The Rector of the University of Porto, António Sousa Pereira, reiterated on Friday that he “did not lie” regarding the alleged pressures in the admission process for the Medicine course for the 2025/2026 academic year, while denying claims that he had said he was “pressured by the Minister” of Education, Fernando Alexandre.
“The Rector of the University of Porto did not lie. At no point in the news published today in the weekly Expresso does the Rector state he was pressured by the Minister. The text states, in fact, «pressures from several ‘influential people with access to power’», which makes the accusation of Professor Fernando Alexandre, as well as the tone adopted during his public statement, strange,” was stated in a communiqué sent to the newsrooms.
The message further highlighted that clarifications from the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI) “and the subsequent statement by the Minister in a press conference confirmed, in fact, all the facts described in the Expresso news, including the pressures experienced by MECI and Parliament.”
“Any additional clarification will be provided solely to the entities that may still be called to intervene in this process,” it added.
The Minister of Education, Fernando Alexandre, denied having pressured the Rector of the University of Porto regarding the admission of numerous students to the Integrated Master’s in Medicine. It concerns an “imbroglio” created by the institution itself, the minister claims.
The Education Minister today expressed “enormous disappointment” with the Rector of the University of Porto, whom he accused of lying about alleged pressures to accept Medicine course candidates, saying he would accept his resignation.
“I want to start by saying, very clearly, that the Rector of the University of Porto, António Sousa Pereira, lied. The highest representative of one of our country’s most important educational institutions lied,” said Fernando Alexandre at the start of a press conference.
The issue stems from a report in Expresso, where the Rector of the institution claimed he received pressures from several “influential” people, without naming names, to admit 30 candidates to the Faculty of Medicine who failed to achieve the minimum required score in the special access exam for graduates from other areas.
The matter reached the Minister of Education, who contacted the Rector to express willingness to create extraordinary seats so these students could attend the Faculty of Medicine.
Emphasizing that the problem was created by the University, through the Faculty of Medicine, Fernando Alexandre stated at the press conference that the Rector himself had contacted the minister, and he expressed “enormous disappointment.”
In a clarification sent to the newsrooms earlier in the morning, MECI had already denied pressuring the Rector of the University of Porto to irregularly admit candidates to the Medicine course and suggested any solution that violated the current legal framework.
The Rector of the University of Porto emphasized today that he “would never endorse an illegality” and accept irregular seats in Medicine, stating he would rather be forced by authorities or courts to do something “unacceptable” than to be held accountable legally.
In the communiqué, Fernando Alexandre’s office wrote that the Special Access Contest to the Integrated Master’s in Medicine for Bachelor’s Degree Holders is exclusively the responsibility of the institutions, in this case, the University of Porto and its Faculty of Medicine, which appoint a Selection Committee.
According to the General Inspectorate of Education and Science, the ministry added, “that Selection Committee, in disregard of the regulation approved by the institution, changed the minimum score from 14 to 10 on the Knowledge Test, which allowed the admission of 30 more candidates, besides the seven who met the 14-score requirement.”
The list of 37 admitted candidates was published by the faculty before being endorsed by the Rector, who subsequently decided not to do so due to a violation of the regulation.
“Professor António Sousa Pereira let pile up an imbroglio that in no way dignifies a prestigious institution like the University of Porto,” lamented the minister, reporting that his intervention in the case followed a contact made by the Rector himself, where the minister expressed readiness “to approve the creation of supranumerary seats if there was legal support.”
The MECI then requested an opinion from the General Inspectorate of Education and Science, which concluded there was no legal basis for opening those seats.
[News updated at 18:41]
