Portugal · Lisbon
São João de Brito is a co-educational Jesuit day school from age three to Year 12. Teaching follows Portugal’s national curriculum, and admission depends on a points ranking, an interview and available places.
Colégio São João de Brito is a private Catholic school in the Jesuit tradition. It occupies one campus at Estrada da Torre 28, in Lisbon’s Lumiar district.
The school is co-educational and day-only. It accepts children from kindergarten at age three through 12.º ano, the final year of Portuguese secondary education. It has no published boarding provision.
This is primarily a Portuguese school, not an English-medium international school. It suits a family seeking a long-term national pathway and a clearly Catholic, Jesuit educational setting.
Pupils follow Portugal’s national curriculum. The main leaving route is the Portuguese secondary-school diploma, with national examinations where the chosen course or university application requires them.
The school’s simplified curriculum page remains labelled 2024–25. It lists Sciences and Technologies, Socioeconomic Sciences, Languages and Humanities, and Visual Arts at upper-secondary level. Confirm which combinations actually run in 2026–27.
Religious education and the school’s Formação Humana programme sit alongside the national subjects. Families should be comfortable with Catholic worship, pastoral activities and Ignatian formation as ordinary parts of school life.
The school announced an optional online American High School Diploma programme for pupils beginning in Years 8, 9 or 10. The announcement dates from 2024–25. Current availability, admission requirements and cost are not public.
Portuguese is the main teaching language. The school does not publish a minimum Portuguese level for admission or a structured Portuguese-as-an-additional-language programme.
The fee page says English is included for kindergarten pupils aged four and five, and in every year of the first cycle. The optional language centre offers English and other languages beyond the core timetable.
This distinction matters for a newly arrived child. Ask for a subject-by-subject language review and a written integration plan before accepting a place.
The school accepts applications for every year, but it normally creates new classes at age three, Year 1, Year 5 and Year 10. Other places depend mainly on transfers or pupils repeating a year.
The FAQ adds that Year 10 capacity varies with the study areas chosen by existing Year 9 pupils. A submitted application therefore does not imply that a suitable place exists.
Children must already have been born before an application can be filed. A kindergarten entrant must turn three by 31 December of the entry year.
The first application costs €50. The school says the full amount supports scholarships through the Fundo de Santo Inácio. Renewing an application for a later year is free and is done by email.
The school ranks candidates through a cumulative points system. Documents must prove every claimed criterion, and the school’s management verifies the score.
The live admissions page currently shows these principal awards:
| Connection | Current published points |
|---|---|
| Special recognition determined by the Jesuit Provincial | 250 |
| Sibling or first-degree nephew or niece of a Jesuit in the Portuguese Province | 150 |
| Child of a current school employee | 150 |
| Full sibling already attending | 100 |
| Second-degree nephew or niece of a Jesuit | 75 |
| Critério Magis for specified alumni service or award | 75 |
| First cousin of a Jesuit, employee’s grandchild, or half-sibling attending | 50 |
| Child of an employee at another Portuguese Jesuit institution | 30 |
| Child of an alumni-association member or CVX member for more than five years | 10 |
| Parent’s attendance at this school | 3 per year |
| Age of the application | 3 per completed year |
| Parent’s attendance at another Jesuit school | 2 per year |
The full table contains definitions and evidence rules, so use it rather than estimating from this summary. The linked 2025–26 regulation shows materially lower scores and is no longer valid.
Points do not guarantee admission. A shortlisted child must also complete an interview with the relevant cycle director. The school sets the enrolment deadline if it offers a place.
If an admitted family withdraws, the school may call the next candidate. A child who leaves loses the place and would need to re-enter the admissions process.
The current admissions page gives recurring deadlines but does not attach them to a named academic year:
The page gives no next-year application deadline for Years 11 and 12. It says unsuccessful replies for those years are sent during July, which is not enough to plan a move.
The expired 2025–26 regulation instead showed 30 June for Year 10 and 31 July for Years 11 and 12. Confirm the 2027–28 dates directly with the secretariat.
The page contains another timing conflict. Its table places successful replies in November or December, but a note says likely candidates are called in December and January for interviews. Ask for the actual sequence.
The same table says refusals may not arrive until February or March.
If a normal deadline has passed, an application can remain registered for a later year. The family may record interest in earlier admission if a vacancy appears. This is not a waiting-list guarantee.
The school publishes a multi-level inclusion framework. It covers universal classroom measures, selective support and additional support, with decisions involving teachers, parents and relevant specialists.
Its multidisciplinary inclusion team, or EMAEI, can create a technical-pedagogical report or individual education plan. The published framework also allows assessment accommodations and differentiated Portuguese and mathematics teaching in the second and third cycles.
The framework depends on the school’s available resources. It does not state admissions capacity or current case-specific charges. An expired administrative rule made families responsible for specialist teachers, therapists and specific materials.
The regulations page also identifies a school safeguarding service, SPC, and gives spc@csjb.pt for concerns. The school publishes a separate reporting channel on its website.
The 2026–27 fee page charges ten monthly instalments from September through June. The basic-education cycles, abbreviated CEB, cover Years 1–4, Years 5–6 and Years 7–9 respectively. The ten-month totals below are calculated from the monthly rates.
| Level | Monthly tuition | Ten-month tuition | Compulsory enrolment fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | €590 | €5,900 | €385 |
| 1.º CEB | €615 | €6,150 | €425 |
| 2.º CEB | €615 | €6,150 | €425 |
| 3.º CEB | €615 | €6,150 | €425 |
| Secondary | €655 | €6,550 | €425 |
The school already publishes 2027–28 enrolment fees of €415 for kindergarten and €435 for every later stage. It has not published 2027–28 monthly tuition.
The 2026–27 page mentions insurance in a footnote. It does not clearly state whether the enrolment fee includes that policy, its premium, or its current coverage. Ask for the policy schedule.
Sibling discounts apply to tuition and meals: 6% for two children, 12% for three, 18% for four, and 20% for five or more.
Optional meals cost €105 monthly in kindergarten and 1.º CEB, and €125 monthly from 2.º CEB through secondary. The service includes lunch and a snack; kindergarten also receives a mid-morning snack.
Meal charges are halved in September and in months containing the Christmas and Easter breaks. For Years 5–12, June is also half-price and families may cancel June meals.
Late care for kindergarten and 1.º CEB, from 17:00 to 18:30, costs €20 monthly for one day weekly, €37 for two, or €52 for more than two. A single day costs €7.
Extra care from 18:30 to 20:00 costs €7 per day. The current page does not publish the study-room price for older pupils.
Other published charges include an €8 replacement card, €10 occasional lunch, €50 vocational assessment, €20 yearbook, and €50 Year 12 course book. The refundable locker-key deposit is €5.
Trips have variable charges. Extracurricular activities, holiday programmes and the optional language centre use separate price lists.
The school says circum-school activities for 1.º and 2.º CEB are compulsory. Its current page says a separate leaflet identifies activities that are free, but it does not publish the complete 2026–27 cost position.
There is no general uniform. School-model sports clothing is compulsory for physical education. Ask for current prices, device requirements, textbooks and materials before budgeting.
The published school day ends at 16:20 for most pupils. Some secondary timetables may include a block until 17:15. Early supervision for younger children starts at 07:50.
The school does not publish a transport service. Test the Lumiar journey at the actual arrival and collection times before accepting a place.
Admission does not itself create Portuguese residence rights. AIMA publishes a residence route for qualifying non-EU secondary students, but it has legal and health-cover conditions. Younger children usually need another family-based status.
Because the school has no boarding, accommodation, guardianship and daily supervision remain the family’s responsibility. Obtain immigration advice for the child’s exact circumstances before relying on an offer.
Use the Lisbon guide for local comparisons and the Portugal guide for the national school and residence context.
Official pages and documents we read. If a figure matters to your budget or your application, open the link and confirm it is still current.
Friendly orientation, not an application. Dates, fees, and programme details move. Confirm everything with the school.
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