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Country Report

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Portugal

1. Position in relation to strongest and weakest performers
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2. Key Indicators
Portugal EU
2012 2022 2012 2022
EU-level targets 2030 target
Participation in early childhood education (from age 3 to starting age of compulsory primary education)1 ≥ 96% 88.7%13 90.5%21 91.8%13 92.5%21
Low achieving eighth-graders in digital skills2 < 15% : 33.5%18, †† : :
Low achieving 15-year-olds in:3 Reading < 15% 17.6%09 20.2%18 19.7%09 22.5%18
Maths < 15% 23.7%09 23.3%18 22.7%09 22.9%18
Science < 15% 16.5%09 19.6%18 18.2%09 22.3%18
Early leavers from education and training (age 18-24)4 < 9% 20.5% 6.5% 12.6% 9.6%
Exposure of VET graduates to work-based learning5 ≥ 60% (2025) : 74.3% : 60.1%
Tertiary educational attainment (age 25-34)6 ≥ 45% 29.0% 44.4% 34.1% 42.0%
Participation of adults in learning (age 25-64)7 ≥ 47% (2025) : : : :
Other contextual indicators
Equity indicator (percentage points)8 : 20.818 : 19.318
Early leavers from education and training (age 18-24)9 Native 20.5% 5.9% 11.3% 8.3%
EU-born :u :u 26.2% 20.3%
Non EU-born 19.0% :u 30.1% 22.1%
Upper secondary level attainment (age 20-24, ISCED 3-8)10 67.8% 89.3% 80.1% 83.6%
Tertiary educational attainment (age 25-34)11 Native 29.6% 44.9% 35.4% 43.0%
EU-born 28.0% 48.4% 29.3% 39.5%
Non EU-born 22.0% 39.1% 24.2% 35.7%
Share of school teachers (ISCED 1-3) who are 55 year olds or over12 18.1%15 32.0%21 23.4%15 24.521
Education investment13 Public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP 5.4% 4.6%21, p 4.9% 4.8%21
Public expenditure on education as a share of the total general government expenditure 11.0% 9.7%21, p 9.8% 9.4%21

Sources: 1= Eurostat, [educ_uoe_enra21]; 2= IEA (ICILS 2018); 3 = OECD (PISA); 4= Eurostat, [edat_lfse_14]; 5 = Eurostat, [edat_lfs_9919]; 6 = Eurostat, [edat_lfse_03]; 7= not available; 8 = European Commission (Joint Research Centre) calculations based on OECD’s PISA 2018 data; 9 = Eurostat, [edat_lfse_02]; 10= Eurostat, [edat_lfse_03]; 11= Eurostat, [edat_lfs_9912]; 12 = Eurostat, [educ_uoe_perp01], 13= Eurostat, [gov_exp_10a]. Notes: the indicator used (ECE) refers to early-childhood education and care programmes which are considered by the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) to be ‘educational’ and therefore constitute the first level of education in education and training systems – ISCED level 0; the equity indicator shows the gap in the share of underachievement in reading, mathematics and science (combined) among 15-year-olds between the lowest and highest quarters of socio-economic status; b = break in time series, u = low reliability, : = not available, 09 = 2009, 13 = 2013, 15= 2015, 18 = 2018, 21 = 2021, p = provisional, †† Nearly met guidelines for sampling participation rates after replacement schools were included.

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3. Annex I: Structure of the education system
Structure of the education system
Keys on the diagram 2023/2024
Structure of the education system key

Source: European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2023. The Structure of the European Education Systems 2023/2024: Schematic Diagrams. Eurydice Facts and Figures. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.

Note: Agrupamentos de Escolas (School Clusters) are organisational units that can encompass several schools and learning cycles, from kindergarten to upper secondary education. The institutions in the diagram are examples of some of the learning spaces where each type of education is offered; the diagram does not indicate all educational institutions existing in the Portuguese system.