Higher Technical Professional Course

Family and Community Service

Higher School of Social Sciences, Education and Sports


 This course is in the process of being discontinued, therefore no new candidates/students will be admitted.

Coordinator

Pedro Miguel Afonso Gaspar
​coord.ip.sfc@ipmaia.pt

Relevant Areas

Qualification in the relevant area(s) for this course (Article 40-F of Decree-Law n.º 65/2018), must be demonstrated with the approval in the following subject, attested in the certificate of secondary education or legally equivalent qualification:

  •    Portuguese

DGES Registry

Course registered at the General Directorate of Higher Education with the number  R/c 363/2015

Area of Education and Training 

762 - Social Work and Guidance

Publication in the Official Gazette

Notice  nº 11801/2017 - 2nd series, n.º 192, of 4 October

Study Program Evaluation 


This Higher Technical Professional Course is a vocational training course taught as part of polytechnic higher education and lasts 4 semesters, corresponding to 120 ECTS. The course is organised into general and scientific training, technical training and on-the-job training (internship), and each student is awarded with a Higher Technical Professional Diploma at level 5 of the European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning.

Professional profile

The Higher Technical Professional Course in Family and Community Service aims to train professionals who are able to provide services and care to people of all ages (children, young people, adults and the elderly) who are dependent or independent, including people with disabilities,  providing them with physical, psychological and social support.

Professional opportunities

Direct support to the technical departments of organisations including: social charities, private social solidarity institutions, homes and sheltered accommodation for the elderly, centres for children, social orders/projects, support centres for disabled people and people with multiple  disabilities, support centres for people in need and the homeless, shelters to support the victims of violence, day centres, social centres, education centres, rehabilitation units for young people, schools, prisons and hospitals.

Entry requirements (one of the following)

  • Having completed a secondary education course qualification or a legally equivalent qualification.
  • Having passed the special exams for assessing capacity to attend higher education for people over 23 (Decree-Law no. 64/2006 of 21 March).
  • Holding a technological specialisation diploma, a higher technical professional diploma or a higher education qualification.

Pursuit of further studies - Bachelor's degrees

 In case of pursuit of further studies, the credits acquired in the scope of the short-cycles can be transferred as follows:

Bachelor's degree in Legal Studies - Pursuit of further studies exempted from admission exam
The application by holders of Higher Technical Professional Diplomas to attend IPMAIA Bachelor’s degrees is subject to the conditions established by the institution body that is competent to do so in accordance with the law and the statutes. Depending on the Higher Technical Professional Course and Bachelor’s degree, these conditions may establish the need to pass a specific IPMAIA admission exam, or allow the exemption to perform such an exam.
Observation:
a) Students who intend to apply for an IPMAIA Bachelor’s degree course and must sit the specific admission exam will receive suitable preparation during the teaching of the Higher Technical Professional Course.