Change of Institution/Course Pair

• Who can apply?
• Specific conditions
• Announcement
• Deadlines 
• Vacancies in the 1st Phase
  
• Required documents
• Payment of the application fee (70 Euros)
• Seriation criteria
• Announcement of results
• Enrolment
• Regulation (PDF) and Official Publication (PDF)
• Brazilian applicants (how to obtain a student visa)

Re-entry

• Who can apply?
• Announcement
• Deadlines
• Vacancies in the 1st phase
• Payment of the application fee (70 Euros)
• Recognition of Prior Learning
• Enrolment
• Tuition Fees and School Insurance

online Application

Who can apply?

1. Students who are or have been enrolled and registered may request a change of institution/course pair:

1. In another national higher education institution/course pair and have not completed it;
2. In foreign higher education institutions, on a course defined as higher education by the legislation of the country in question, and have not completed it.

2. Students whose registration has expired due to the application of the limitation period are also covered by this regulation, provided that the period legally prohibiting new applications (two semesters) has ended. A new application for a change of institution/course pair, after this period has elapsed, is subject to the rules on filling vacancies set out in these Regulations.
3. International students admitted through the re-entry and change of institution/course pair regimes are also subject to the provisions of articles 3 and 4 of the Regulation of the Special Competition for Access and Admission of International Students to Bachelor's and Integrated Master's Study Cycles at NOVA FCT.

Specific conditions

1. Students who meet one of the following conditions may request a Change of Institution/Course Pair pair:

1. Have taken the specific tests to access the course in which they intend to enroll and have obtained a grade no lower than the minimum grade set by NOVA FCT;
2. In the case of students who are or have been enrolled and registered in a foreign higher education institution, in a course defined as higher education by the legislation of the respective country, having passed the subjects of the secondary education course corresponding to the entrance exams required, in the year in which they obtained approval, for entry into that course.

2. You can also request a change of Institution/Course Pair:

1. Students who entered higher education holding a technological specialization diploma (CET) or a higher professional technician diploma (CTSP), provided that they have taken the national secondary education exams corresponding to the entrance exams required for the study cycle in question through the general access and entry regime and in these exams have obtained a grade not lower than the minimum grade set by NOVA FCT;
2. Students who entered higher education through Specially Appropriate Tests Designed to Assess the Capacity to Attend Higher Education for Those Over 23 Years of Age, provided that they have taken the tests required for access to the course they are applying for at NOVA FCT.

3. For students holding non-Portuguese secondary education courses legally equivalent to Portuguese secondary education, the condition established by subparagraphs a) and b) of paragraph 1 may be met by applying article 20.º-A of Decree-Law no. 296-A/98, of 25 September, in its current wording.
4. Changing the pair of institution/higher professional technical course, or foreign course of corresponding level, is not permitted for undergraduate study cycles or integrated master's study cycles.
5. Changing the institution/course pair is not permitted in the academic year in which the student has been placed in a higher education institution/course pair under any access and entry regime and has enrolled and registered.

Deadlines

Vacancies in the 1st phase 2025/2026

(*) The vacancies indicated for the 1st year are intended for candidates who will be placed in the 1st year (accreditation of less than 36 ECTS)

Required documents

General Documents

1. Completion of the electronic application form available on this page;
2. Identification document (ID Card, Citizen Card or Passport);
3. Higher education application history, issued by DGES;
   Example of this type of document: PDF 
   To obtain it, visit: https://www.dges.gov.pt/pt/requerimento_documentos
4. In the case of students coming from private and cooperative education, a record of the national secondary education exams, issued by the Ministry of Education (ENES Record), is required;
   xample of this type of document: PDF 
5. Candidates from foreign higher education institutions must submit supporting document(s) with their grade for the 12th year or equivalent (pre-university year) and their grades for specific tests (or equivalent national exams);
6. Document proving enrolment and registration from the higher education institution in which you were enrolled;
7. Declaration from the educational institution of origin that registration will not be prescribed for the academic year to which the applicant is applying, not applicable to international students;
8. Certificate of qualifications with all curricular units completed, indicating the number of ECTS;
9. Authenticated programs for all curricular units studied, indicating the respective academic level;
10. Payment of the application fee, according to the current fee schedule, approved by the UNL Management Board;
11. Applications for change of institution/course pair by NOVA FCT students are only processed in accordance with paragraphs a), b), c) and j).

Additionally, international students must submit the following documents:

1. Declaration, under oath, that the candidate is not covered by any of the clauses listed in number 2 of article 2 of the regulations of the special competition for access and admission of international students to undergraduate and integrated master's degree courses at NOVA FCT;
2. Photocopy of the document proving the level of proficiency in the language of instruction;
3. Certificate of residence issued by the country where the candidate is domiciled;
4. In the case of students from foreign higher education systems, the documents referred to in points e), h) and i) of no. 1 must be endorsed by the competent education services or consular service, or the Hague Convention apostille must be affixed, and, if they are not written in Portuguese, Spanish, French or English, translated into Portuguese by a translator recognised by the Portuguese diplomatic representation;
5. Applications for a change of institution/course pair for NOVA FCT students are only processed in accordance with paragraphs a), b), c) and j) of paragraph 1.

Payment of the application fee 

Fee: 70 Euros/cada candidatura submetida.

Payment by MB Way, ATM reference or credit card (Visa or MasterCard).

The deadline for the ATM reference for payment of the application fee is 7 days from the day the candidate submitted the application and the request for ATM references can only be made up until the day before the payment deadline. Unpaid applications will be automatically excluded. SEE HOW TO PAY APPLICATION FEES. 

Seriation Criteria

1. Students are considered applicants to the 1st year of the degree programmes if they have completed fewer than 36 ECTS in their original programme, or if, although having completed more than 36 ECTS, they are granted, through the credit transfer process for curricular units completed in the original programme and deemed relevant to the programme to which they are applying, fewer than 36 ECTS.
2. Students are considered applicants to advanced years of the degree programmes if they are granted, through the credit transfer process for curricular units completed in the original programme and deemed relevant to the programme to which they are applying, 36 or more ECTS.
3. For ranking purposes, postgraduate courses and the grades obtained therein are not considered.
4. For this purpose, application lists are organized into one of the following contingents: i. Contingent 1 (C1): Includes all applicants under the institution/programme change regime coming from national or foreign higher education institutions who are classified as candidates for the 1st year of the programmes; ii. Contingent 2 (C2): Includes all applicants under the institution/programme change regime coming from national or foreign higher education institutions who are classified as candidates for advanced years of the programmes; 
5. The final ranking of applicants for the institution/programme change regime, within each contingent, is based on the values F1 and F2, expressed to two decimal places, resulting from the weighting of factors related to the pre-university and university academic paths, according to the following formulas:
    

   F1 (Contingent C1 applicants) = Ma * |1-ECTSt/180)| + Mt*ECTSt/180

   F2 (Contingent C2 applicants) = Ma * |1- ECTSr/180)| + Mr*ECTSr/180

   Where,

   Ma = The value of the admission grade to Portuguese higher education (scale of 0 to 20) that the student would have obtained if they had applied to NOVA FCT through the general admission regime; For students coming from private or cooperative higher education institutions, this corresponds to the average of the grades obtained in the national secondary education exams; For students who entered higher education through the Special Exams for Assessing the Ability to Attend Higher Education for Candidates Over 23, use the average grade of those exams, provided they were taken at NOVA FCT; For students coming from foreign higher education institutions, with pre-university qualifications obtained abroad or in Portugal and legally equivalent to Portuguese secondary education, use the average of final exam grades in terminal subjects of their respective programmes, analogous to subjects in the Portuguese education system.

   Mt = Simple arithmetic mean of all curricular units completed in the original higher education programme.

   Mr = Simple arithmetic mean of the curricular units that are programmatically relevant, meaning those units that belong to the scientific areas of the programme to which the student is applying and that will be subsequently credited in the study cycle applied for, in case of admission and enrolment.

   ECTSr = Number of ECTS credits corresponding to the curricular units that are programmatically relevant to the study cycle the student is applying to.

   ECTSt = Total number of ECTS credits completed in the original higher education programme.

Announcement of results

July 29, 2025.*

*The date shown here is the expected date for the announcement of the results. However, this date may vary slightly. Candidates who are accepted and those who are not accepted will receive an automatic notification indicating the result.

Enrolment

From August 4th to 22nd, 2025.

Re-entry (1st Cycle)

online Application

Who can apply?

Students may apply for re-entry if they:

1. Having interrupted their studies, wish to enrol again at NOVA FCT in the same program in which they were previously enrolled or in a program that has succeeded it; 
2. Have not been enroled in that program in the academic year prior to the one in which they wish to re-enter;
3. Had their enrolment canceled due to the application of the prescription regime, provided that the legally mandatory waiting period for reapplication (two semesters) has ended.

Deadlines

1st Phase:

Vacancies 

Re-entry is not subject to any vacancy limitation.

Required documents

1. Completion of the electronic registration form available on the NOVA FCT portal;
2. Identification document (ID, Citizen Card or Passport);
3. Payment of the application fee, according to the current fee schedule, approved by the UNL Management Board.

Payment of the application fee 

Fee: 70 Euros/each application submitted

Payment by MB Way, ATM reference or credit card (Visa or MasterCard).

The deadline for the ATM reference for payment of the application fee is 7 days from the day the candidate submitted the application and the request for ATM references can only be made up until the day before the payment deadline. Unpaid applications will be automatically excluded. SEE HOW TO PAY APPLICATION FEES. 

Recognition of Prior Learning

A creditação de conhecimentos e competências académicas, profissionais ou adquiridas pode ser requerida pelos interessados, no acto da matrícula.

Custos da creditação de conhecimentos (conforme tabela de emolumentos da UNL)

Regulamento de creditação de conhecimentos da NOVA FCT

Enrolment

From August 4th to 22nd, 2025.

Tuition fees and school insurance

a) Fees are due at the time of enrolment or registration and may be paid in installments, in accordance with the approved regulations.
b) Students who do not attend the course or withdraw do not entitle them to a refund of the amounts paid or to cancellation of the debt.

The full amount of tuition fees for the 2025/2026 academic year is €697.

Payment methods: MB Way, ATM reference or credit card (Visa or MasterCard).
School insurance: €1.40 (this amount is subject to an annual update, to be announced in due course).