Nearly 55,000 apply to Portuguese universities, beating last year's total

Portugal's higher education application deadline ends today with nearly 55,000 candidates, surpassing last year's 49,595 first-phase applicants. Universities and polytechnics offer 56,790 places, 834 more than last year. The Directorate-General for Higher Education counted nearly 55,000 candidates by Tuesday, exceeding the previous year's first-phase total. Only 304 students applied on the first day, versus 10,000 last year. Nearly 300,000 national exams were digitally graded for the first time, but technical failures delayed results by several days.