Most of you are likely aware that BGA Learners currently cannot apply to Portuguese Universities due to a bureaucratic issue: BGA lacks accreditation and, therefore, cannot provide the required high school grade file for applications.

Under Portuguese law, International GCSE and A-Levels are equivalent to high-school diplomas. Students from any accredited school in Portugal or from any EU country use these to meet university application requirements.

Since these exams are designed, administered, and graded by independent entities (Pearson and Cambridge) rather than schools, it makes no sense to restrict their acceptance based on school accreditation. Notably, accreditation is irrelevant for EU students applying to Portuguese universities.

This bureaucratic hurdle results in discrimination against our children. There are no academic criteria preventing them from applying, especially when the same diplomas are accepted for everyone else.

We want to bring this to the Ministry’s attention, as concerned parents and residents in Portugal, seeking a meeting to present our position and demand a solution for it. It goes without saying that the greater our representation, the stronger our claim and position will be perceived. That is why we want to invite you to join the initiative if you share the concern and wish to be a part in solving our children’s situation.

We are a small group of concerned parents that decided to take action on this rather absurd situation, to keep our kids' options as open as they are for any other student, as it rightfully should be. Beyond our children’s welfare, we are also moved by contributions to the success of valuable initiatives to offer educational options, such as BGA’s, and to do away with nonsensical practices in our Public Administration.

For those of you that want to get deeper in this bureaucratic rabbithole, we organise an informative webinar on September the 11th at 18:30. Here we'll explain the current situation in greater detail, and will answer all your questions.