Portugal
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Portugal
Teachers and teaching conditions (TALIS 2024)
  • In Portugal, teachers are on average 51 years old, which is higher than the OECD average (45 years). Since 2018, the share of teachers aged 50 and above has increased by 13 percentage points.
  • Only 44% of teachers have non-teaching work experience (lower than the OECD average: 57%).
  • Around 19% of teachers work in schools where more than 10% of students have a first language different from the language of instruction (lower than the OECD average: 25%). At the same time, 86% feel able to adapt their teaching to cultural diversity “quite a bit” or “a lot” (higher than the OECD average: 63%).
  • About 85% of teachers feel they can support students’ social and emotional learning “quite a bit” or “a lot” (higher than the OECD average: 73%).
  • Close to 13% of teachers work in schools where at least one hybrid or online lesson was taught in the last month (similar to the OECD average: 16%).
  • Around 30% of teachers report having used artificial intelligence (AI) in their work (lower than the OECD average: 36%).
  • Only 20% of novice teachers with up to five years of experience have an assigned mentor (lower than the OECD average: 26%). This share has not changed since 2018.
  • About 92% of teachers report that the professional learning activities they participated in during the previous 12 months had a positive impact on their teaching (higher than the OECD average: 55%).
  • The most frequent forms of collaboration among teachers include engaging in discussions about students’ learning development (61%), exchanging teaching materials with colleagues (60%), and working with colleagues to ensure common evaluation standards (46%).
  • Only 9% of teachers agree or strongly agree that teachers are valued in society (lower than the OECD average: 22%). This share has not changed since 2018.
  • Around 39% of teachers say they are satisfied with their terms of employment (excluding salaries) (lower than the OECD average: 68%). Satisfaction with employment terms has increased by 10 percentage points since 2018.
  • Only 13% of teachers report being satisfied with their salaries (lower than the OECD average: 39%). This share increased by 4 percentage points since 2018.
  • The most commonly reported sources of stress are too much administrative work (79%), being held responsible for student achievement (79%), and having too much marking (77%).
  • The share of teachers who report overall job satisfaction is 94% (higher than the OECD average: 89%). Job satisfaction has increased by 2 percentage points since 2018.
  • About 27% of teachers under age 30 express their intention to leave teaching within the next five years (similar to the OECD average: 20%).

  • * Estimates for Alberta (Canada), the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.

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    The following list displays indicators for which your selected country shows the highest and lowest values among countries. The list can be sorted by level of education or by age group. All rankings are calculated including available data from OECD and partner countries. Find out more about the methodology here.

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    Who the teachers are

    Teachers are on average older than teachers in most other TALIS countries. (51.1 Years, rank 2/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    In Portugal, more teachers are aged 50 and above relative to other TALIS countries. (59.9 %, rank 2/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Initial and induction training of teachers

    The share of recent lower secondary teacher graduates in Portugal reporting that their initial education prepared them well to support students’ social and emotional development was among the smallest across countries with available data. (28.8 %, rank 46/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Professional development of teachers

    A large percentage of teachers feel professional development activities in the 12 months prior to the survey had a positive impact on their teaching practices. (91.5 %, rank 3/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Among novice lower secondary teachers in Portugal, the percentage reporting that professional learning activities during the 12 months preceding the survey had a positive impact on their teaching was among the highest across countries with available data. (89.9 %, rank 5/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teacher appraisal and feedback

    In Portugal, a low proportion of teachers report receiving feedback from school principals. (75.9 %, rank 47/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teachers' practices

    Teachers report spending more hours per week marking and correcting work. (6.9 Hours/week, rank 3/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    ICT for teaching

    The percentage of novice lower secondary teachers in Portugal reporting a high level of need for skills in using artificial intelligence for teaching and learning was among the lowest across countries with available data. (16.7 %, rank 50/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teaching students with special needs

    In Portugal, the percentage of lower secondary teachers who feel “quite a bit” or “a lot” they can design learning tasks to accommodate students with special education needs was among the highest across countries with available data. (84.1 %, rank 5/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teaching in multicultural settings

    Portugal has a higher share of teachers feeling they can cope with the challenges of a multicultural classroom "quite a bit" or "a lot" in teaching a culturally diverse class. (85.8 %, rank 8/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    More teachers report a high level of need for professional development in student behaviour and classroom management. (28.5 %, rank 8/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teacher leadership and autonomy

    The percentage of lower secondary teachers in Portugal who “agree” or “strongly agree” that their school encourages staff to lead new initiatives was among the lowest across countries with available data. (76.7 %, rank 47/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teachers' autonomy, collegiality and collaboration

    The proportion of lower secondary teachers in Portugal who “agree” or “strongly agree” that students and teachers usually get along well with each other was among the highest across participating countries. (98.3 %, rank 6/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    In Portugal, the proportion of lower secondary teachers collaborating with parents and guardians at least once a month to enrich students’ learning activities was among the smallest across countries with available data. (15.9 %, rank 47/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teachers' satisfaction with their jobs

    A smaller proportion of teachers believe that the teaching profession is valued in society. (8.7 %, rank 50/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Compared to most other TALIS countries, Portugal has a low proportion of teachers who are satisfied with the salary they receive for their work. (13.4 %, rank 54/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Compared to most other TALIS countries, Portugal has a low proportion of teachers who, apart from their salary, are satisfied with the terms of their teaching contract/employment. (39.1 %, rank 54/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Status of the teaching profession

    The share of lower secondary teachers in Portugal who “agree” or “strongly agree” that teachers are valued by parents and guardians was among the smallest across countries with available data. (51.5 %, rank 51/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The percentage of lower secondary teachers in Portugal who 'agree' or 'strongly agree' that their views are valued by policymakers was among the lowest across countries with available data. (4.3 %, rank 55/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teachers’ working conditions, mobility and risk of attrition

    Portugal has one of the lowest proportion of teachers employed on a permanent contract. (67.4 %, rank 49/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    For a large share of teachers, having too much administrative work is a source of stress. (79.3 %, rank 1/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The proportion of lower secondary teachers in Portugal who "agree" or "strongly agree" that too many change initiatives are introduced at their school was among the smallest across countries with available data. (24.3 %, rank 49/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The proportion of lower secondary teachers under age 30 in Portugal who intend to leave teaching within the next five years was among the highest across countries with available data. (27.4 %, rank 8/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teacher stress factors

    In Portugal, the percentage of lower secondary teachers reporting that too much lesson preparation is a source of stress was among the highest across countries with available data. (62.8 %, rank 3/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The share of lower secondary teachers in Portugal reporting stress due to having too many lessons to teach was among the highest across countries with available data. (56.7 %, rank 4/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The proportion of lower secondary teachers in Portugal who reported that too much marking causes stress was among the highest across countries with available data. (77.4 %, rank 1/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The percentage of lower secondary teachers in Portugal who reported that being held responsible for student achievement is a source of stress was among the highest across countries with available data. (78.6 %, rank 1/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The proportion of lower secondary teachers in Portugal reporting stress from maintaining classroom discipline was among the highest across countries with available data. (62.1 %, rank 4/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    In Portugal, the share of lower secondary teachers reporting stress from intimidation or verbal abuse by students was among the highest across countries with available data. (26.8 %, rank 6/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The percentage of lower secondary teachers in Portugal who reported stress from keeping up with changing requirements from authorities was among the highest across countries with available data. (52 %, rank 10/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The proportion of lower secondary teachers in Portugal reporting stress from addressing parent or guardian concerns was among the highest across countries with available data. (60.6 %, rank 1/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    In Portugal, the share of lower secondary teachers reporting stress from modifying lessons for students with special education needs was among the highest across countries with available data. (63.8 %, rank 1/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The proportion of lower secondary teachers in Portugal who reported stress from being held responsible for students’ social and emotional well-being was among the highest across countries with available data. (57 %, rank 3/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    In Portugal, the percentage of lower secondary teachers who reported stress from having too much work on diversity and equity issues was among the highest across countries with available data. (45 %, rank 3/55 , 2024) Download Indicator


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    General findings
    
                            
    • Teachers are aging in many education systems. While the average age of teachers is around 45 years old, more than one out of two teachers are 50 or older.
    • Prior non-teaching work experience is more and more common for teachers. In around half of the education systems, at least one out of two teachers have prior non-teaching work experience.
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    • Around one in three teachers report having used artificial intelligence (AI) in their work, on average across OECD education systems.
    • Many teachers – especially female and experienced teachers – report meeting key lesson aims, though supporting students' social and emotional learning remains challenging.
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    • The large majority of teachers are satisfied with their profession, which indicates that most teachers find meaning and personal fulfilment in their work. Almost nine in ten teachers report that they are satisfied with their jobs overall.
    • Administrative workload remains a considerable demand for teachers. About half of teachers report excessive administrative work as a source of work-related stress, particularly those with more than ten years of experience.
    • Discipline and behaviour issues as sources of stress are important predictors of teachers’ fulfilment of their lesson aims, their well-being, job satisfaction and their intention to leave teaching. About one in five teachers report experiencing significant disruptive noise and disorder in their classrooms, and the share of time spent on maintaining discipline has increased since 2018.
    • Teachers are spending more time working together compared to 2018. Full-time teachers report spending around 3 hours per week participating in teamwork and dialogue with colleagues. Teachers who report good professional relationships with principals, other teachers, parents and guardians, and students tend to report higher well-being and job satisfaction.
    Visualisations
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    • Administrative workload remains a considerable demand for teachers. About half of teachers report excessive administrative work as a source of work-related stress, particularly those with more than ten years of experience.
    • Discipline and behaviour issues as sources of stress are important predictors of teachers’ fulfilment of their lesson aims, their well-being, job satisfaction and their intention to leave teaching. About one in five teachers report experiencing significant disruptive noise and disorder in their classrooms, and the share of time spent on maintaining discipline has increased since 2018.
    • Teachers’ satisfaction with their terms of employment (including salary) has increased in many education systems since 2018.
    Visualisations
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    • Mentoring is gaining popularity. About one in four novice teachers (teachers with up to five years of teaching experience) has an assigned mentor.
    • While nearly all teachers participate in continuous professional learning, not all of them find that doing so has a positive impact on their teaching. Just 55% of teachers report that the professional learning activities they participated in during the 12 months preceding the survey had a positive impact on their teaching.
    Visualisations
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    • Teachers are spending more time working together compared to 2018. Full-time teachers report spending around 3 hours per week participating in teamwork and dialogue with colleagues. Teachers who report good professional relationships with principals, other teachers, parents and guardians, and students tend to report higher well-being and job satisfaction.
    Visualisations
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
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    • Feedback and appraisal are common features of teachers’ professional lives. On average across OECD education systems, 88% of teachers report receiving feedback from their school principal, 61% from assigned mentors and 55% from external individuals or bodies. At the same time, principals report that only less than 6% of teachers are never formally appraised.
    Visualisations
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    Key
    Diagram of funding flows - Portugal

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    Key
    Country Reviews for Portugal

    Note: These values should be interpreted with care since they are influenced by countries' specific contexts and trade-offs. In education, there is often no simple most- or least-efficient model. For instance, the share of private expenditure in education must be read against other measures designed to mitigate inequities, such as loans and grants; longer learning time is an opportunity to convey more and better content to students, but may hinder investments in other important areas. If you want further information on the nature of different variables, please take the time to read the analysis and contextual information, available at the website for each publication.
    All rankings for individual variables are compiled on the basis of OECD and G20 countries for which data are available. The OECD average includes only OECD countries which are listed here: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/members-partners.html

    Reference years displayed in the Education GPS correspond to the most common year of reference among countries for which data is available on each variable. Data for the latest available year is preferred and some countries may have provided data refering to a more recent or late year. To know more about possible exceptions on data please click on the "Download Indicator" link on each variable. When a year of reference corresponds to a school year encompassing two years, the reference reads as follows: 2026 for school year 2025/2026.

    *TALIS averages are based on all countries participating in the TALIS survey, including partner countries and economies. This explains the difference between the OECD average and the TALIS averages. Data from the TALIS survey and Education at a Glance (EAG) may differ. See Annex E of the TALIS technical report and Annex 3 of EAG 2024 for more details about the data collections.

    For additional notes, please refer to annexes in the list of links below the introductory country profile text.