ABSTRACT
Basic education in Portugal is from 6 to 14 years: ages 6 to 9 in the first cycle or primary, ages 10 to 11 in the second cycle or preparatory, and ages 12 to 14 in the third cycle. A specific feature in Portugal is the grade retention scheme, whereby (at least until recently) many pupils are retained in a grade for one or more years if they underachieve in school.
