on a preparation stage (from Master’s program and higher).
• Low prices for accommodation and food, by European standards for Indian students.
• Opportunity to get a scholarship for Indians.
• Indian students are allowed to work part-time during studies and full-time during vacation.

Many universities participate in international exchange programs, which makes it possible to continue studying or do an internship in other country for Indians.

Indian students don’t need much to enter a Portuguese university – to know Portuguese, have a certificate of secondary education and pass entrance examinations. The only thing that should be taken into account by Indians who want to study in English is that the list of education programs in this language is limited, so don’t hope for miracles and learn Portuguese in advance.

For the record: higher education in Portugal ranks 23rd in the international rating for quality. The most promising specializations are economics, management and tourism.