Private Schools Dominate Rankings: Public School Performance Falls Behind Again

Overview of School Rankings

The best public school in Portugal has once again been ranked significantly lower than private institutions, coming in at 33rd place according to data from the Ministry of Education, analyzed by Lusa. The top schools with the best results in national exams are primarily located in the North of the country.

Leading Private Schools

The Grande Colégio Universal in Porto tops the rankings this year, with students achieving an average score of 16.51 from 191 exams. This is closely followed by the Colégio Nossa Senhora do Rosário in 2nd place with 16.42 and Colégio Efanor in 3rd place with 16.36.

Public School Performance

The highest-ranked public school is the Escola Básica e Secundária Dr. Ferreira da Silva in Oliveira de Azeméis, which is 33rd with an average of 13.85. This marks an improvement from the previous year, where the top public school was ranked 39th.

Struggling Schools

At the other end of the spectrum, nine public schools and one private school in the Lisbon metropolitan area appear at the bottom of the rankings, all with negative average scores. Notably, the Escola Secundária da Baixa da Banheira has the highest failure and dropout rates, which is indicative of the challenges faced by students from low-income families.

Socioeconomic Impact on Education

The socioeconomic conditions continue to affect student performance. However, there are schools that manage to mitigate the impact of poverty on academic success, with 56.48% of public schools achieving positive equity levels in the latest academic year.

Gender and Academic Performance

In terms of academic excellence, girls outperform boys, with 58% of top scores being awarded to female students. In the 2023/2024 academic year, 39,558 top grades were given across various subjects, notably in Physical Education, Information Technology, and English.

Conclusion

Recent statistics indicate a growing number of high-achieving students in both public and private education sectors, with a significant rise in top grades compared to previous years.