The Ministry of Education, Science, and Innovation assured on Friday that Minister Fernando Alexandre “never pressured, in any way,” the rector of the University of Porto to admit candidates to the Faculty of Medicine who had not achieved the minimum grade, accusing him of “violating the contest regulation.”
The issue stems from a report in Expresso in which Rector António Sousa Pereira claimed to have received pressures from various “influential people with access to power” to allow 30 candidates who did not meet the minimum required score for the special entrance exam.
According to Expresso, the matter involves 30 students who applied for the special access competition for graduates but scored less than 14 out of 20 in the required knowledge test, which automatically disqualifies them according to the contest regulations published in Diário da República.
In a statement sent to newsrooms, the ministry clarified that the Special Access Competition to the Integrated Master’s Degree in Medicine for Degree Holders is “exclusively within the competence of the institutions,” which “appoint a Selection Committee.”
In the case of the University of Porto and the Faculty of Medicine, the committee “in violation of the regulation approved by the institution itself, changed the minimum score from 14 to 10 in the Knowledge Test, allowing the admission of 30 additional candidates beyond the 7 who met the 14-point requirement.”
The list of the 37 admitted candidates was published by the institution “before the rector’s approval of the list” at the University of Porto, “creating the false expectation among candidates that they had been admitted.”
Consequently, the statement explains, the rector “decided not to approve those results within his powers, due to violation of the contest regulation” and approved a new list, admitting only the seven candidates who “met the regulation’s requirement.” In other words, those who obtained the minimum score of 14.
The ministry also clarifies that the rector communicated to the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES) the transfer of the 30 unfilled vacancies to the National Access Competition, “as provided in the legislation.”
According to the note, the minister was informed of the situation through communication from excluded candidates and a written suggestion from the director of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Porto for the creation of 30 additional vacancies.
The minister confirms he spoke with the rector over the phone, expressing “availability for the creation of 30 additional vacancies, as long as there was a legal basis for it, to which the Rector agreed.”
“During the phone call, the Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation also suggested to the Rector the opening of an internal process to identify the responsible for publishing the list of admitted students without the Rector’s approval, with appropriate consequences,” according to the statement.
Fernando Alexandre’s office further clarifies that “to assess the legal basis for creating these additional vacancies, the Ministry requested an opinion from the Inspectorate-General of Education and Science (IGEC), considering that the disclosure of the list of admitted candidates generated a legitimate expectation among the candidates.
“In its opinion, IGEC concluded the legal inadmissibility of creating additional vacancies, due to the absence of a legal basis for such a solution, as well as the risk of violating the principles of legality, equality, and legal security,” according to the Ministry.
The statement also mentions that an ombudsman process at IGEC was opened following a submission by a group of candidates, which is ongoing.
Thus, the ministry assures that the Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation “never pressured the Rector to irregularly admit those candidates, nor suggested any solution that violated the existing legal framework.”
“Therefore, the accusation from the Rector of the University of Porto is false,” it stated.
“The minister would like this to be done, but I told him: ‘I won’t do it. I obey the law'”
The rector of the University of Porto reported receiving pressures from various people to let 30 candidates into the Faculty of Medicine who did not achieve the minimum score required for the special access course.
Lusa | 07:12 – 05/09/2025
The rector claimed the minister Fernando Alexandre called him to express his willingness to create extraordinary vacancies, so students who did not obtain the minimum score in the test could have a place in the Faculty of Medicine.
“The minister would like this to be done, but I told him: ‘I won’t do it. I obey the law. If the minister believes it should be different, give me the order, and I will execute it,'” the rector told Expresso.
The Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation had already confirmed to the newspaper the existence of the conversation, stating that “during the call, the availability for the creation of additional vacancies was expressed, provided there was a legal basis for it.”
