How Does the Bolsa de Contratacao de Escola Work?

The Bolsa de Contratacao de Escola (BCE) is a hiring pool that lets individual schools with autonomy or TEIP status recruit teachers directly for horarios that the national concurso and other centralised mechanisms leave unfilled. Procedures to build each school’s bolsa typically open in July, and candidates who join a school’s graduated list are called on through the year as fixed-term needs arise, according to information published by SPGL.

Which schools can use the Bolsa de Contratacao de Escola?

Only schools with TEIP status, meaning Territorio Educativo de Intervencao Prioritaria, or schools that have been granted administrative autonomy, run their own BCE, per the SPGL guide referenced above. Schools outside that category rely on other centralised mechanisms, such as Contratacao Inicial, described in our guide to contratacao inicial.

How does a candidate join the pool?

Candidates apply during the annual window in which each eligible school opens its own procedimento, and once accepted they enter a lista graduada specific to that school or agrupamento for the school year. Being on the list does not guarantee a placement; it only makes the candidate eligible to be called if and when the school has an unfilled horario.

When does the school actually use its Bolsa?

Priority always goes to docentes de carreira who have not yet been assigned a horario through the national mechanisms; a school can only draw on its BCE list once no career teacher without a placement remains available for that need. This is the same priority logic that governs Reserva de Recrutamento at the national level, applied instead at the level of one school.

How are candidates notified of a placement?

Placement through the BCE is communicated to candidates through the DGAE’s electronic application, the same SIGRHE-linked system used for national placement notices, which we describe more broadly in how SIGRHE placement works. Contracts issued through the Bolsa are fixed-term and do not, by themselves, integrate a teacher into a Quadro, a distinction covered in our comparison of contracted teachers versus Quadro teachers.

Should a candidate rely on the Bolsa instead of the concurso externo?

The Bolsa is a fallback, not a substitute, for the concurso externo. Candidates seeking a permanent post should still apply to the concurso externo each cycle it opens, and use the Bolsa alongside it to secure fixed-term work in years or grupos de recrutamento where competition for permanent vacancies is high.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Bolsa de Contratacao de Escola the same across every school? No, each eligible school or agrupamento runs its own bolsa with its own graduated list; a candidate is not automatically enrolled at every school by applying to one.

Does a BCE contract count toward the three years needed to open a Quadro vacancy? Only contracts corresponding to a full annual horario are counted toward that threshold; partial or short-term BCE placements may not meet that bar, so candidates should check their own SIGRHE contract record.

When do BCE procedures typically open? Procedures to constitute each school’s bolsa generally open in July, ahead of the new school year.

Can a teacher already on a Quadro use the Bolsa? The Bolsa exists primarily to fill needs not covered by career teachers, so a teacher already placed on a Quadro would not normally need it for their base placement.

Where is the official exam page for the wider concurso on this site? See the Concurso Externo de Docentes exam page.