Foreign online schools and umbrella schools in Portugal

Many international families in Portugal look first at foreign online schools. Some offer live classes, others a curriculum and record-keeping from a distance, and some work as umbrella schools (escolas-guarda-chuva) that oversee a family's own teaching and issue a diploma from their home system, a model associated with US providers such as Clonlara. Press reports note that many foreign families use these schools or keep their children registered in home-country schools.77. Ir à escola dentro de casa. Há mais de 600 crianças em ensino doméstico em Portugal (16 October 2023)Diário de Notícias

These programmes can be good. Families choose them for continuity after a move, for teaching in English, or for a qualification recognised in another country. This guide is not about their quality. It is about one legal question: does enrolment in such a school satisfy compulsory schooling for a child who lives in Portugal?

What Portuguese law requires

Compulsory schooling applies from age 6 to 18. The guardian must enrol the child "in schools of the public network, of the private and cooperative network, or in education or training institutions recognised by the competent bodies".11. Lei n.º 85/2009, de 27 de agostoDiário da República A separate decree adds that the duty to enrol "also applies to ensino doméstico and to distance education".22. Decreto-Lei n.º 176/2012, de 2 de agostoDiário da República

In practice, the legal routes for a child living in Portugal are:

Sources: Lei 85/2009, DL 176/2012, DL 70/2021 and Portaria 359/2019.1233. Decreto-Lei n.º 70/2021, de 3 de agostoDiário da República44. Portaria n.º 359/2019, de 8 de outubro (ensino a distância)Diário da República

Why a foreign online school is not enough on its own

We found no legal text that recognises enrolment in a foreign online school or umbrella school as meeting Portuguese compulsory schooling for a child resident in Portugal. A foreign online school is not part of the Portuguese public or private network, and it is not one of the Portuguese distance education arrangements.14

Some providers say their programme is a legal option in Portugal. If you are considering one, ask them in writing for the legal basis they rely on, and compare it with the texts cited here.

Combining an online programme with ensino doméstico

There is a way to use an online programme that fits the law: enrol your child in ensino doméstico at a Portuguese school and use the programme as teaching material. The Portuguese requirements then still apply in full:3

• the request to the school director and a signed collaboration agreement (protocolo de colaboração);
• a plan that covers the Portuguese curriculum (the Aprendizagens Essenciais of each subject), including Cidadania e Desenvolvimento;
• Portuguese as the language of schooling, with a bilingual approach only in a national-curriculum foreign language and only where the school offers it;
• a portfolio (portefólio) discussed with the tutor teacher at least once a year;
• the Portuguese end-of-cycle tests, taken in Portuguese.55. Despacho Normativo n.º 3/2026, de 23 de fevereiro (Regulamento das Provas 2025-2028)Direção-Geral da Educação / EduQA

This is also an inference from the texts; no ministry statement addresses it directly. It follows from the fact that the homeschooling law sets the curriculum, not the method, and does not prescribe teaching materials.3

Two points often surprise families:

• The educator must teach in person. In ensino doméstico, a request can be refused if the named educator cannot deliver the curriculum in person, and the educator needs at least a licenciatura.3 Online teachers abroad do not replace the family educator.
• Two curricula mean double work. A foreign programme rarely matches the Portuguese curriculum year by year. You will need to map it to the Aprendizagens Essenciais in your annual plan and fill the gaps, especially Português, História e Geografia de Portugal and Cidadania e Desenvolvimento.

Risks to weigh

• No Portuguese record. Without a Portuguese enrolment, there is no Portuguese school file and no Portuguese certificate for the years spent in the online school.
• Going back into Portuguese schooling. In ensino básico, the school director can place a pupil with foreign or international schooling in a year without formal equivalence.88. Decreto-Lei n.º 7/2025, de 11 de fevereiroDiário da República The decree does not mention online schools specifically, so how a school treats records from a foreign online school is up to the director. For secondary, a formal equivalence process applies.8
• University in Portugal. Pupils following foreign curricula at schools based in Portugal who want to sit Portuguese national exams register through a secondary school in their area.66. Guia Geral de Exames 2026Direção-Geral do Ensino Superior (DGES) Check early how a foreign diploma from an online school would be treated for the course your child wants.
• Cost. Online schools charge tuition fees. In ensino doméstico with a state school of enrolment, pupils are entitled to free textbooks, and the tests are free within compulsory schooling if you register on time.35

Questions to ask any provider

• Does your programme claim to meet Portuguese compulsory schooling? On what legal basis, in writing?
• Will you provide records in a form a Portuguese school can read, with translation if needed?
• Can the programme be adapted to the Portuguese curriculum if we use it within ensino doméstico?
• What happens to credits and records if we leave mid-year?

Where to go next

• Ensino doméstico or ensino individual
• How to start
• Moving to Portugal with children