Youth

Specific Curricula Courses are an upper-secondary education path with double certification. In other words, social, scientific and vocational skills, necessary for the exercise of a professional activity, are developed, whilst, simultaneously, the upper-secondary level of education is obtained.

These courses follow a specific curriculum, designed by each school, based on the requirements and expectations of the respective integration community, thus contributing to territorial development and cohesion.

Specific Curricula Courses are created through an Order, published for each educational establishment, which contains the respective course frameworks and defines their organisation and functioning regime. Consult the Orders in force here.

These courses prepare youth for an easier and more qualified integration in the labour market and enable them to carry out studies at post-secondary level, as well as higher education.

Specific Curricula Courses have a duration of three years and are organised into the following four training components:

• General Training - structured in subjects (common to scientific-humanistic courses); it aims to contribute to the construction of students’ personal, social and cultural identity;
• Scientific Training – structured in subjects (common to scientific-humanistic courses); it is aimed at acquiring scientific knowledge and structuring skills for the respective course;
  • Technological Training/Artistic Technical Training (in the case of courses in the artistic area) - organised into subjects aimed at acquiring and developing a knowledge and skills set and includes specific ways of implementing work-based learning;
  • Work-based learning - is carried out in companies or other organisations, during periods of variable duration throughout or at the end of the training. Its objective is the acquisition of knowledge and development of technical skills/technical artistic skills (in the case of courses in the artistic area), as well as relational and organisational skills, relevant to the course’s skills profile.

These courses culminate with the presentation and defence of a project before a jury, called the Professional Aptitude Test (PAT), in which the skills and knowledge developed during the training are demonstrated. In the case of courses in the artistic area, the project is called the Artistic Aptitude Test (AAT), in which the knowledge and technical-artistic skills acquired and developed during the training are demonstrated.

There are Specific Curricula Courses in the most diverse areas of education and training, from industry and technology, services, commerce and transport to agriculture and the environment, including visual and audio-visual arts.

For whom?

Specific Curricula Courses may be the most suitable for those who:

• have concluded the 9^th year of schooling or equivalent training;
• seek double certification paths which respond to labour market needs and/or those who wish to pursue further studies.

What is the certification?

At the end of the course, students obtain a double certification -  upper-secondary education and a professional certification - conferring level 4 of qualification of the National Qualifications Framework – Ordinance No. 782/2009, of 23^rd July.

Completion of upper-secondary education through Specific Curricula Courses is dependent on passing all the subjects provided for in the course's curricular framework, the work-based learning and the Professional Aptitude Test or Artistic Aptitude Test (in the case of courses in the artistic area).

Access the Diploma and Certificate templates here, pursuant to Ordinance No. 194/2021, of 17^th September. This Ordinance is intended to dematerialise, standardise, gather and regulate, in a single diploma, the existing diploma and certificate templates. Diplomas attest to the completion of basic or upper-secondary education. The certificates record the subjects and/or STTU/CU attended and their respective classifications, the projects carried out within the scope of the Citizenship and Development component in upper-secondary education, as well as a broad range of projects, initiatives and activities in which students participate. The diplomas and certificates are made available to their holders by the schools, through electronic means, being issued in electronic form through the SIGO system. Certificates and diplomas are also available in the Documents Exchange of the ePortugal portal and in the documents area of ??the Qualifica Passport, when applicable. Whilst the issuance of diplomas and certificates through the SIGO system is not operational, they are issued by schools using the base models available in editable format, with access via the link indicated below. For this type of issuance, the SIGO system assigns a sequential number to the diploma or certificate, an alphanumeric code and a QR Code. After their issuance, the documents are uploaded to the SIGO system and their authenticity can be verified through the documents area of ??the Qualifica Passport. 

Where?

Specific Curricula Courses may function in:

• private and cooperative educational establishments.

Consult the available courses and schools/training entities here.