The Ministry of Education (MoE) carries out educational policies to support the Portuguese language learning, especially as the language of schooling, by offering Portuguese as a second language (PL2)/Português Língua Não Materna (PLNM) subject (instead of Portuguese subject), in primary and lower secondary education as well as in scientific-humanistic courses, specialised artistic courses and VET courses of secondary education.

The educational strategy outlined at national level since 2018 through legislation in force (Decree-Law no. 55/2018 of 6th of July; Decree-Law no. 54/2018 of 6th of July; Ministerial Implementing Order no. 223-A/2018, of 3rd of August; Ministerial Implementing Order no. 226-A/2018, of 7th of August; Ministerial Implementing Order no. 232-A/2018, of 20th of August, Ministerial Implementing Order no. 235-A/2018, of 23rd of August and Legislative Order no. 2044/2022, of 16th of February) seeks to ensure that the students who do not speak Portuguese as a mother tongue or who do not have Portuguese as a language of schooling have equal opportunities within the school system by creating equitable conditions of access to the curriculum and to educational success, regardless of their language, culture, social status, origin, and age.

When students aged 6-18 years are enrolled in the Portuguese education system, an initial interview is conducted where verbal and non-verbal aspects are observed. Additionally, a process of sociolinguistic assessment is carried out through the fulfilment of a form by parents or by legal guardians (identification of the languages spoken by the students; identification of students’ needs). Placement tests are applied to determine the students´ language proficiency level in Portuguese (models available at DGE website). Within this process, students can be placed at one of the following language proficiency levels: - initiation level (A1/A2); - intermediate level (B1); - advanced level (B2/C1), based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) benchmarks. This initial assessment can involve the coordinator of PL2 teachers, multidisciplinary teams, the coordinator of the teacher’s council, among others.

With a view to promoting equity and equal opportunities, the school alongside with parents/guardians, can provide students placed at initiation level (A1, A2) educational responses that facilitate access to the curriculum through the mobilisation of measures to support learning and inclusion, notably progressive integration into the curriculum and through adaptations to both the internal and the external assessment process.