The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI) proposed that higher education institutions could increase vacancies in the next academic year, a possibility that, for polytechnics, could harm institutions in the interior.
The information was released today by the Coordinating Council of Higher Polytechnic Institutes (CCISP), which cites a proposal for a guidance order for vacancies for higher education in the 2026/2027 academic year.
According to the body that represents polytechnics, the Government proposes that the total number of vacancies fixed for national and local competitions may exceed the number of initial vacancies from the previous year by 10%, eliminating the limitations in force in recent years.
In the last competition, the only exceptions were the courses most sought after by excellent students, training in digital skills, Medicine, Basic Education and institutions located in regions with less demographic pressure.
For the CCISP, the intention of allowing an increase in places in all courses will inevitably penalize institutions located in the interior of the country.
“It will have asymmetric effects, disproportionately harming institutions in the interior and peripheral regions, while it will benefit institutions in large urban centers, contributing to increasing asymmetries and further unbalancing the supply of vacancies”, writes the CCISP in a statement.
Stressing that, currently, more than 50% of vacancies are already concentrated in institutions in Lisbon and Porto, the CCISP considers that if these universities and polytechnics can make more places available, much of the existing training offer in the interior will end up being emptied.
“The uniform application of the measure, as proposed, will have very serious impacts on demand for several institutions, especially those located in regions with less demographic pressure”, he adds.
On the other hand, representatives of polytechnics warn of the possible worsening of housing problems in large urban centers, also arguing that the proposal “ignores the structural reality of the system”, in which the number of candidates has fallen in recent years.
In this regard, they recall that the national access competition for the 2025/2026 academic year had less than 50 thousand students applying for the 1st phase, much lower than that recorded in recent years and only compared to 2018.
At the time, one of the reasons given was the change in the rules for completing secondary education, which now required the Portuguese exam and two other subjects.
“There is therefore an urgent need to review this measure, making the admission model more flexible, particularly in terms of the number of exams required for access to higher education, in order to mitigate the consequences of the latest change”, the statement said.