The Faculdade de Belas-Artes da Universidade de Lisboa is the oldest artistic higher education institution in Portugal. Linked to the contemporary art and design, with the constant concern to take an active place in the today’s culture, it is the largest and most influential School of Arts and Design of the country.

Located in the historic center of Lisbon, alongside the National Museum of Contemporary Art, the Faculdade de Belas-Artes da Universidade de Lisboa offers its students a very wide set of undergraduate, postgraduate, master and PhD courses. But also the necessary freedom to their development as artists, designers and researchers and a unique cultural experience. To this adds also the special atmosphere of the old Convent of São Francisco, the Chiado’s vibrant everyday and the luminous beauty of Lisbon.

Currently, more than 100 foreign students of 26 nationalities study at Faculdade de Belas-Artes. To these, add up about 70 students that each year choose the Faculdade de Belas-Artes to carry out a study mobility period. These figures reflect clearly the success of Belas-Artes Lisboa as a destination and host school for international students. For us it is a pleasure to welcome you and your presence is a key contribution to the cosmopolitan spirit that is lived here.

BELAS-ARTES: in the heart of lisbon

The Faculdade de Belas-Artes is located in the historic center of Lisbon, at the Convent of São Francisco in the Chiado quarter, that has been the heart of the setting of modernity in Lisbon since the nineteenth century, thus corresponding faithfully to the spirit that our School aims to materialize: to develop an artistic culture close to our time and implement artistic and research skills in the fields of art and design that meet the challenges that the today’s global circulation of knowledge require.

Get to know more about the history of Faculdade de Belas-Artes here.

admission at FACULDADE DE BELAS-ARTES for INTERNAtional students

The Faculdade de Belas-Artes has special application procedures for international students (with deadlines, specific vacancies and conditions) for admission in its undergraduate, master and phd courses.

Special application procedures for international students apply to those who fullfil the following conditions:

• Not having Portuguese nationality;
• Not being a national from a Member State of the European Union;
• Not legally residing in Portugal until the 1st of January of the year in which intend to enroll in higher education for more than two years, continuously, and not being family of foreign citizens that hold a resident permit for more than two years;
• Not being family of a Portuguese or European Union national;
• Not having until the 1st of January of the year in which intend to enroll in higher education a status of equality of rights and duties assigned under an international treaty granted between the Portuguese State and the State of which students are nationals.

In the case of having two or more nationalities and one of them is from a Member State of the European Union, including Portugal, the student must apply by the general admission scheme.

Students who enroll in higher education under the Statute of the International Student (Decree-Law no. 36/2014 of 10 March) maintain the status of international student until the end of the course in which enroll initially or to which change afterwards. Exceptions to this provision are applied to international students who acquire the nationality of an EU Member State. In this situation, the termination of the application of international student status as a result of the acquisition of the nationality of an EU Member State takes effect in the academic year following the date of acquisition of nationality.

Applications for international students are carried out electronically, through Belas-Artes’ website.

special application contest for admission in bachelor courses for international students

May apply for admission to a Licenciatura (Bachelor) degree at Faculdade de Belas-Artes, those who are:

• Holders of a qualification which, in the country where it was obtained, enables them to access higher education in that country;
• Holders of a Portuguese secondary education diploma or degree, or a legally equivalent secondary education diploma or degree.

For admission in a Licenciatura (Bachelor) degree, international students must fulfill all of the following requirements:

• Academic qualifications in the areas of knowledge required for the course they are applying to;
• Proper level of knowledge on Portuguese, required for the attendance of the course.

International students who have attended secondary school in Portuguese language, will not have to present any certificate of knowledge of the language.

Specific application conditions for students who have attended the Brazilian secondary education system
If you are holder of a brazilian secondary education diploma (ensino médio), you can use the ENEM exam for the application to a Licenciatura (Bachelor) degree at Faculdade de Belas-Artes.

You can use the ENEM, as long as:

• Are holder of a brazilian secondary education diploma (ensino médio);
• In the secondary education (ensino médio) passed the course unit/module/course component of Arte (or Artes);
• Approved in the Exame Nacional de Ensino Médio (ENEM), in the year of the application or in the three years previous to the application;
• In the ENEM, obtained a rating no less than 500 points in the field of knowledge of Linguagens, Códigos e suas Tecnologias.

For detailed information on this special application contest, access here.

master and phd admissions

In order to allow international students to get further in advance the decision on their application to the Masters and PhD, the Faculdade de Belas-Artes organizes a specific application regime, with a previous deadline and with a specific set of vacancies for the admission of international students.

Application conditions
The specific application conditions for each course as well as the documentation to be submitted, should be consulted on the course’s electronic page.

For information regarding the Master courses offered by the Faculdade de Belas-Artes, access here.

About the PhD in Fine Arts and it’s application conditions, access here.

Other informations

For any questions, do not hesitate to contact the Belas-Artes’ Academic Services, at the address academicos@belasartes.ulisboa.pt

Consult also the Universidade de Lisboa website, where you’ll find a comprehensive set of practical information (on accommodation, living costs, visas, etc.) for international students.