The 3rd phase of the National Competition for Access to Higher Education (CNAES) begins today, being the last opportunity for candidates that have not yet been placed. The phase ends on Monday, with 4,069 unfilled vacancies in the public system.
© Lusa
10/10/2026
by
Lusa
National Competition for Access to Higher Education (CNAES)
A 3rd phase of the National Competition for Access to Higher Education (CNAES) starts today, after almost 60,000 students have already been placed in the first two phases, having remained unfilled 4,069 vacancies in the public system.
This is the last opportunity for placement through the CNAES and ends on Monday, last day of registration for the 3rd phase.
The Ministry of Education released on Friday the vacancies available for this phase, which can be consulted at the site www.dges.pt.
Despite the problems with the new digital classification model of national secondary school examinations, which delayed the dissemination of the grades, this year there has been a further increase in candidates and enrollees.
In the first two phases of the CNAES, 59,107 students were placed: 49,991 entered the first phase and 9,116 in the second phase.
These students may already be covered by the proposal of the 2027 State Budget delivered this week to Parliament which provides for the end of the tuition freeze next year, 2027/2028.
The government wants to defrost the value of tuition fees, which have not changed since 2020 and will be updated to the inflation rate, according to the OE proposal.
The maximum amount of tuition fees in undergraduate degrees and Professional Technical Courses (CteSP) will be equal to the ceiling set at 2026/2027 (EUR 697), plus the average variation rate of the Consumer Price Index (IPC), without housing, recorded in 2026.
The same updating rule applies to master's degrees which are indispensable to the exercise of a professional activity or to cases where the requirement of a master's degree is defined in the statutes of professional orders.
The other masters and doctorates “should take into account the actual cost of training”, says the executive proposal.
The government had already proposed the defrosting of tuition fees last year under the OE2026, but the intention was halted by the opposition that approved, in the discussion in specialty, a proposal from the PS that kept the maximum value of EUR 697.