The results of the final phase of the National Admission Competition to Higher Education (CNAES) were released today by the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES), revealing that universities and polytechnic institutes have admitted 45,290 new students. This figure marks a 10% decrease from the previous year, when 50,612 candidates were accepted.
Speculation about fewer students entering higher education this year arose when it was reported there were fewer applicants to the first phase of CNAES. This theory was supported by the results of the first placements, which showed that only 44,000 students secured a spot, a 12% reduction from the prior year and the lowest number since 2016.
The placements consistently remained below those of previous years, and this third and final opportunity to enter higher education through CNAES followed suit: only 801 new placements, fewer than half of last year’s numbers.
Of the 801 newly admitted students, 471 secured places at universities and the remaining 330 at polytechnics, according to results available on the DGES website.
Rectors, polytechnic presidents, and student associations have cited various reasons for the decrease in students, including the high cost of accommodation, the economic difficulties faced by families unable to support students studying away from home, and the requirement to take national exams to complete secondary education.
The issue does not appear to be related to the number of available places at higher education institutions. In this third phase alone, for instance, 3,046 students applied for 6,710 available spots. Across all three phases, there were 55,292 positions, with 45,290 students placed.
The majority of the new students were placed in the university subsystem, which now has about 29,000 “freshmen,” exhibiting an occupancy rate of 92.8%.
Once again this year, it was the polytechnic institutes that had the most vacancies left, with an occupancy rate of 67.2% after admitting 16,271 new students.
The polytechnic institutes of Tomar, Bragança, Guarda, and Beja recorded the lowest occupancy rates (less than 40%), in contrast to universities such as Coimbra, Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Porto, ISCTE – Lisbon University Institute, and the Lisbon School of Nursing, which filled more than 95% of their available spots.
For students now placed, enrollment and registration will occur from October 1 to 3 at their respective higher education institutions.
