Support and next steps

You renew home or individual education each year. To renew, you need to have followed the current collaboration protocol and either renew it or agree a new one with the school.

Before the usual enrolment deadlines, review the year with the teacher-tutor. Update the curriculum plan, monitoring schedule, assessment dates, contact details and any support your child needs. Ask the school whether its system renews the enrolment automatically or whether you need to use the Portal das Matrículas.

The school may cancel its approval if the protocol has not been followed, unless you can show that this was outside your control. The law also allows cancellation after two consecutive failures at the end of a basic-education cycle, in final year-11 subjects or at the end of secondary education.

If your circumstances change during the year, you and the school can update the protocol together. Keep any changes in writing so everyone is working to the same plan.

Yes. Your child can move from home or individual education back into a school for general basic education or a scientific-humanistic secondary course.

The move follows the usual enrolment rules for that school and course. Contact the current enrolment school early so it can explain the dates, available places and documents you will need. Your child’s individual school record moves with them when their enrolment school changes.

Keep the collaboration protocol, tutor summaries, assessment results and portfolio organised. These records help the new school understand what your child has covered, although it will still use the placement and enrolment rules in force at the time.

You can also ask to move your child into home or individual education during the academic year. You will need to complete the application and interview, and the change only takes effect after approval and the signing of the collaboration protocol.

Portugal’s inclusive-education rules also apply to children in home and individual education.

The collaboration protocol can allow the school’s multidisciplinary inclusion team to advise you and the responsible educator. Before signing or renewing the protocol, talk through the support your child already receives, any helpful adjustments, specialist input and the evidence you should keep.

Useful medical or psychological reports can be added to your child’s individual record. The school must protect this information under data-protection and professional-confidentiality rules.

If your child has additional support measures and significant curriculum adaptations, they do not take equivalence examinations, basic final tests or national final examinations for approval or completion. Their assessment and progress follow the inclusive-education rules, with the enrolment school carrying out its responsibilities. Your child still has the right to certification and a diploma when they complete the programme that applies to them.

These outlines can help you organise the documents you may need. They are not official forms, so use the school’s own format whenever it provides one.

Application request

• Parent or guardian details
• Responsible educator details
• Child and requested year
• Requested legal route
• Reasons for the request
• Qualification evidence and attachments

Curriculum plan

• Year, subjects and Essential Learning
• Resources and learning approach
• Citizenship themes
• Language or bilingual element
• Portfolio evidence
• Monitoring and assessment calendar

Portfolio index

• Learning map by subject
• Dated examples of work
• Projects and practical learning
• Child’s self-assessment
• Responsible educator’s review
• Tutor feedback and next steps

Official sources on this page

• Legal basics sources for the consolidated law, DGE guide and foreign-degree recognition.
• Registering sources for matrícula guidance, dates and the school-network search.
• Learning and assessment sources for curriculum documents and current exam rules.
• Support sources for inclusive-education guidance.